Oct 7 Cape Cod Tour

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Jim, our guide and host, shows where we are while in Harwichport. At anytime you could ask Jim where we were and he'd point to the spot. And yes, Cape Cod does curl around at the northern end just as his hand demonstrates. The lighthouse we visited is right where his watch is.

At the JFK memorial, Hyannisport

The memorial is a rather simple one, bathed in sea breezes and punctuated with the sounds of a nearby clanging flagpole. A short drive from here, we watched parasailors enjoying the stiff winds. How they and the birds managed to fly with and the into the wind, escaped me. We also made the mandatory drive by of the Kennedy compound. Not sure of exactly which estate was the one, we singled one out as the most likely. 

Highland Light

For you history enthusiasts, Cape Cod was the first landfall of the Mayflower. The ship was destined for New Amsterdam area but encountered Cape Cod. While trying to sail south around the cape, sand bar hazards loomed. So, they sailed into the protective bay on the west side and went ashore looking for some suitable land. It was here, at First Encounter Beach, native Americans were first met. Nearby, Miles Standish stumbled upon a buried cache of corn seed intended for the Indians' following year crop. Faced with starving pilgrims, Standish took the corn to feed his fellow passengers. Having seen that the land had no major fresh water sources nor possible ports, the ship continued on. Desperate to get on land, the Mayflower stopped at what is now Plymouth and ended up staying. Although a small structure was build, most spent the winter on the ship. As you recall, the Mayflower's departure from England was delayed, forcing the ship to arrive late in the fall. Subsequent ships of colonists found much more suitable lands just to the north. Boston was settled as a result.

Fast forward ahead many years; the area of Cape Cod now known as Truro was formerly known as Pamet and referred to as the "Dangerfields". Ships wrecked in these "dangerfields" often enough that a lighthouse was finally build with funds from Congress in 1797. The area one mile northeast, specifically called Peaked Hills Bar was the determining factor for placement of the light. This sand bar is where the British ship, Somerset, wrecked in 1778 with the loss of 21 lives. Longfellow's poem of Paul Revere's ride mentions the Somerset. His poem is also the reason we celebrate Paul Revere rather than the other riders that night. Paul Revere was stopped and detained while others did the work of alerting towns of the British advance. I digress. An interesting footnote involving the lighthouse involves the light's fuel. Whale oil with wicks was used until the 1860s when whale oil became less available. Pig fat was substituted. When the light was extinguished in the morning, a canvas cover was needed to cover the fuel. Apparently, the fat ignited when the sun's ray passed through the lens on those clear mornings. 

Much like the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the Highland Light needed to be moved from the eroding shoreline. In 1996, the lighthouse rolled from its previous location to its present one on a very slow journey.

In the Truro area, we hiked a trail in the National Seashore. This one was on the bay side. As you can see, shifting sands are at work. The beaches on the bay side have many weathered stones whereas the ocean beaches are just sand. The stones are of all sorts of rock. There are many colors of granite as well as quartz and some sedimentary rock. At the visitors center of the Cape Cod National Seashore, we learned Cape Cod was formed during the last glaciation. When the mile thick ice slowly arrived at the shore, the milder ocean waters prevented its advance. For thousands of years, the ice progressed and receded, in the process, gouging the ocean floor and eventually leaving a pile of dredging in the shape of Cape Cod. This is likely the same birth process for Long Island. 

Our tour of the cape continued to P-town. With a year-round population of 2500-3000, summer residents push it to 50-60,000.

One of the interesting pieces of trvia I learned today is the term "mooncussers". They are unscrupulous folks who lit fires on the beaches near sand bars, hoping ships would mistake them for lighthouses and run aground where their cargo could be stolen.