During a visit to Cape Cod, one must always make time to visit the legendary and picturesque lighthouses. Below, we have a list of historic lighthouses that will impress visitors with their stories and enduring qualities. Be sure to read about them!
This historic lighthouse was built in 1855. The light was in service from 1855 to 1914; it then was extinguished until the late 1900s. The property that accompanies the lighthouse was bought by a Senator and made open to the public after him and his family entertained guests so often that it became an attraction. The Senator, Everett Stone, and his family then relit the lighthouse in 1989 as a seasonal aid for navigation. It now operates every summer and is open to the public to come and visit!
Highland Lighthouse was built in 1797 and stands as one of the oldest and highest lighthouses on Cape Cod. It went under construction in 1857 and remains in top form to this day! The lovely lighthouse is open year-round from May 1st to mid-October. Guests can walk through a guided tour of the lighthouse and even watch a 10-minute video of the history behind its use. The guided tour is offered from 10-5:30 pm. The light actively serves as an aid to navigation for the U.S. Coast Guard. It’s historic and modern day use will ensure guests a window into the unique qualities of Cape Cod lighthouses.
Nauset also boasts antique qualities. The lighthouse was built in 1887 as one of the twin lights of Chatham. It then moved in 1923 to where it stands today, which is also on the Cape Cod National Seashore. Nauset almost underwent closure in 1993 due to erosion, but the Nauset Light Preservation Society financed a move more inland so that it would remain a staple of Cape Cod history. The Preservation Society now manages it and opens it up to visitors who want to hear about its historic journey!
Each lighthouse stands as its own unique landmark in the beautiful landscape of Cape Cod. The visitors who witness and learn about these historic sites will learn the story of Cape Cod in many ways. To find out how to plan a stay and visit a lighthouse, contact us today!
Bring your destination wedding to Cape Cod this year! Cape Cod offers wonderful venues for your nuptials, from beaches to historic sites. The venues below are just a few reasons why you will want to plan your destination wedding on this amazing peninsula.
Wychmere Beach Club offers a beautiful blend of an Americana and luxury style venue. The venue sits just along the Nantucket Sound complete with an indoor event space and private beach. What better place to share your nuptials then a venue that has both the beach as your beautiful background and an indoor event space for your reception? Wychmere Beach Club makes it possible for your wedding to have class and natural beauty all at once. Friends and family will simply love to see you and your beloved married in this unique location.
The beauty of having your special day held at Sage Inn is their commitment to plan and assist you in all of the details that go into making your wedding especially unique. From hand-crafted cocktails, to an exquisite cake and their value of making the venue your “home away from home,” makes the Sage Inn truly a top choice spot to exchange your vows. The small venue is great for an intimate wedding party of up to 150 people. Its classic architecture will bring class and beauty to your ceremony in a way you will always remember. Your guests will truly be grateful to have shared the close-knit experience with you and your partner at the Sage Inn.
This venue truly shines as one of the most classic venues on Cape Cod. The historic Inn provides an ocean front experience with an authentic lighthouse giving you and your spouse to be an incredibly romantic backdrop for your wedding. The Inn boasts a phenomenal staff, as well as several types of wedding packages to meet your needs as a couple. The Light House Inn also provides in-house catering with quality cuisine and hospitable service. Make this exceptional Cape Cod gem your destination for the biggest event of your life. You and your guests will not be disappointed by the incredible service and the beautiful views.
For a destination wedding, you want the trip to be well worth it for you and your spouse and for your closest friends and family. Cape Cod can gift you this and more. Contact us today to make sure you and your family have the best quality stay while carrying out this great exchange of vows.
This new year, make it your new year’s resolution to plan a vacation out to Cape Cod! It’s 2017, and adventure awaits you! Here are five reasons why you should contact New England Vacation Rentals so you can explore the beauty and excitement of Cape Cod.
Cape Cod has the perfect beach for you—approximately 130 of them, in fact! The wide range of beaches you can enjoy on the peninsula span from salt water to fresh water, from small and intimate beaches to large ones that offer room to play your favorite sports, from quiet beaches to beaches with big waves. Visit Old Silver Beach for a fun game of volleyball, or Race Point Beach for a slow and relaxing afternoon.
If you’re a foodie, fresh seafood, local farmers’ markets, waterfront dining, family friendly restaurants and renowned resort dining are just a few reasons why you need to vacation on Cape Cod. Famous lobster rolls from the Sesuit Harbor Café and the Seafood Shanty are begging to be eaten. Local creameries such as Katie’s Ice Cream offer flavors unique to the peninsula, like the Cape Cod Sand, which is a must. For those looking for a more upscale dining experience, make a reservation at Chatham Bars Inn and savor their Impudent Oyster dish.
Take your pick from hip spots to hidden gems and classic dive bars while vacationing on Cape Cod! O’Shea’s Old Inne provides a great dive bar experience with several beers on tap a friendly crowd. To catch live entertainment seven nights a week, you’ll definitely want to stop by the Sand Dollar. It’s a great spot for a night out with friends or even your family! For a night of fun grab drink at the Underground Bar, a favorite of Province town for its welcoming and entertaining environment. Having a night out with friends during your vacation is essential and Cape Cod has the perfect scene for you!
