Visiting Cape Cod

My trip to Cape Cod took me southeast from Boston, with a stop in Plymouth before continuing onto the cape. This part of Massachusetts is closely tied to the story of the Pilgrims, but beyond the history I found Cape Cod itself surprisingly different from what I expected, especially the windswept dunes and sandy landscape near the end of the peninsula.

Plymouth

On the way to Cape Cod from Boston, I stopped at Plymouth Rock. Plymouth is famous as the site where the Mayflower passengers established Plymouth Colony in 1620. According to tradition, Plymouth Rock marks the place where the Pilgrims stepped ashore, although the rock wasn’t identified with their landing until more than a century later.

The rock itself is much smaller and less dramatic than its reputation might suggest. There’s nothing particularly impressive about it as a natural landmark, but its importance comes from what it represents in American history. Today it sits beneath a granite monument along the Plymouth waterfront, with the year 1620 carved into its surface.

Cape Cod

Farther out on Cape Cod, the landscape looked nothing like what I had expected from Massachusetts. Some areas were so sandy and open that they reminded me more of Texas than New England. Wind and shifting sand are a constant part of the environment here, and I even passed road signs warning drivers about blowing sand.

The dunes are part of what makes the outer cape so distinctive. Instead of the forests and rocky coastline I associated with New England, there are stretches of open sand, beach grass, and low vegetation shaped by the wind coming off the Atlantic.

Being surrounded by water also gives Cape Cod some beautiful skies. I caught this sunset from one of the beaches, where the fading light reflected across the water. With the peninsula extending far out into the ocean, the coastline offers plenty of places to watch both the beginning and end of the day.

As daylight disappeared, I watched the moon rise above the trees with an American flag in the foreground. It was a fitting end to a day spent exploring an area so closely connected with early American history.

Lighthouses are another defining part of Cape Cod’s coastline. The surrounding waters have been traveled for centuries but can also be dangerous, with shifting sandbars, storms, and heavy seas. Seeing one of the lighthouses illuminated after dark was a good final reminder of Cape Cod’s long connection to the Atlantic.