Shelby Senior Services: Cape Cod

shelby-senior-services-cape-cod

The second journey to Cape Cod was a little different from our first trip in June of this year.

For example, it rained.  The hurricane which missed Florida in September came right up the coastline to Cape Cod and caused lots of rain on our way to the Cape.  In addition, a semi rolled over on the interstate several miles ahead of us, which caused a five  hour delay.  Yes, you guessed it, we were stuck on the highway for five hours.  Usually, the only time I stay up late is on New Year’s Eve, but that first night we finally checked in to our hotel at 2:30 a.m.  

This “comedy of errors,” however, did not keep us from enjoying the rest of the trip.

What did we enjoy, you ask?  For one, the “half-cape” and “whole-cape” small houses with shingle siding built long ago in the 1600s and 1700s, still standing and well taken care of.  A half-cape house has a front door with two windows to the left of the door.  The whole-cape house has a center door with two windows on each side.

Ship captains and enterprising entrepreneurs of the day added on to their homes to show off their wealth.

It was interesting to note that the chimneys on these quaint homes indicated who was loyal to the British and who was not.  A black stripe near the top of the chimney meant that family was loyal to the Crown.

It is amazing how the early settlers constructed their houses to withstand the extreme elements of Cape Cod.  And, they still look good.  Of course, building codes now are pretty strict as to what can be built and the materials they can use.  Once in a while you might see a building’s  siding painted yellow or blue, but normally the newly-built homes with light tan colored shingles are allowed to weather naturally and turn into the grey cottages we picture.

In addition to seeing the beautiful homes as we traveled north from our base in Falmouth to Provincetown, we caught glimpses of old windmills.  Our guide explained that when the windmills were made, four sheets were fashioned to catch the wind and make the arms turn. They were made out of a stiff canvass material, and although they withstood fairly strong winds, they sometimes ripped and the four stretched canvasses gave away.  Many times only one canvass was destroyed by the wind and that is where we get the term “three sheets to the wind.”  Somehow, I think the early interpretation of the term has morphed into a different meaning for us!

Also along the way, we saw lighthouses.  One was at the Coast Guard Station, and that is where we posed for our group picture.  Stories of sea rescues and heroic deeds are famous in Cape Cod.

Martha’s Vineyard, of course, is a highlight.  The day we visited there, the water was very choppy and the waves were several feet high.  The normal smaller ferries were not running, so we rode on a very large ferry, which can transport semis and buses, as well as visitors, across to the island in about 30 minutes.  A tour of the island included seeing where the movie Jaws was filmed, where several movie stars lived, the gingerbread houses and stories about the Kennedy family.

It is hard to condense a week’s worth of adventure and fun into a few paragraphs.  You really should join us on one of these adventures soon.  Call Carol at 317-701-5984 for details or visit Shelby Senior Services in the YMCA building.

This was the last adventure of the year for Shelby Senior Services.  Our 2024 trip schedule is available at our office.

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