Cape Cod with Two Kids and a Wheelchair: Outer Cape

Wellfleet, Truro & Provincetown

Amanda in her new glasses

We spent a week on the Outer Cape - Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown. It's a great area for kids, but a little tough for anyone with a disability. For instance, Amanda's glasses' frame broke and due to the strength of her prescription Kevin had to make a 4+ hour round trip to get them repaired. There were more high points than low, however.

PJ's in Wellfleet

Our favorite place to eat was PJ's in Wellfleet. The menu is so comprehensive that it spans two walls. They serve good hamburgers, hot dogs, fabulous seafood, etc.. They also make their own ice cream - both soft serve and hard. The soft serve comes in vanilla, chocolate, raspberry and coffee. While there are always lines in front, the main dining area is accessible by a ramp and is rarely crowded.

We ate there at least 4 times over the course of the week so its safe to say that we've tried a good number of the items. I liked the fried clam roll - more than enough clams for a meal! Friends liked the lime marinated shrimp and the lobster roll. My girls love the  kids' fare - especially the macaroni and cheese. They have thick, crunchy onion rings and crispy sweet potato fries. You can eat inside in the breezy dining room or outside at a covered picnic area. PJ's opens at 11AM and has a line all day.

Lighthouse Mini Golf

We've been loyal Poit's customers for years. There is a grill in the main building as well as pizza and ice cream in the snack bar. However it was a big disappointment. The pizza was awful - squares of what tasted like frozen pizza reheated for $3.95 a slice. The snack bar had a good ramp, but the main building only had a small ramp in the front. We had to back Amanda over the high threshold to get her into the arcade area.

For years Poit's had a little mini golf course consisting of astro turf ramps and some cement statues. It was kitchsy but it had charm. The owners must have recognized this because they saved two of the original animals next to the newly designed course. As glamorous as the lighthouses and water features are, the course is the same. There are none of the challenging obstacles that make mini golf exciting. And it wasn't accessible. We bumped poor Amanda up and over the edges of the golf course. Also, it was expensive - even with a $2.00 off coupon we paid $5.95 per person.

Midway between Poit's and PJ's, in South Wellfleet, a small sign signals the entrance to an often overlooked site: "MARCONI STATION SITE -- NO BEACH ACCESS. Site of first United States Transatlantic Wireless telegraph station. Built in 1901-1902."  Take the turn - it's worth the drive!

The Marconi Station is a  great site for a picnic with several small decks looking over the ocean. It's the end of a bike trail so its very accessible - while we were there a man with an artificial leg rode up on a recumbent bike. There is also a nice walking trail through the White Cedar Swamp. It is not a beach access - the dunes are a sheer drop. For beach access follow the signs to the Marconi Beach.


Shopping in the center of Wellfleet is a delight, but completely inaccessible. Every store has at least one or two steps. Many have four steps. Amanda and Kevin sat out our shopping trip. I doubt either of them was heart broken. My favorite stores in Wellfleet are Abiyoyo (an amazing toy shop), Newcomb Hollow Shop (lovely pottery pieces and affordable limited edition jewelry), The Secret Garden, and the Wellfleet Marketplace. We also enjoyed the whimsical crafts at the Luna Sea gift shop.


"Fairy Door" at Luna Sea

There are wonderful art galleries in Wellfeet as well. My favorite is The Left Bank. Over the years I've bought several pieces from the Left Bank  including framed prints, sculpture and a lovely bird bath. I also love The Blue Heron and the Kendall Gallery. There is a weekly gallery opening "wine and cheese" on the weekends during the summer - a great date activity if you can find someone to stay with your kids (we couldn't).

We did take the kids to the Wellfleet Pier for the Wednesday night square dance. In case you're concerned that you'll be surrounded by big skirts and cowboy hats, this isn't really a traditional square dance; its more of a line dance. There is a DJ calling out the moves using instructions like "turn to the harbor, turn toward the town, turn toward Macs, turn toward me." It was fun. Unfortunately the night we went the tide was very low and it reeked to high heaven. We couldn't stay because we were overwhelmed by the smell. If the tide is in your favor its an easily accessible activity for both kids and individuals in wheelchairs.

A sentimental favorite of mine is the Wellfleet Historical Society. It spans two buildings, interrupted by a small art gallery. One side is a museum full of artifacts, the other side is designed to represent a typical 18th century seafaring household. My mother was a passionate, dedicated volunteer to the Historical Society. My father donated the funds to develop the front garden in her memory. While we were there we purchased a memorial brick in the walk for $50.

Truro is the town next to Wellfleet. We toured the Truro Vineyards. They offer tastings every 30 minutes for $8. My friend and I shared our selections so we had the opportunity to sample ten wines. There are crackers and water to cleanse your glasses and palate. Plus you get to keep the very pretty souvenir wine glass! There is a gift shop with everything from wine to openers, T-shirts and cheeses. The wines were mostly good and the prices fair (about $14/bottle). The shop had steps in but the tasting area was level as were most of the paths around the vineyard. The incredible scenery and lovely picnic area on the front lawn make it worth a visit.

