We had a really hard time finding a place to Camp even though there are multiple campgrounds on the Cape. We were finally able to find a place that would allow us to have a spot though we would have to move once. It was Bourne Scenic Park near Buzzards Bay, MA. This campground has approx 370 sites. There are two brand new swimming pools, and a cute camp store that you can frequently find a line outside of their ice cream window each night. One Fridays and Saturdays they have live music under their tent. This campground was great for kids with several playgrounds scattered amongst the sites. The only down falls were that the Internet was only good within 200 feet of the office and they did not have sewage at the sites. So unfortunately you had to see a lot of trucks hauling around their you-know-what behind their trucks on the way to the dump.
Bourne was located on the beautiful Cape Cod Canal. The canal offered an amazing walking/biking path. You could either take the paved path into the quaint town of Buzzards Bay or you could go the other direction towards the 2 bridges that allowed you to access Cape Cod. If you chose to go towards Buzzards bay you would run into the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge. It is quite the site standing tall with the bridge lifting high in the sky. The bridge only comes down on the weekend when the train comes through from Boston. We were privileged enough to be at the right place at the right time and witness both the train coming through and the bridge being lifted.
Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge
We enjoyed the easy walk into town a few times. I was able to walk into to town to Enterprise to rent a car for the week, and to pick up a few minor things. We also walked into to town Saturday evening to attend Catholic mass in a beautiful little cathedral.
Now onto the important stuff...FOOD. To say we had a few lobster rolls was an understatement. Barlow's Clam Shack was one of our experiences. Everyone has their own spin on the roll and honestly you can't really go wrong when it is fresh. We also tried the clam fritters which went down without a problem.
Barlow's Clam Shack
The Seafood Shanty boast a lot of famous faces on the front of their window. If you are a fan of Law and Order then you might just recognize them. This was a favorite of mine and their roll is done lobster salad style. They were however one of the more expensive ones.
Switching gears to Scallops...I ordered a scallop roll at Baxter's Fish and Chips. The scallops were so big, juicy and cooked perfectly that I ditched the roll and ate just the real stars on the plate. Baxter's is casual dining and you can either enter by land or water. You will find a lot of boats docked just to pop in for lunch. Baxter's was a frequent spot of the late Jack Kennedy and when she was dating a Kennedy herself you might have seen Taylor Swift there a time or two. If you enter from the front you will see the Adults only portion of Baxter's, so you if you bring the whole family enter from the side order at the counter and find yourself a picnic table inside or out.
Baxter's Fish N Chips
There were a few activities that we were not able to check off our list. One was a visit to Nantucket. We were given some misinformation and unfortunately could not make the trip work. We called ahead to the high speed boat to confirm there were seats available and were assured that all of their boats that day had spots. So after getting to site and then finding out you have to park over a mile away, getting the kids and stroller out and getting on the shuttle to the port we arrived at the port to find out the boat had been sold out for two days. Moral of the story is buy your tickets in advance!!! If you want to take the high speed boat it is about an hours trip and the slow ferry is a little over 2 hours each way. We also wish we could have made Martha's Vineyard work but it is a little larger and were told we would've had to rent a car, or get on a tour to get around the island. If I ever go back I will make sure I research a little more about these two locations.
The other bummer was on our only rainy day on the cape. I did some researching on a few local blogs for ideas on a rainy day activities for kids. Being on a camper cooped up on a rainy day is never fun. I found out that you can tour the Cape Cod Chip factory for free. So we packed up during a break in the rain and were off. We pulled in and there was quite a line of cars. If you don't get there early they will turn you away once they are full. After we got a spot, there was a line up outside of the building and it began to pour down rain. The walk way was not covered so we decided to head back to to the car and call it a day. Another helpful hint that we did not know about until we got into line was that they do not allow strollers inside.
This is information overload so I'm going to do this blog in 2 parts. In Part II I will go over traffic and why you should never drive anywhere near Cape Cod on a Saturday, our day trip to Plymouth, going to the public beach in Cape Cod for a small fee, and the town of Hyannis made famous by the Kennedy family and the duck boat.
