The new mobi mat at Ridgevale Beach, Chatham. Photo credit: Jeff Shaw.
by Jeff Shaw
The mobi mat (and its other branded cousins) is a game changer. These hard plastic mats should be found on all beaches on Cape Cod and elsewhere.
The mats increase accessibility for people in wheelchairs (my family), make it easier for folks with bad knees (my family) and effortless for people with strollers (my family) to get from the parking lot, boardwalk or bridge to shore.
A mat at Hardings Beach, Chatham. Photo credit: Jeff Shaw.
It’s almost hard to believe it has taken until 2022 for these mats to become common. Such a seemingly minor improvement makes walking uneven sand of a beach near you nothing but a breeze (Jimmy Buffett pun intended).
While I have not been able to find specifics on how much these improvements cost, implementation timelines or if there are plans to extend access where current mats end, we can probably all agree, easier access – for more people – is a good thing.
The transfer from bridge to mat is still slippery at Ridgevale Beach, Chatham. Photo credit: Jeff Shaw.
Here is a great companion piece, with additional listings of accessible beach on Cape Cod, by Sarah Watson.
A beach day is the time to relax. First move, ditch the device, and instead pack an actual soft or hard cover book. Sit in a colorful, slightly uncomfortable beach chair, along the water’s edge and prepare to decipher words on paper. I call this process, “reading without interruption,” sort of.
Distancing yourself from devices and those persistent pop-up ads, annoying dings, and growing inbox number, is a great way to start a day at the beach – unless of course you are “remote working.” “Hey, watch the sand! My laptop, kid! Umm, where’s the nearest outlet to charge?”
Indeed, embrace accidental kicked-up sand by pre-teens, rowdy college kid cheers and jeers or innocent cries of hungry toddlers. Once those moments pass, dive-in to those crinkly pages.
The short list below (and fourth annual) includes books featuring stories that take place on Cape Cod. Perhaps your next beach day will occur in an area featured in one of these stories. Give them a read to find out!
The Old Cape Teapot, Barbara Eppich Struna
The sequel to the first story, The Old Cape House, is a fast-paced, captivating story that picks up with familiar characters from the first book. Once again, alternative chapters spanning 300 years takes readers to the Caribbean island of Antigua, setting the stage for another historical fiction mystery. Similar to Dan Brown’s signature “short chapters,” Barbara writes a concise story that takes off after a seemingly unimportant visit to an antiques shop. A race to another treasure chest buried in the woods of Cape Cod awaits!
A Mysterious Murder in Monomoy, Hunter Laroche
Fair warning, this book is self-published, i.e., no professional editing. But as a fellow wannabe writer, I’m rooting for the little guy in the publishing world. Go ahead, ignore the typos. There are a handful of things I like about this book. One, the story covers a lot of ground; a family secret, traveling to exotic places, dining lavishly and solving riddles to pursue centuries-old treasure are delightful elements for easy reading. Two, the story takes place on Nantucket, in the “present day,” meaning the author uses real locations, like bars, restaurants, stores, beaches, etc. Though “present day” is the 1990s or so, as the characters communicate by payphones and landlines, no smartphones or internet are mentioned despite the book being published in 2021. The use of real locations may also be helpful for “Nantucket newbies,” who may appreciate leads on dining and recreational activities ahead of an upcoming visit to the island. Three, chapter titles are “island truisms,” many of which resonated, though they didn’t seem to have anything to do with the chapter’s part of the story. As a bonus, the author also makes at least two Jimmy Buffett references, likely completely unintended (pages 83 and 123). So, if you can ignore exhaustive details, grammatical and punctuational errors – which the author admits in the epilogue — enjoy this beach read.
The Summer Place, Jennifer Weiner (summary courtesy of Jessica Devin, Brewster Book Store)
Admittedly, I have not read this book, yet. But I love the Outer Cape, so it has to be good, right?! Rest easy, multiple literally sources including the local Brewster Book Store and the New York Times Book Review, recommended it. I’ll take their word for it.
A traditional beach read, the Summer Place, tells the story of the various secrets that unfold and come to light for one Cape Cod family during the pandemic. The story is set at the family’s fictional summer home in Truro and is also partially set in Provincetown.
