Affordable Family Vacation on Cape Cod
(Day 5)
The Affordable Family Vacation on Cape Cod Continues ...
If you're dreaming of a fantastic, budget friendly vacation - Cape Cod is your place in the sun!
With a little creative planning, your family can enjoy a full week here on a suprisingly modest budget, as you'll see in our family trip diary.
Note: If you missed the beginning of the diary, you might want to click over to read about Days 1-4.
Then follow the links back here to ...
Vacationing on Cape Cod
Day 5 - Wednesday
Visiting The National Seashore
We were traveling east on the Mid-Cape Highway a little after 8 o'clock this morning, eager to discover for ourselves why everyone says: "You haven't seen Cape Cod until you've visited the Cape Cod National Seashore."
Is it really that different from the rest of the Cape?
An hour later, our answer was unanimous: "Yes. It's a whole different world!"
The Atlantic Ocean is breathtaking, with its cold, crashing surf and miles of towering dunes.
What a change from the warm calm Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound waters we've played in the last few days.
The National Seashore Visitors Center Our first stop was the Salt Pond Visitors Center in Eastham. We expected to just stop by, pick up some brochures and ask for suggestions about don't-miss places to see in the area. What a nice surprise to find that the Center also has a wonderful little museum, a theater, and a big deck overlooking Salt Pond, too. From the early days of saltworks, shipwrecks and whaling, to the natural wonders of the National Seashore ... the exhibits in the museum were fascinating. Especially the Penniman family exhibit! Who could imagine that over a century ago, Capt. Penniman would have taken his wife and children along on whaling voyages to the far corners of the world? The pages of Mrs. Penniman's journal gave us all a personal glimpse into the family's adventurous life at sea.
In the theater we watched a short movie called The Voice of Cape Cod - the story of the first trans-Atlantic wireless communication sent by Guglielmo Marconi from Cape Cod to England in 1903.
Marconi's Wireless Site
The site of Marconi's wireless station was just a few miles away in Wellfleet. So we bought a few postcards in the Visitor Center gift shop, and we were on our way to see the Marconi Wireless Station in person.
I had to giggle just a little as we stood where Marconi made history, while the kids listened to a recorded tour of the site on our smartphone.
They can't imagine a time without wireless communication.
Thanks, Mr. Marconi!
When we're up to our eyeballs in snow this winter, we'll pick up the phone, dial 508-718-6054, and bring back memories of our warm sunny day at the National Seashore.
Head of the Meadow Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore
A little farther north to Truro, we saw a sign for the beach, so we turned off Route 6 onto Head of the Meadow Road. We couldn't have picked a better spot if we had tried.
Head of the Meadow Beach was the ideal place to have our picnic lunch and chill out for a few hours. ("Chill" being the operative word!)
While the guys splashed in the bracing Atlantic Ocean surf, I walked the shore picking up shells and sand-polished stones to add to my vacation collection.
I'd walked about a half mile when the kids came running:
"Mom! See that guy down there? He just caught the biggest fish ever! He said it was a bluefish."
"It was like two feet long. And it had really really sharp teeth, too!!"
Dad confirmed the fish tale - so I guess I'll believe it.
What a perfect place this would be to spend the rest of the day. But we had more to see before the afternoon was over.
Lighthouses on the National Seashore
Lighthouses ...
It seems as though there's a lighthouse everywhere you go on the National Seashore.
This afternoon we climbed to the lantern room of Highland Light in Truro. Wow! What a view!!
Then as we headed back south toward home, we stopped by Nauset Light in Eastham to take some photos of this classic New England scene.Thankfully, the kids discovered the walking path from Nauset Light to the "Three Sisters", or we might have missed out on seeing three more historic lighthouses.
The First Seafood Feast of Our Family Vacation
Our day at the National Seashore was capped off with dinner at Arnold's - a popular local clam shack right on Rt. 6 in Eastham.
Chili dogs for the kids. Fried whole-belly clams for us. Plump, sweet and juicy. Just the way we like them! After a full day, and with pleasantly full tummies, we enjoyed our leisurely ride back to South Yarmouth.
All around, a super fun and affordable family vacation day at the Cape Cod National Seashore!
Related Pages:
Budget Summary for the Week
Vacation Diary - Days 1 & 2
Vacation Diary - Days 3 & 4
Vacation Diary - Day 5Vacation Diary - Days 6 & 7
Affordable Cape Cod Vacations homepage
Photo Credit: Thanks to Beth Knittle for sharing her photo of Nauset Light!
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