When my parents and grandma came out to visit, we stayed in West Yarmouth, which was a great jump off point for exploring Cape Cod and the Islands. See our other blogs, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket for the details of our day trips to the Islands. As for the Cape, this is a huge area to explore and quite overwhelming when trying to decide where to visit first in just one day.
Provincetown
We decided to begin our day tour at the very tip of the Cape! We drove all the way to Provincetown, a.k.a. P-town, on Sunday morning which took about an hour. We started our morning at Far Land Provisions for some made-to-order breakfast sandwiches and homemade pastries. We then checked out the downtown area a little bit, which is very colorful and may remind you of a Key West vibe.
Far Land Provisions
A good breakfast spot with made-to-order sandwiches.
Downtown P-town
Far Land Provisions
A good breakfast spot with made-to-order sandwiches.
Downtown P-town
Pilgrim Monument
It’s pretty hard to miss the 252 ft tower right downtown. This is the Pilgrim Monument and we definitely recommend a visit here. The museum is interesting because it explains the history of Provincetown and the fact that the Pilgrims actually stopped on the Cape for a while before making it to Plymouth in 1620. Our favorite part was climbing the tower though, which is apparently the tallest all-granite structure in America! There are a few sets of stairs to get up the tower, but the majority of it is a series of ramps. We were lucky to have a clear day and being 350 ft above sea level provided for a great bird’s eye view from the tip of the Cape.
Pilgrim Monument Provincetown Museum
View of Provincetown from the top of the monument!
Hanging out 350 ft above sea level at the highest point on the cape!
The never-ending ramps to get up to the top!
Lots of interesting info to learn in the museum!
A model of the Mayflower.
Pilgrim Monument Provincetown Museum
View of Provincetown from the top of the monument!
Hanging out 350 ft above sea level at the highest point on the cape!
The never-ending ramps to get up to the top!
Lots of interesting info to learn in the museum!
A model of the Mayflower.
Cape Cod National Seashore
There’s a lot to explore along the Cape Cod National Seashore, but we picked a spot right outside of P-town. We chose the Sand Dune Trail, which is on AllTrails as a 2.4-mile loop, but there are several options to change your route as you trek through the dunes out to the coast and back. We enjoyed traversing the soft sand dunes and we were impressed by my 87-year-old grandma’s ability to keep up! The end view we got was simply spectacular as we were close to the only people out there. The only complaint I have about this hike is the amount of sand that got in my shoes! In hindsight, I should have just gone barefoot and enjoyed the sand between my toes!
Hiking the dunes to get to the water!
It was fun to switch up our hiking surface!
Cape Cod National Seashore!
Hiking the dunes to get to the water!
It was fun to switch up our hiking surface!
Cape Cod National Seashore!
The Ocean House Restaurant
The Cape has a few different roads you can take through it. We decided to take route 6A on the way up to Provincetown and then 28 on the way back in order to capture both vibes: 6A seems a little more rural with antique shops and 28 is definitely more touristy lined with attractions. The Ocean House was the most recommended place to us on the Cape, located in Dennis, so we made a point to get here for one of our meals. We chose to do Sunday Brunch due to the menu looking good and the prices being lower than dinner. This is a very nice, white tablecloth restaurant, but the views of the Atlantic Ocean are what really makes it stand out. We were all quite pleased with our food from the sweet potato pancakes to the cod tacos. And Adam took it to a whole new level by ordering the sampler which was basically composed of three separate meals.
The Ocean House
Providing spectacular views of the Atlantic!
And tasty brunch options!
Including a sampler which was basically three meals in one!
The Ocean House
Providing spectacular views of the Atlantic!
And tasty brunch options!
Including a sampler which was basically three meals in one!
The Kennedy Legacy Trail
From the Ocean House in Dennis Port, we drove about 25 minutes west to Hyannis where the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is currently being renovated. This area is where the Kennedy family spent their summers among other important life events. We didn’t end up going into the museum, but we took the self-guided city tour following the Kennedy Legacy Trail markers around Hyannis. Here’s the link to the walking trail map and here is the online tour info we used to supplement what we read on the plaques. It was interesting to learn more about the widely influential Kennedy family, their victories, and their tragedies.
John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum
Sometimes we had to put our hands to use too…
One of the stops along the Kennedy Legacy Trail.
Keep your eyes peeled for these plaques!
John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum
The blue circles to follow for the Hyannis Kennedy Legacy Trail.
One of the stops along the Kennedy Legacy Trail.
Keep your eyes peeled for these plaques!
Bad Martha’s Brewery
We ended up going back to where we live in Mansfield, MA for a spectacular meal made by one of our hosts, Tim, a retired chef. We have been absolutely spoiled with his cooking throughout our time here and it was fun to share our food experience with my family. If we hadn’t had this opportunity to have a home-cooked meal, we would have gone to the brand-new Bad Martha’s Brewery in East Falmouth. They have pizza, snacks, and of course their own beer. It’s a fun place to hang out, as they often have trivia, games, live music, etc. Later on in the week, we met up with some other traveling physical therapists here which was awesome!
A glimpse of our tasty homemade meals!
The brand new Bad Martha’s in Falmouth.
A glimpse of our tasty homemade meals!
The brand new Bad Martha’s in Falmouth.
There are way too many things to do in Cape Cod, but hopefully this list helps give you a few ideas for where to start when visiting the Cape during the off-season. It’s probably completely different during the summertime, and all we can say is good luck to fighting the hordes of people and traffic!
Good grief, Adam! Those 34’s won’t fit if you eat 3 meals at a time!😂🤣
Haha he’s just preparing for the Thanksgiving feast!
Great stuff! I am tempted to go to each place you describe – keep up the fantastic blogging!
Thanks! It has become a fun hobby for us!