A follow up to Weiner’s 2021 book “That Summer,” “The Summer Place” as “a complete page turner” for its storytelling and plot twists, which will keep the reader engaged through to the end. At the same time, it’s not a cumbersome read. The complexity of the relationships are intriguing. This author is masterful in the way she weaves these secrets together.
Do you have any favorite stories that take place on Cape Cod? If so, please share!
The intersection of Route 137 and Millstone Road, Brewster. Photo credit: Jeff Shaw.
by Jeff Shaw
Like many, I tend to take Millstone Road, the 2.5-mile residential road, when getting around in Brewster. The winding, somewhat scenic road, connects Route 137 near a Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) crossing and Route 6A across from the Sea Camp property (and near a different CCRT crossing). I say “somewhat scenic” because while many homes are set back from the road and separated naturally by trees, scrub pine and deep woods, the roadway lacks sweeping views of ocean, fresh water ponds, dunes or gardens that showcase the Cape’s natural beauty.
Also like me, you may have noticed some colorful lawn signs dotting the landscape along the shoulder of the road. The signs illustrate the battlelines of a multi-year campaign on the future of the road. Indeed, the opposing positions are: “Save Millstone Road,” i.e., preserve the “scenic” character of the road or “Sidewalks for Kids,” i.e., make the road more pedestrian-friendly for all users.
A Save Millstone Road lawn sign on Millstone Road. Photo credit: Jeff Shaw.
This hyperlocal political hot potato dates back to 2015, when the town adopted a Complete Streets policy, backed by $10 million in funding. Complete street policies intend to make roads more pedestrian and bike friendly. In Millstone Road’s case, the proposal included a five foot bike lane and five foot sidewalk, in addition to the 11 foot two-way vehicle travel lane. Just shy of $6 million is available for the project.
According to the Brewster Town Administer, almost 25 percent of the town lives on or off Millstone Road. So yeah, there are bound to be strong opinions worthy of signage.
Not living in Brewster, it is easy to say, build the dang bike lane/sidewalk already! And down with nimbyism! While tempting, I also understand homeowners worrying about paving over grassy areas, narrower driving lanes and having to double-check for passing bicycles and vehicles every time they turn into or out of, their driveway.
A Sidewalks for Kids lawn sign on Millstone Road. Photo credit: Ellen Shaw.
The town does have a Bikeways Committee, but the link is invalid to their Comprehensive Strategy. The plan, reviewed and approved by the Board of Selectman, probably provides additional context and/or economic and community benefit information.
Indeed, a quick glance at a Cape Cod Commission (CCC) map re: Biking in Brewster, suggests building the bike lane and sidewalk makes sense. Just look at this map.
Millstone Road is sandwiched (Cape town pun intended) between 1,900 acre Nickerson State Park (with its own 8-mile paved recreational trail network) and the 30+ mile Cape Cod Rail Trail, the majority of which runs through Brewster. Enabling more people to travel safely to these recreational areas (not to mention nearby Cape Cod Bay side beaches), is a benefit for residents and visitors.
Further, according to the CCC map, Millstone Road is already deemed a “Regional Bicycle Road,” albeit a dangerous one given the twists and turns of the shoulder-less road.
Having written much about biking on Cape Cod, I’m super biased. I say, build the dang bike lane/sidewalk! But be sure to maximize the “occasionally buffered grass strips” that would help preserve the character of Millstone Road, too.
The Cape Cod Rail Trail extension at LeCount Hollow Road. Photo credit: Ellen Shaw.
The Cape Cod Rail Trail, one of the most popular recreational attractions for visitors and locals on Cape Cod, keep growing. For decades, the 26-mile, paved recreational path passed through the towns of Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham and Wellfleet (with an extension or spur trail to Chatham). But a vision to connect the current Cape Cod Rail Trail all the way west, to the Cape Cod Canal as well as all the way east, to Provincetown, is more likely than you may think.
In 2018, a 3.7-mile extension to the west opened a new trailhead at Higgins Crowell Road in Yarmouth. Plans to extend the trail further to Mary Dunn Road in Barnstable are underway. Though grainy, this map, courtesy of Friends of the Cape Cod Rail Trail, shows the most updated route and future expansions.
The author at the Higgins Crowell Road trailhead in Yarmouth in 2020. Photo credit: Bob Shaw.
