Slow and Low in Cape Cod

American Summer

We recently returned from a trip to New England, landing in Boston and driving South until we met the slender Sagamore Bridge, one of two entry points connecting mainland Massachusetts to the curled, whirling arm of Cape Cod. Crossing the bridge, I picked up 6A, the “Old King’s Highway,” a serene bit of road that gently unfurls over 60 miles, framed by thick canopies of trees and dotted with petite villages of cedar-clad cottages. I’ve never enjoyed a drive more.

We were visiting friends who traded Charleston for Sandwich, the oldest town on the Cape. The town motto, "after so many shipwrecks, a haven,” is fitting - not just for Sandwich or the beautiful county it lies in (Barnstable) - but perhaps the entirety of the Cape. It is a haven.

The Cape has been and remains a destination attracting writers, artists, and seekers hoping to commune with its nature: expansive beaches with sand the texture of raw sugar framed by eroding dunes, thick and wild scrub forests, and densely carpeted marshlands.Driving the length of the Cape feels like passing through countless microclimates and varied geological landscapes. The waters on the bay side are serene and welcoming, if not snail-dotted at low tide; where the Atlantic collides with land on the outer coast, the waters are mighty, icy, and inhospitable.

Our journey took us across the entirety of the Cape, from Sandwich to the tip of Provincetown, with the bulk of our time centered around Wellfleet.

I keep searching for an America that has disappeared or seems to be disappearing - a pre-smart phone era America, when communities were distinct from one another, pleasure was offline, and locally owned businesses outnumbered chains and big box stores. A lot of this is nostalgia for a purity and bliss I knew in childhood, and a desire to recreate it as a father. My ten days in Cape Cod gave me a lot of what I was looking for - more quiet, less commerce, simple pleasures, nature, and community.

Quiet, easy time together was the main focus of the visit, but we managed several excursions, and found some gems along the way. Here are some highlights: