2020 - Winter on the Outer Cape

Welcome to an Outer Cape Cod Winter

Let's review:  Where is the Outer Cape?

First picture an arm curling to make a big bicep.  After crossing the Cape Cod Canal at "the shoulder" [the Upper Cape] and traveling east through the Mid-Cape's "bicep" and then the Lower Cape to the elbow, the Outer Cape begins when one changes course from going east to north towards Provincetown's "hand".  

Now, what do you think of when you hear the words Cape Cod?  Sun baked beaches dotted with colorful swimsuits and umbrellas?  Sailboats and surfers in the water? Beautiful sunsets, a seafood dinner followed by mini-golf and ice cream?  All true, but do you ever wonder what happens after school is back in session and the weather turns cold?  I invite you to come along with me on some leisurely explorations of nooks and crannies on the Outer Cape this winter while it's still peaceful.

Winter sunsets are just as exceptional as summer's.

Some "snowbirds" pack up and head south for the winter, but others think it's the best time of year as they indulge in the peaceful, post-summer quiet. " 'Rounders" switch from warm weather professions like fishing and landscaping to cold weather work like snow plowing, selling firewood and providing services that any population depends on.  Still others settle in to some well-deserved rest after a busy summer.  One never knows from year to year if a great, snowy Nor'easter will cover us in white all winter, or if like this year some flowers were fooled into blooming very early and snowfall was scarce.  

January and February flowers this winter.

  

Even when the Nor'easters skip us, we're sometimes lucky and get treated to "sea smoke", delicate flurries blowing off of the ocean, sometimes even on a sunny day.  They rarely accumulate, but are so lovely to watch them illustrate the wind currents and decorate with lace.

As one of the few innkeepers open all year, the number of winter guests varies quite a bit from year to year, but one thing is always certain.  We have a whole lot more free time and the pace is much slower.  After a frenetic summer, it's easy to slip into indulgent laziness, so this Winter of 2020, I resolved to take you on a tour to try to give you a taste of what the Outer Cape is like when we have it all to ourselves.

A little holiday spirit on an Orleans front door.

Nauset Beach in the town of Orleans is a beautiful, wide beach where I've found colorful rocks in the past that glow like jewels in the water.  One either needs a town sticker, or to pay admission in the summer, so this was my opportunity to revisit this beach while I could.  The ocean tried its best to reclaim it a few years ago in a wicked Nor'easter, but a massive effort by the town to replenish sand, plant dune grasses, erect sand fences and move the grandstand to safety has made the best of what was.  I decided to see how it has fared so far this winter, but took the wrong turn and ended up at the end of a neighborhood with just a few places to park and a stairway down to the water.  This quiet beach, which probably has a name only known to the neighbors, was protected by outer dunes and definitely not short on beautiful views. I will call it Tonset Beach since that's the road that led me to it.    

The newly named Tonset Beach, still icy.

With an abundance of rocks that put Plymouth Rock to shame

With the sun getting low, I decided to leave Nauset Beach for another day.

When the sun shines in the winter, it turns the ocean a deep blue, the likes of which is not seen in any other season.  But, more often it's a time of wild, wet, windy weather that splats forcefully against windows and finds any crack in the house to whistle through.  Some days fog is seen blowing across the highway, obscuring the views of the rolling countryside.  On my first foray out, I chose a sunny day to drive to the next town of Wellfleet, famous for its delicious oysters, with Marconi Beach as my destination.  I recently read that the town is attempting to trademark the name 'Wellfleets' for their oysters to distinguish them from others on a menu.  As I was driving north through my town of Eastham, I passed Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar, an award winning landmark known around the world as a 'must go when on Cape Cod'.  In the summer the lot is full with long lines, but as you can see, it's also used in the winter for more seasonal purposes.

I'll have a fried log roll, please, with a side of the famous onion rings.

Marconi beach is named for the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi.  The first successful transatlantic wireless communication originating in the U.S. was successfully transmitted from the nearby Marconi Station in 1903.  It was a message from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII of the U.K.  Certainly faster than a message in a bottle, although beach walkers occasionally find one of those.

Oh, that Marconi.

And as usual, there was at least one surfer out there ignoring the January chill.

It was such a nice day, I continued traveling north towards Cahoon Hollow Beach and the well-known restaurant and entertainment spot, The Beachcomer [aka the 'Coma]. The beach was named for a family named Cahoon, and the restaurant is located in the former Cahoon Hollow Life Saving Station.

A steep drop makes this beautiful beach a challenge, but it didn't stop residents from taking advantage of a sunny January day.

Another sunny day took me to Skaket Beach in Orleans on the Cape Cod Bay.  I wasn't the only person out enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.  The runner in the picture ran sideways in a big arc when she saw me with my camera.  As she approached, she said, "I tried to get out of the way for your picture."  I laughed and told her she was an integral part of my picture, showing some of the ways people spend their winter days on the Outer Cape for my blog.  She then proudly told me that she had run in the Boston Marathon 16 times.  The winter cold certainly wasn't going to interfere with her training.