New in 2022, the first mile of a two-mile extension in Wellfleet opened. That first new mile connects the LeCount Hollow Road trailhead to Bittersweet Farm Road, near Wellfleet Hollow Campgrounds. Apparently construction of the second mile of the two mile extension is stalled after public outcry.
Interestingly, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation previously approved a 14-mile shared use path along Route 6 from Main Street in Wellfleet to Shore Road in Truro. Already a preferred biking, running and walking route, Shore Road in Truro parallels Route 6 where it is squeezed by Pilgrim Lake and Cape Cod Bay. The actual sections of the 14-mile shared use path are still being debated.
On the other end of Cape Cod, there are plans to connect the Cape Cod Canal Recreation Path with the Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth. Completing this project would create about 24 miles of uninterrupted trail on the Upper Cape running from Sandwich to Woods Hole. Sounds like a North to South Cape Cod Rail Trail (24 miles vs 30+ miles, respectively)!
Also new, the Old Colony Rail Trail, that previously mentioned extension or spur trail, connecting Chatham and Harwich trail sections, is planning to install a bicycle repair station near Brooks Park (in Harwich) in the fall. The station will have tools on hand for bicyclists to make minor repairs. Additionally, the town is seeking to install a hydration station to refill water bottles, especially helpful, not to mention, an efficient use of time on longer rides. Finally, be on the lookout for Bernie Meggison, a seasonal ranger on patrol and local bike celebrity to answer your questions.
So yeah, there may just be a future where you can walk, bike, run, rollerblade or even skip in delight, the entire length AND width of Cape Cod!
The distance between the teams located farthest from one another is 47 miles. Photo credit: Google maps.
The month of June is known for many things; graduations, maximum daylight, outdoor concerts and endless replays of Alice Cooper’s Schools Out [for summer]. But on Cape Cod, the month of June means the beginning of a wonderful tradition and summer rite of passage: the Cape Cod Baseball League.
If you need a refresher, ten teams located between Wareham (just off-Cape) and Orleans, (Lower Cape), compete annually in this officially NCAA sanctioned summer league. (Though, as many books point out, the origins of organized baseball on Cape Cod are local and amateur.) Most professional scouts love to be assigned to the Cape League because of the concentration of teams. As an example, the distance between Wareham and Orleans, the two farthest outposts of the 10-team league, is a mere 47 miles. Conversely, teams in leagues in larger geographical areas may be separated by 47 miles each!
Indeed, closeness and geography makes the Cape Cod Baseball League special. So why not see for yourself and visit each team’s ballpark this summer? Below is a plan to do just that…in a single weekend. You read that right, it can be done:
Double Header Weekends. The weekends of June 17-19 (Father’s Day) and June 24-26 both have double headers on Sunday. The earliest double header begins at 2pm (at Cotuit) and the latest double header begins at 5pm (at Chatham). Meaning you can easily catch three complete games and probably see even more games if you only stay for a few innings and move along. Watching three complete games sounds like the ultimate ‘summer catch’ [Cape League-based movie pun intended]!
Last Weekend. The July 29-31 games are the last regular season weekend games. If you are savvy, you can catch games (heading East) at Hyannis (6pm) Harwich (6:30pm), Orleans (6:30pm) and Chatham (7pm) on Friday; start Saturday in Brewster (4pm) and then proceed West to Wareham (6pm—crossing the bridge should be okay on a Saturday), then head back over the bridge and down to Falmouth (6pm). On Sunday, start in YD at 4:30pm, then head West to the second half of the Cotuit game (4:30pm) and then the middle of the game at Bourne (6pm).
Unique Game Locations. Four Cape League teams will travel off-Cape for regular season game play. The first game between YD vs. Hyannis will be Wednesday, July 20 at 11:00am at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford, home of the Class AA Hartford Yard Goats, affiliated with the Colorado Rockies. The second game between Bourne vs. Wareham will be Monday, July 25 at 6:45pm at Polar Park in Worchester, home of the Worcester Red Sox. And of course, don’t forget the All-Star Game on Saturday, July 23 at 6:00pm in Wareham.
Pinned locations of all ten Cape Cod Baseball League teams, color coded by West and East Divisions. Photo credit: CCBL.
Below are the addresses to the fields of all ten teams.