Cape Cod boast one of the best golf clubs in the nation: Holly Ridge Golf Club. Whether you’re a seasoned golfer or a beginner, the facility offers courses that appeal to all levels. This “Top 100 in America” course sits in the hollies and pines of Sandwich, MA offering a beautiful setting. It offers a full bar and restaurant, as well as a pro shop and custom club fitting. If you’re new to golfing, Holly Ridge Golf Club offers instruction classes in its award-winning Practice Facility and Learning Center. Experience the challenging courses or take up a new hobby, either way you will want to make this one of your destination for 2017.
The natural beauty of Cape Cod is reason enough to plan a vacation. Hikes and trails through the woods, wildlife refuges, remote beaches, and state parks will satisfy any nature lover. Go for a hike through 4,700 acres of forests and marshes in Sandy Neck Beach Park, enjoy a meditative walk with the Lowell Holly Reservation, take in the water views of the Mashpee and Wakeby ponds, or walk along a breakwater in Provincetown, a rock way that will take you to a remote beach and a lighthouse. These examples only touch on the incredible beauty available on Cape Cod. Discover more beauty while enjoying your stay on Cape Cod.
New England Vacation Rentals has everything you need to make sure your new year’s resolution becomes a reality. We have rentals that will accommodate you and provide you with a restful home to come after adventurous days out on the peninsula. Contact us today to book your vacation and experience the great beaches, dining, and sights for yourself!
Cape Cod is one of the most famous places in the northeastern United States. It has become one of the most frequented spots for vacationers from all of the country. This is due to variety of reasons from the one of kind culture and charming towns to the beautiful weather and scenery. But the history is a huge part of what makes this place so special. With roots spanning hundreds of years to some of the first settlers of this country, there are so many historical landmarks to enjoy.
This is one of the most well-known towns on the Cape for good reason. This is actually where the first pilgrims landed in North America on the Mayflower. As such, the whole town holds incredible historical significance. This significance culminates in the Provincetown Heritage Museum. This museum gives you the most in depth look at the history of the town from the landing of the pilgrims to its early history as a huge port for whaling and fishing. There are plenty of monuments, the most significant being the 252-foot Pilgrim Monument, which is the tallest structure consisting of granite in the whole country. Visiting the museum and town itself is an unforgettable experience in whicfh you are fully immersed in history.
There are so many historical lighthouses throughout the Cape, it’s hard to pick our favorite! The Chatham Lighthouse has been serving the community since it was erected in the mid-1800s. Nobska Point Lighthouse is another that was built in the 1800s and still stands as a beautiful symbol of where this culture came from. Each of these lighthouses is beautiful, inducing a feeling of nostalgia. You will find many of the lighthouses on the Cape are open to the public for tours and there really is no better way to explore the culture and history of Cape Cod than in learning about some of these amazing structures. After all, the community here is still dependent on the sea.
When it is all said and done, you go almost anywhere on Cape Cod and find a landmark that is on National Register of Historic Places. In other words, the Cape is the perfect vacation destination for those who enjoy visiting historical locations! You certainly should visit the landmarks mentioned above; you are sure to never forget them! Make your next vacation a trip to Cape Cod.
This year’s Wellfleet Oyster Fest is coming quickly! Here are a few words about the event, and why you should be looking forward to it!
Like many towns in Massachusetts, Wellfleet depends heavily on its proud (and famous!) oysters, clams, and other shellfish, as well as on the industries and traditions surrounding them. This festival celebrates these cornerstones of Wellfleet’s well-being with tastings, music, sporting events, shucking contests, and more!
The festival is supported by many local contributors, including volunteers and local businesses. It is organized by Wellfleet SPAT—Shellfish Promotion and Tasting, a non-profit begun in 2002 that is dedicated to sustaining the town’s shellfishing and aquaculture industries. The festival furthers their mission by improving awareness of shellfishing practices through different activities that are part of the festival.
Food, music, art, beverages, competitions—where do we begin? Let’s start with the food, since oysters are the staple of the festival! Fishermen know that people are out in droves for their catches, so unless you plan on eating them straight from the seafloor, the shellfish you get here are going to be the freshest imaginable. Some restaurants also come out and set up their own tables serving up chowder, stuffed shellfish, and all other sorts of goodies. Plus, you can even see cooking demonstrations to watch masters at work and get some tips! And speaking of all things edible, locally-brewed beers, ales, and wines are all for sale as well!
Like much of Cape Cod, Wellfleet is proud of its local arts scene. This includes our musicians, so there will be live performances throughout the festival—whether you prefer country rock or string duets, you’re sure to find something you like. You’ll be sure to find plenty to delight your eyes as well as your ears, as many artisans come out to show off their crafts, whether photos, jewelry, paintings, or ceramics. It’s a great place to seek a souvenir!
