A quick look on the Internet and I realised that today was not only my birthday, but the day the Auxiliary Coast Guard, who gives tours of the lighthouses on Cape Cod (and everywhere else for that matter) was giving the free tours today. That quickly put off our plans to go to the beach at Rhode Island and head onto the Cape. We quickly (by our standards) got ready and got in the truck.
Since it’s my birthday, we made nothing for lunch and decided to eat out. Guylaine packed a few snacks and we were off.
Our first stop was Cape Cod Chips for a factory tour. Cape Cod chips are a lot like Miss Vickie's, but better. This tour is really more of you walking down a short hallway looking through windows with the obligatory gift shop to grab all your cash as the only way out. We thought of getting chips right from the factory for the people back home, but the computer in the gift shop wasn’t working and we weren’t able to purchase anything. Sorry gang. We got 2 small bags each, but those didn’t even make it out of the parking lot. Like I said, they’re good chips.
Next stop was all the way in Chatham. My comment to Guylaine all week was how so far Cape Cod didn’t look at all touristy, but that quickly changed today as we headed into Chatham. It was nothing but touristy. We tried to track down an old windmill, the old Godfrey windmill, but it was in quite a state of disrepair. It looks like it’s being restored, but at this point, it doesn’t even look like a windmill. We got back on Main street and with a narrow squeeze past café’s and art galleries, we took a wrong turn and came across the most beautiful row of ocean side homes, B&B’s and resorts you’ve seen. We backtracked through this area and finally came out to one of the main attractions for the day the Chatham light.
These lights all have a great history, and the axillary Coast Guard, made up of
volunteers, mostly seniors, were very knowledgeable and friendly. We were able to go up
in the lighthouse for a 15 minute tour. Everyone that is except Xavier. He was too little.
Guylaine knew how badly I wanted to go, so she offered to stay down with Xavier while
I took the rest of the kids up. Thanks honey. It’s amazing what you can see from up there.
It really doesn’t look that high, but the view is amazing.
Guylaine really wanted to see the beach, so we went for a little stroll. The beach here is
really nice, even if the water is cold. The kids wanted to put on their bathing suits and
stay. Partly because they were sick of being in the car, partly because this is the beach
where all the sharks have been spotted lately and they wanted to see one. But better
things were to come, so off we go.
By the time we pull out of Chatham it’s 4:00pm and we haven’t even eaten lunch yet! We
are off to find a windmill in Orleans, but we can’t seem to locate it. We do however spot
a Papa Gino’s pizzeria and do a u-turn to go back and eat. Worst pizza of all time hands
down. Worst restaurant of all time hands down. The only saving grace for this place was
that when I sat down to eat, I looked out the window and saw the windmill we were
looking for right across the street. We finished eating (gagging) then headed out to the
windmill. It was gorgeous. In a little park on the side of some water. Only problem was
once we got there, William had to pee, Alex had to go number 2 and Xavier did his
number 2. And we just left the restaurant! We got some great photos and got back in the
truck.
Our next stop was the oldest windmill on Cape Cod, and what is believed to be the oldest
windmill in the US.
It was getting late, so I got out to snap a few pictures, but Guylaine and the kids stayed in
the truck. We made our way up to the National Shoreline and the highlight of the trip for me, the Nauset Light.
This is the same lighthouse that is on the bag of the Cape Cod Chips and has come to
symbolize Cape Cod. It also has an amazing history, as it’s been moved many times. The
sand cliffs here are 50 – 70 feet high and erode at a rate of 30 feet per year! There are
electrical cables and pvc pipe and drain pipes sticking out of the cliffs on the sand from
building that used to be here. The water itself was clear but cold. You got used to it after
a while, but it was cold. The surf was big enough that a couple of guys were there an surf
boards. The kids put on their swimsuits and had a blast. What was supposed to be a quick
run to the beach ended up being 3 hours. We stayed right until dark. People were starting
to have fires right on the beach. When we got there, we had seen a few seals. One guy
told me that while nobody had seen sharks. When the seals were around, they were never
far behind. As dusk came we started to see more seals. At one point, 2 of the surfers
looked behind them and saw 5 or 6 seals about 40 yards away and they got out of the
water for the rest of the night. As did pretty much everyone. The kids played in the
shallow water, but nobody ventured out too deep. Everyone on the beach had their eyes
on the seals, many people going out knee deep into the water to check it out. I saw a slash
at one point, but it could just have been one of them diving under. Who knows. It was
neat though. We got back to the truck and headed out just after 9 for the hour long drive
home. Guylaine gave everyone a shower while I cooked hot dogs and got some of our
gear out of the truck. I managed to get the black and grey tanks empty tonight. I forgot a
little plastic container for the anti-syphon valve on the thing I bought. Once I removed it,
worked like a charm. Duh! I’ll spend some more time flushing out the tanks tomorrow.
It’s raining a very fine mist tonight, so we got the kids to bed, no fire again tonight.
Guylaine and I finished our work and got to bed too. Another great day, and a great
birthday, despite all the driving.
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