Terry's Journey in Retirement
Chapter 645
5/27 - 6/3/2023
Cape Cod 2023
Wellfleet and beyond
We stayed again at the Cape's #1 rated family resort, the old hippie artists surfers Surfside Cottages Colony in (South) Wellfleet. It's the narrowest part of the cape at less than one mile wide. This guy didn't mind my launch and was interested in the drone. This Black Fish Creek drains to the west to Wellfleet Bay and into Cape Cod Bay. Well done Wonders of Wellfleet video. We spent time in the (featured) Frying Pan Gallery this trip. We are on the Atlantic Ocean side on Le Count Beach.
Had breakfast in Marstons Mills, Barnstable on the way down with old College buddy Jesse Rieber. He is still as a practicing professional counselor. During covid his practiced mushroomed on line. He's cut back to12 hour days/ 4 days a week. Had a nice chat at the Tavern on the Green golf club.
Route 6 is on the right, the longest road in America. 3000 miles to California.
We visited places all around the Cape. This was a stop at the Marconi Wireless Station where the first radio transmission across the ocean to England was made in 1907. A scant few remnants still exist there. A concrete slab is half way down this slope. The ocean generally reclaims 3 feet of real estate each year due to erosion.
A mile south the Marconi Beach is part of the National Seashore with only had a few beach guests.
We were actually on the way to the U.S. Coast Guard Beach for a drone fly by. Dr Beach had just ranked it as the #10 beach in the U.S. Although nearly as nice as many of the other beaches on this end, it just did not rank that high on the Terry scale.
We hiked thru the Provincetown Shack Sand Dunes 2 & 1/2 mile round trip to the ocean and back twice. Trudging through the steep and heavy deep hot sand seemed to help my aching hip feel better so we did it again.
It's an other worldly experience out there. Like a desert moonscape thing.
When we reached the beautiful expansive beach devoid of the maddening crowd, Colleen was giddy with excitement. Only met a pair of senior women shack dwellers and a couple from Bavaria, Germany. After refreshing our feet in the cool blue green waters and chugging from our water bottles, I obliged with another dreaded selfie (in photos link). It was a spiritual experience. Come to find out later this was the site of Thoreau's "Great Beach" description from his 1865 Cape Cod book. Horribly written, but he did see sharks.
Thankfully we made it out alive before our water ran out.
A few dozen shacks were allowed to stay after the National Seashore was established in 1961 . It's a constant struggle with the shifting sands, lack of electricity, water or sewer. But the homeowners are resilient. Famous artists and writers have lived there. The homeowners have also been in a constant battle with big government from the beginning.
Currently Uncle Sam is trying to displace the homeowners and destroy the shacks.
The other shack I photographed is called Euphoria, video tour.
Visited Rock Harbor in Orleans for cocktails & sunset on the Bay side.
Several tourists were scurring in and out for short durations to capture the checkbox "sunset phots". After they all left we noticed this scene in the harbor.
At the end of the warf is the 1946 Coast Guard rescue ship, a museum now, that rescued 32 seamen from their sinking vessel.
Also caught this 13 foot Italian Bronze angel statue on top of the 100 foot bell tower of the impressive Church of the Transfiguation, at the Community of Jeusus, Orleans . There is apparently a whole community of some 300 followers living right there on the campus just adjacent to the harbor.
Again, Schatzie had a wonderful retreat with her friends. Everyone loves her and she gets good treatment.
Just picked a few highlights from the trip. The photo album includes extended coverage of extensive droning, time spent with Colleens daughter & husband's including a weekend visit and lunch with in-laws Centerville. There we drove over the reconstructed roadways carrying the transmission cables from the largest wind farm in America, Vineyard Wind. Diiscussion of the Sargasso algae problem in Florida revealed Ben's Masters Degree centered on the financial issues. Lunch at Chatam Bars Inn Beachhouse Grill , Mac's buck a shuck oysters & clams, Moby Dicks, Provincetown Artists, cocktails at Herring Cove Beach, Race Point Beach, BeachComber, French Bakery, Portuguese Kale Soup at Lobster Pot, Provincetown Inn, Macmillan Pier, Sunset Sailboat Cruise on Bay Lady II with whale, shark and seal sighting, night fire pits, Treehouse Brewery at Sandwich & so much more.