MARTHA’S VINEYARD
IF YOU HAVE 3 DAYS Special thanks for buying this book. It contains far more information than you’ll ever be able to use. We hope you will pass this book along to a friend after it serves you well. For sure, as a starting point, check out the “A Perfect Day In . . .” for each town.
IF YOU HAVE 5 DAYS You’ll need to be efficient. Visit the village of Sandwich, poke around antiques and artisan shops on Route 6A, and drive down scenic bayside roads north of Route 6A, spending two nights mid-Cape. On the third morning, pop down to Main Street and the lighthouse in Chatham, and then head to the Outer Cape and the famed Cape Cod National Seashore beaches, stopping at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham. Spend two nights on the Outer Cape (or in Orleans): Visit galleries in Wellfleet, walk the Atlantic beaches and short nature trails, and take a day trip to Provincetown.
IF YOU HAVE 7 DAYS You’ll end up with a very enjoyable trip. Spend three nights mid-Cape and three on the Outer Cape. Do all of the above, plus linger longer in Sandwich, visiting the Glass Museum and/or Heritage Museums & Gardens. Add a beach walk at Barnstable’s Sandy Neck Beach and/or Nauset Beach in Orleans. Visit the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster and/or the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Spend a day and a half in Provincetown—watching people, walking Commercial Street, ducking into art museums and the informative Provincetown Museum, taking in a sunset from Race Point or Herring Cove, heading out on a whale-watching excursion.
MARTHA’S VINEYARD
IF YOU HAVE 10 DAYS You’ll be very happy. Allot the entire three additional days (from the above plan) to Martha’s Vineyard. (Trying to see the Vineyard in a day borders on silliness.) Or add a night or two in the diverse Falmouth and Woods Hole area and a day trip to Nantucket. Back on the Cape, get out on the water with a trip to Monomoy Island in Chatham or some other boat tour. Add a couple of whistle-stops at the Cape’s small, sweet, historic museums.
IF YOU HAVE 2 WEEKS You’re really lucky. Allot three days to one of the islands. Add a quiet canoe or kayak paddle somewhere. Take a leisurely bike ride or an aerial sight-seeing flight. Get tickets to summer stock and cheer on the home team at a free baseball game. Slip into a parking space at the Wellfleet Drive-In. Investigate an old cemetery. Take an art class. Visit Mashpee’s South Cape Beach State Park.
IF YOU LIVE ON THE CAPE & ISLANDS You’re the luckiest of all. Scribble comments in the margins of this book and lend it to visiting friends so you don’t have to keep repeating yourself. Explore something new at least once a week. Isn’t that one reason you live here?
A PERFECT DAY IN . . . These town-by-town, hour-by-hour tours will get you started on how best to dip into a town. But a word of caution: If you try to do everything mentioned, you might not feel like you’re on a vacation. Use them merely as a guide.