Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard

We spent a family holiday in Cape Cod renting a house on a golf course near to the town of Falmouth. Cape Cod is in the state of Massachussetts and is a peninsular which juts out into the Atlantic on the easternmost part of the state. Cape Cod has a number of places given names from the United Kingdom such as Chatham, Sandwich, Harwich and Barnstable. This is because this part of America is where the Pilgrim fathers first set foot on American in the 17th Century at Plymouth (located just north of Cape Cod) having set sail from England on board the Mayflower. As a result they named their towns as a reminder of the old country and Massachussetts including its capital Boston is steeped in history which is not often found in other parts of the US.

We had come to Cape Cod having spent a few days in New York and we drove up through Connecticut and Rhode Island before finally crossing over the bridge that spans the canal across the entrance to Cape Cod. It is similarly a straightforward 2/3 hour drive from Boston south should you want to combine a visit to Boston with Cape Cod.

Arriving in Cape Cod we were struck by how we felt transported in a time warp to a different era of maybe 30/40 years ago and a much less frenetic pace of life. This was perhaps after the hustle and bustle of New York and it was refreshing to visit somewhere with an almost old fashioned but quintessentially American seaside feel to it. There are so many beautiful beaches dotted along the Cape Cod peninsular that even in the peak of summer it never felt crowded. I loved the weatherboard clad houses located alongside the beaches with fantastic views looking out to sea and some amazing sunsets. We often hired bikes and this was great for exercise as well as for getting around the towns we visited. This also helped us build up an appetite for another great reason for visiting Cape Town which is for the excellent restaurants and seafood in particular. Lobster are a speciality as well as some excellent fish.

Cape Cod is also famous as being the summer retreat of the Kennedys and you can visit the JFK Museum in Hyannis to get a great insight into the Kennedy family. Hyannis is probably the biggest town on the island and was also where there is a shopping mall with all the major US retail brands including Macy’s, Sears, Barnes & Noble and a multiplex cinema.

Towns like Sandwich and Chatham can feel like you are transported back into the 19th Century and are beautifully maintained and great just to wander round and enjoy the scenery or pop into the many antique and bric a brac shops and tea rooms. I’d recommend the Sandwich Glass museum with its extensive collection of old and new glassware.

During our holiday we took the boat trip a short 30 minutes across from Falmouth to the island of Martha’s Vineyard for the day. I would thoroughly recommend Martha’s Vineyard as it is picture book beautiful and very easy to get around if walking around the towns but also has some spectacular beaches and scenery to explore. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to take the boat trip to the neighbouring Nantucket Island located about 90 minutes away from Cape Cod but if you do this I would recommend an overnight stay but Nantucket is definitely somewhere I’d like to visit in the future. Whale watching is also a popular trip to do from Cape Cod/Nantucket.

Overall this was a really great holiday for all of the family as we had both grandparents and grandchildren with us and the evenings were spent both in restaurants but also in the towns/villages where entertainment was regularly put on or we played mini golf (there were quite a number of these dotted around the place). For golf enthusiasts there are at least 5 or 6 golf courses on Cape Cod for you to enjoy.