2018 Life Logs, Day 227—Exploring New Places
Date: Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; High 82, Low 71 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Karen Baranowski started vacationing on the Cape over 35 years ago. Her husband, Peter, vacationed here with family from the time he was a little boy. Three years ago they decided to move here permanently in retirement and they brought with them years of knowledge of great places to explore. This morning Karen picked me up to take me on a little explore. Earlier she tried to tell me about all their special haunts, but when I looked very confused, she decided it was better to do a show and tell rather than just tell. I am a visual learner! Our first stop was a little roadside park that I have driven past many times. It is a public playground attached to a public water park. It is tiny, but a great stop to cool down on the way to or from other activities. Our second stop was at the Sandwich State Fish Hatchery which has been operating for more than a hundred years.
They breed and feed the local trout—Rainbow, Tiger, Brown, and Brook—and then stock all the local ponds. It costs nothing to walk around and look through the netting at the trout in all stages of development. The netting covers the holding tanks to keep birds of prey from catching the trout before they can be released.
There is fish food to buy and you can feed the fish through the netting causing quite a fish frenzy.
From the Sandwich Fish Hatchery, we drove to the Sandwich Boardwalk. This is a very long boardwalk which winds through the marsh, over inlet areas, and out to the beach at the east end of the Cape Cod Canal where it enters the Cape Cod Bay. Or you can jump from the bridge and ride the tide out to sea. Beautiful area.
Karen also showed me the various access points to the bike path that runs along the canal and pointed out all the good places to eat in the area.
From Sandwich, we went west to Bourne where we drove across a mile-long manmade causeway to Mashnee Island. It was an island until 1939 when a dredging operation was launched to straighten out the Cape Cod Canal to make it easier for barges to navigate. There are beaches on both side of the causeway and there are very few people who use the beaches because you aren’t allowed to park on the causeway. But Karen showed me where to park and then walk or ride a bike out to the beaches. From Mashnee, we headed south to the Little Bay Conservation Area. For those of you familiar with the Cape, this is just south of Monument Beach. The Conservation Area has wonderful walking trails and access to Monk’s Cove. This is a truly beautiful, protected spot for swimming and snorkeling. Plus, it has great kayak access. What a gem. I can’t wait to go there with the Goldpebbles.
Tomorrow afternoon I’m going sailing on Pooh with Bruce and Jane Woodin and after that adventure, I’ll spend my time preparing for a Friday dinner party that I am hosting here at the cottage. My Newcomers Dining-In Group arrives at 4 pm for late afternoon kayaking, followed by an outdoor lobster dinner. At this point, it looks like the rain will hold off until the early hours of Saturday morning so that we can enjoy our evening under the stars. Sure hope that forecast doesn’t change.