Finally, what’s a festival without some competition? While the “shuck-off” is the most publicized, there’s other places to test your mettle in a variety of ways, from tennis to running to spelling!
For a full list of activities, check out the Oyster Fest schedule here: http://wellfleetspat.org/wellfleet-spat-events-fundraising-to-fund-local-programs/wellfleet-oysterfest-homepage/wellfleet-oysterfest-schedule-of-fest-activities/
This two-day festival will be held on Saturday, October 15th and continue the next day, Sunday October 16th. The events are centered around Wellfleet’s town center, around Main Street. The cost is $10 per day, with various vendors setting their own price for their food and other wares. Sorry, but no pets or outside alcohol allowed!
If you’re a fan of seafood—and if you’re visiting Cape Cod, we hope you are—then this is a great even to plan your stay around. Come experience a brisk and beautiful New England fall, and have some fun while you’re at it!
It’s one of the greatest tourist attractions in Cape Cod—even if you can’t go to it directly. It crops up in international news stories, and it’s probably worth more than all the places you’ve lived in combined. It’s a pride of Hyannis, Massachusetts. It’s a piece of our national history. It’s the Kennedy Compound.
The Kennedy Compound was President Kennedy’s home away from home. It started as a summer cottage rented by Joseph P. Kennedy in 1926, and was gradually added on to. Living there, John F. Kennedy campaigned for the presidency in 1960, and used it as a presidential retreat until his tragic assassination in 1963. The house passed from him to his family. The last owner of the house was Senator Ted Kennedy, who died there in 2009. It was passed to his wife, Vicki Kennedy, who donated it to a non-profit institute.
Geographically, it could be hard to imagine finer property. The Compound is comprised of three houses on a total of six acres, right along the shore of the Nantucket Sound. It boasts Cape Cod’s fantastic summers, and is isolated enough from neighbors to have given the famous Americans total privacy. The main house enjoys fantastic views of the ocean from its long porches.
First, the main house itself is quite impressive. The beautiful lawns and spacious gardens remain well kept. While there are all of the amenities one could want, from a lovely dining room to an inviting sun room, the upstairs features a staggering six bedrooms, not including the four servants’ bedrooms. The basement has its own movie theater and wine cellar.
Secondly, few houses have homed so many influential Americans. J.F.K. remains in the history books not just as another name and date, but as an influential figure who helped affirm the United States’ dedication to space exploration and skillfully defused the Cuban Missile Crisis. His brother Robert served in his cabinet, and both of his brothers were U.S. senators.
With such a distinguished pedigree and a lovely estate, the Kennedy Compound perhaps remains noteworthy because of the public’s fascination with “old money”—a term which has described few people in America.
Despite its registry in the U.S. Register of Historic Places, the Kennedy Compound is closed to the public, and difficult to see from inland. The only way to catch a glimpse of the estate is via a Hyannis Harbor Cruise.
If you want to learn more about the Kennedys though, you can also check out Hyannis’ JFK Museum and Kennedy Legacy Trail.
Cape Cod has a long history of being a popular tourist destination, but if you’re planning your first trip to the Massachusetts peninsula, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where your time will be best spent. Though you’ll probably want to include plenty of sun, sand, and relaxation on your itinerary, you won’t want to miss out on some of these top attractions.
The Cape Cod Rail Trail is 22 miles of paved trail that offers some of the most authentic and beautiful views of the Cape Cod area. Biker will travel through charming villages that are situated along a diverse range of landscape that includes beaches, salt marshes, forests, and cranberry bogs. It’s a fairly easy ride with many places to stop and take a break on the way.
The Pilgrim Monument stands tall and proud, commemorating the pilgrims’ Mayflower landing in Provincetown, which is at the very tip of Cape Cod. The 252-foot granite tower was begun in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt and completed in 1910. Visitors are also invited to climb its 116 steps. The Provincetown Museum was constructed at the monument’s base, featuring many historical exhibits, as well as more modern ones.
Commercial Street offers a treasure trove of shopping and vibrant activity. Easily one of Provincetown’s busiest streets, vacationers will find numerous retail, dining, nightlife, and entertainment choices. Whatever you happen to be looking for, you’re sure to find it here among the eclectic options.
It’s no secret that one of the most notable families to ever frequent Cape Cod was the Kennedys. The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum pays tribute to the late president, exhibiting much of his life through multimedia forms so that others can learn more about the legacy he left behind. The museum can be found in the former Hyannis Town Hall building.
The Cape Cod village of Sandwich is home to the Heritage Museums & Gardens, which consist of three galleries and a large display of flourishing gardens. Guests can browse through the interesting exhibits depicting American folk art, a vintage carousel, and a remarkable collection of classic automobiles. Within the gardens, the main feature is rhododendrons, but herbs, daylilies, hollies, and many other types of plants can be found.
Of course, no trip to Cape Cod would be complete without visiting its more than 44,000 acres of National Seashore. Located on the outer banks of the peninsula, the protected shores provide a plethora of indoor and outdoor activities that include camping, beaches, nature trails, and much more.
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