Monday, October 18, 2021

Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Groton, Connecticut

As we're making our way south, we left Maine and passed through a little bit of New Hampshire and then in to Massachusetts.  Sometimes its a challenge to catch the welcome signs as we drive by them.

 

We drove around Boston and then south and east out on to the Cape Cod peninsula to Atlantic Oaks Campground.  

 



 

A little hint of fall out our kitchen window.

One thing we wanted to do in the area was visit either Martha's Vinyard or Nantucket Islands.  I went back and forth reading as much as I could and finally decided on Nantucket.  We took the high speed ferry leaving from Hyannis for a one hour trip to Nantucket.  
 

Leaving Hyannis.



 
Approaching Nantucket.




 


Brandt Lighthouse on the tip on the left



Downtown Nantucket with the cobblestone streets.  The downtown is full of expensive shops and restaurants.  Not much was open yet when we first arrived.





We hopped on a bus that took us to the eastern side of the island to Siasconset.
 
 
Looking both directions on the beach.
  

 
Then as we were walking we ran in to a lady who recommended the 2 mile Sconset Bluff Walk.  First it went between the houses as we walked north.




The walk even had a little library.
 
Then the walk went along between the houses and the ocean.


Painted shells and a sign: To err is human, to arr is pirate. 

If you're lucky enough to be on Nantucket you're lucky enough!


 
I couldn't believe the path went in people's front yards. It was a nice walk and the houses and views were beautiful!


Some houses had these steps down to the beach.




 
We walked as far north to reach the Sankaty Head Light or Lighthouse. 
 
The Sankaty Head Light is a lighthouse built in 1850, was automated in 1965, and is still in operation. It is located at the easternmost point of the island, in the village of Siasconset. It was one of the first lighthouses in the United States to receive a Fresnel lens.






Then we turned around and retraced our route back along the bluff.

And back to the bus stop.
Milestone Rd on Nantucket Island
A sign at the bus stop.

 
One thing I found strange was all the people from Jamaica working on Nantucket Island.  I have no idea where they were living because it was expensive!  Our bus drivers were Jamaican.

We walked around the downtown and found some overpriced sandwiches to eat before our ferry ride back to the mainland.



Funny dolls for sale in a store.




We had a nice day on Nantucket Island and enjoyed the bluff walk.  
 
Al was motivated to cook some seafood so we bought some mussels at a Costco.


Al cooked them in a yummy broth with Vermouth so we had some good dunking sauce!  They were delicious!
 
Another day we drove to the furthest tip north on Cape Cod to Provincetown.  We found a place to park near the giant Pilgrim Monument.

Courtesy of Google Images

Long Point Lighthouse

We walked along the narrow main street with shops and restaurants on both sides of the street.  The day we were there there was a LGBTQ event so we saw some "interesting" people walking the streets.




Street performer.







We had no trouble finding our truck again as we just had to look for the giant Pilgrim Monument!  We left Provincetown and headed back to the campground but made a stop off at one more lighthouse.

Nauset Beach Lighthouse
 
Nauset Light, officially Nauset Beach Light, is a restored lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore near Eastham, Massachusetts, erected in 1923 using the 1877 tower that was moved here from the Chatham Light. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
 
Unfortunately this one was under reconstruction.  




After four nights on Cape Cod, it was time to make our way west in to Connecticut.  


We drove to the Elks Lodge in Groton, Connecticut for two nights.  When we arrived there was another camper parked nearby but they left and we had the place to ourselves.  

 
See us parked way in back?

 
This Elks Lodge has a boat dock and the people inside were very friendly.   

 



 
Al even got some drone shots.



While in the lodge, we got talking with people and they recommended we visit the Submarine Force Museum nearby.  So the next day we went to check it out.
 

 
We learned a lot about submarines and missiles.  Unfortunately the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) was out for repairs and returns in the summer of 2022.




The periscope looked outside the museum.


Polaris Missile

 
Keeping Score on Gaudy Battle Flags

By 1944, the US submarine crews were busily engaged in a double competition; to outdo one another in sinking enemy ships -- and in bragging about their victories.  For the bragging contest the men spent their spare time on patrol creating flashy battle flags with symbols representing their successes.  Each crew ran its banner up the periscope as the boat returned in triumph to home base.  

The battle flags were easy enough to fashion; every submarine was equipped with a sewing machine and bolts of colored cloth for making signal flags.  First, the crew agreed on the main design feature, usually a caricature of the fish after which the boat was named.  The design was cut out and sewed onto a long cloth of contrasting color.

For a while, the crews were satisfied to display a small, standard set of symbols for types of ships sunk and kinds of special missions.  But this visual vocabulary was quickly expanded in the heat of friendly competition.  Many crews added a star to their flags for each war patrol.  One submarine, the RAY, sported triangular pennants for sampans, junks and other small merchant vessels sunk by deck guns.  The crewmen of the HAMMERHEAD sewed on symbols representing the four mines they had destroyed.

The imaginative crewmen of the BARB assembled one of the busiest battle flags.  It displayed unit citations, a swastika for a German cruiser sunk during their shakedown cruise in the Atlantic in 1943, a cannon representing Japanese towns shelled by the deck guns, even a train destroyed on a commando raid by eight of the BARB's crew.  In fact, the BARB flag was so crowded with symbols that the crew almost ran out of room for more sinkings.



The BARB's accomplishments along with the train.

This is a map of the areas we visited from the church in Maine, down around Boston and out on to Cape Cod.  Then over to Groton, Connecticut. 

 
Next we're stopping off in Pennsylvania again to visit my Dad & Barb before heading to Lancaster and Gettysburg.  Thanks for following along.

3 comments:

  1. We also liked cape cod thank you for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's nice when the locals give you great recordation's of either food or places to visit that you normally would not have done other wise.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So fun to see your adventures!

    ReplyDelete

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