Oh crud, my pictures are on my phone and I'm at another "sure we have Wi-Fi, really we do" motel. More on that later.
It was after 11:00 when I rolled past the motel where I had spent the night! My route was basically highway 6 to Cape Cod, then take highway 28 South along the coast of southern Cape Cod until it returns to highway 6, then run it all the way out to Provincetown.
I had just gone through New Bedford where Denny and Noris were married many, many years ago when I crossed the bridge into Fairhaven. I was flabbergasted to see a huge structure on the left and knew I had to do a U-Turn and go back to take pictures of it. I did not know it was a school until I pulled up in front of it. Not only was the front of the building incredibly huge and ornate with gargoyles and arches, but there was an extension off to the east that was as big in itself as most schools, and the depth of the structure went back an entire city block. The only way to describe it would be immense! The building itself could hold any of several towns in Idaho!!!
The section on the right was duplicated on the left, hardly visible on the far right was a fourth section
I also went through the town of Dennis, which ironically, doesn't have a Denny's!
Proceeding east I crossed the Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal (which I didn't even know existed!). It flows between Cape Cod Bay and the picturesque Buzzards Bay. Highway 28 South was a divided highway for the first many miles as I rode south toward Falmouth, not to be confused with JayZs hometown of Foulmouth. From there I changed directions from south to east, even though the highway was still 28 South.
As I headed east I began to wonder if the route would take me toward Hyannisport, the famous sight of the Kennedy Estate. It didn't, but I did discover that just to the south side of highway 28 S was Barnstable, which is the home of the Kennedy Museum (not the Presidential Library, which is in Boston). So I stopped by to see if it was open on Sundays. Not only was it open but they had a special exhibit dealing with the brotherly bond between JFK and Robert. I gladly paid the admission fee and spent the next hour or more looking at the many exhibits which included many of the personal family pictures. They had an entire section on Rose and her legacy. She lived to the age of 104, and was still doing political and non-profit campaigns into her 80s. It was a very personal occasion for me, one I am grateful I thought of while "in the neighborhood".
Famous photo taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis
... and I can hear my wife yelling "a woman's success too"
After leaving the museum I rode to Chatham where my direction again changed, this time from east to north, still on 28 South! Eventually the highway merged with highway 6 again for the trek up the Cape toward Provincetown. Before I got there however I spotted a sign for the Highland Lighthouse and museum which gave an excellent view of the north end of the Cape and, on a clear day, Plymouth, Ma, 32 miles away. The Lighthouse was erected in 1797, but was moved inland 140 yards in 1996, when erosion eventually moved the shoreline to within 100 feet of the lighthouse.
After my tour I headed to the end-of-the-road, which ended up being a loop through an area of sand dunes which led to a bog across the road from the Moor Inn, where I'm spending the night, in Provincetown.
Provincetown is an interesting little town that sits in the middle of earliest American History. The Pilgrams actually landed on Cape Cod and explored here before relocating to the mainland at Plymouth. There is a tall tower commemorating the fact, though the exact location they landed was long ago washed into the ocean because of erosion.
The first Governor of Plymouth Plantation was William Bradford, another of my ancestors. He actually suffered a tragic loss here on Cape Cod, shortly after landing, his wife Dorothy fell overboard and drown. Can you imagine making it all the way across the ocean, then losing your wife that held joint custody of all your dreams shortly after landing where you thought you were finally safe? I must say, I feel very sorry for him.
Marriage back then was a matter of purpose, sharing the load, perhaps more than today. So William sent away for a new wife who was shipped off to the New World. They married the following autumn, as the crops were harvested. A large party followed to celebrate this new union and some of the local tribe members were invited to share in Williams feast. This was, according to some records, the first Thanksgiving! It is from their son William Jr. that we are descended.
As for current day Provincetown, let's just say there are a lot of men in town.
More tomorrow when I'm able to get my pictures uploaded. This motel has free Wi-Fi, worth every penny without a rating system!
It is incredible to see structures like this in every little town
This church celebrated it's tri-centennial in 2008!
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