  

The twice daily low tides reveal sandy stripes and large boulders and make for interesting walks that can take you far out into the otherwise deep water.  But, make sure you know what time the tide comes in, or you will be racing it back to shore.

Low tide also reveals dinner opportunities for birds and shell-fishers alike.

On my way out, a man making the most of this gorgeous day passed me on his bicycle, making me feel like a bit of a slug, so I decided to continue on to nearby Rock Harbor.

You can always tell a picture of Rock Harbor by the 'clam trees' planted in the water.  The urban legend of how they got their name is that quahog seeds were planted at the base of the trees which would dig into to the sand, spread and grow into legal size clams ready to be raked by permit holders.  It was said you could have a basketful of quahogs for dinner by digging right by the trees.  And, during low tide, one can walk all the way out to the furthest clam tree.

Everywhere I went showed evidence of the season in the form of ice left behind by high tide.

In the summer, there would be a line of boats tied up and a parade of boaters back and forth in the channel, but today it was mostly all mine.

No boats today at Rock Harbor

It took a while to come, but when the next gorgeous, sunny day came along, Ron and I both had the same idea of mozeying north to Provincetown, the tip of Cape Cod.  Normally on a winter's day, it would be about a 20 minute drive, but my idea of mozeying was to stop every time I saw a potential picture on the way.  We eventually made it with a little nudging to get going, but not without a couple of stops I'd been wanting to make.

From Corn Hill there is a view all the way to Provincetown

The first one was Corn Hill Beach in the town of Truro.  It got its name when a group of Mayflower explorers, led by Miles Standish, set up camp there and came upon "a store of corn in a great basket", to which they helped themselves.  Needless to say, the natives were not at all pleased, which later led to the skirmish on a beach in Eastham, which came to be known as First Encounter Beach. 

Truro is a town of rolling hills which showcase views of Provincetown across the bay.  

Before approaching the town line, you will come upon perhaps the most iconic and often photographed cottages on Cape Cod.  From the road, they have a cookie-cutter appearance that make them so identifiable.  It's always a challenge for me to try to find a new shot I haven't seen before.

 

This time, Ron suggested I try walking through to the front of them, which face the bay, something I'd never have done when they were occupied in the summer.  

And, this is their enviable view of Provincetown across Cape Cod Bay, with the Pilgrim Tower in the background, just before reaching the town line.

The contrast between the two towns is like night and day.  Well, just feast your eyes...

Creative art and whimsy are at every turn.

There is a wealth of T-shirt humor on display in store windows

It's a very doggy town.

A tribute to a local artist by the name of Bob Gasoi, who died in 1997

Town Hall and music venue built in the mid-1800's

At 250 feet, Pilgrim Tower is a common sight around town, built in the early 1900's  to commemorate the first landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims in Provincetown on November 11, 1620.  [Oh yeah, and GO SOX!]

And, one more good thing about going in the winter!

Say goodbye to Marilyn on your way home.

As I mentioned earlier, winter can frequently be gloomy, and when the fog rolls in, the ocean disappears from view in a swirling mist that transforms the landscape into a mysterious cloud-like version of itself.

The misty trails at Fort Hill in Eastham

The Orleans Yacht Club puts on a brave face in the gloom.

Though March may be the last gasp of winter, it takes nothing away from the fierce Nor'Easters that often have the last say in the matter.  My foray to see the results of one kept me right in my Eastham neighborhood at Nauset Light Beach, where the winds were still powerful enough to make me appreciative of the railed fence that leads down to the beach to hold on to.  The thunderous roar of the ocean, still agitated from the night's storm, and the bossy wind gusts commanded all of my attention and respect.  There is little more to say except that it reduces the experience to just bearing witness to nature's power and beauty.

I made a quick stop on the way home at the Hemenway public boat landing, which is protected from the brunt of the ocean by outer dunes.  It was covered with white caps this day, and what looked like snow on the dunes.  A closer look through a telephoto lens revealed not snow, but the ocean breeching the dunes as if they had never been there, causing much excitement with the sea birds hoping to get a meal out of it.

And, at Fort Hill, my last stop of the day, the dunes that had resembled big dinosaur backs when I moved here ten years ago, were still somewhat visible, but more likely destined to become a harbor again as it had been so many years before.  Incidentally, the weather is never too windy or wild to run into others intrepid enough to get out and witness it, no matter when or where I go.

With less than two weeks until the Vernal Equinox, and the advantage of Daylight Savings Time, I still felt the pull to visit Nauset Beach in Orleans.  It happened to feel more like Spring than Winter the day I went, but we all know better.  I was happy to see that the town's efforts had paid off to counteract the severe storm erosion, and low tide made it seem all the more enormous.

Way to go, Orleans!

Spring arrives reluctantly in the form of many teasers.  A sunny day that invites you to the waiting garden area, followed by a Nor'easter that coats every tree and sign with sand and ice.  Early flowers pop heads through the snow as winds boss you around and play havoc with the sea birds and your car door.   It's almost here, but not quite yet.