Highland Lighthouse

We also visited the Highland Lighthouse. It was $4 for the tour of the lighthouse including a video and a guide inside the actual light. Kevin was the only one to get to the top - lots of stairs and you had to be over 4 feet to climb them. I nobly volunteered to stay at the bottom with the girls. Okay, I'm scared of heights... The view from the observation deck is spectacular and free - and at ground level.

The farthest point on Cape Cod is Provincetown. Provincetown is a fun, funky place with lots of great food and good shopping. However, like Wellfleet, most of the stores are in older buildings and not accessible by wheelchair.

While we struggled with accessibility at most of the Outer Cape's beaches Herring Cove in Provincetown was a pleasant surprise. In the middle of a bicycle trail, it has a paved "boardwalk" running the length of the beach. While the embankment is too steep in most places to safely maneuver a wheelchair down to the beach there is a ramp at the far left end. The beach itself is flat, but rocky near the water. As a bayside beach the water is calm and a bit warmer than an ocean beach. Happily it is a National Seashore Beach so Amanda's new Access Pass got us in for free. Parking is typically $10. There are bathrooms, accessible showers and a small concession stand. It's really a nice family beach - although, in fair warning, it is "nudity friendly" in parts.


Herring Cove Beach, Provincetown

For more information on Wellfleet and the Outer Cape, please see:

http://www.wellfleetchamber.com/Shopping.html
http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/marconi-beach.htm
http://www.wellfleetma.org/public_documents/wellfleetma_RecProgs/summer/Square%20Dance
http://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/massachusetts/cape-cod/review-134704.html

Cape Cod National Seashore - then and now

Unexpectedly we found ourselves on Cape Cod during the week of the 50th Anniversary Celebration for the Cape Cod National Seashore. Standing in the Salt Pond Visitor Center, looking at the actual document signed by John Fitzgerald Kennedy brought tears to my eyes. Kevin was surprised that I could be so moved by the acts of a man who died before I was born. However, without JFK's foresight Cape Cod as we know it would have inevitably been different. My childhood would have been different.

Cape Cod has been a touchstone for me throughout my entire life. I spent my first vacation on Cape Cod just before I turned two. More than 45 years later and my heart still soars when I see the surf pounding the coast off of Maquire's Landing. When I was a child I cheered every time we crossed the Bourne Bridge onto the Cape. How wonderful to hear Danielle spontaneously yell, "Yip-pooo!" from the backseat when we reached the crest of the bridge and I told her that we were on Cape Cod.

The Cape Cod National Seashore is a precious piece of America. The Pilgrims first landed here- in Provincetown in November 1620 - not at Plymouth Rock. The Cape Cod National Seashore encompasses more than 40 miles of shoreline and preserves several  lighthouses and homes from the 1800s as well as 5 Modernist cottages built in the 1930s through the 1960s. There are miles of hiking and bike trails. There are public beaches and glacial rocks. You can swim, fish, surf or kayak in the waters.  It also a unique habitat, home to 800 pound gray seals and tiny piping plovers.

Me, 1966

By creating the Cape Cod National Seashore, JFK essentially arrested time. By preserving the coast and surrounding area he prevented Cape Cod from becoming overdeveloped with strip malls and waterfront hotels. The Cape Cod National Seashore was created by eminent domain and agreed upon sales and encompasses over 43,500 acres of ponds, woods and beachfront  in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Chatham. 

Only 11 commercial properties were allowed to remain within the boundaries of the National Seashore. One of these was the Beachcomber Restaurant. Another was the tiny colony where we rented a cottage every summer when I was a child. The stipulations were simple: the land/property had to remain within the family.  Any sale of the property outside of the family was prohibited and the land would revert to the government. 

Making ice cream, 1975

I was able to go back to a place unchanged by time every summer for more than 20 years thanks to President Kennedy.  There are still  14 relatively primitive cottages at Cooks by the Ocean. Each is unique, but they have much in common. They have no cable TV. They don't have phones - or even showers! If you want to shower you have to walk to a communal shower house. These small cottages sit atop the dunes overseeing one of the few remaining private beaches on the Outer Cape. To one side is Marconi Beach, to the other is Maquires' Landing, both public beaches.



I loved those cramped cottages with their knotty pine paneling. Every cottage had a small deck, some with bouncy vintage 1950s metal shell back chairs in an array of eye popping colors. There was no air conditioning. You left the windows wide open so you could hear the surf and catch the ocean breezes. There were no phones, no radios and no TVs. We played outside. We played kickball, baseball and volleyball. We pretended that we were horses and superheros. We went to the beach early in the morning and late at night.

Me, 1981

As a teenager I brought friends to sleep in the living room of the one bedroom cottage. We'd wake up early to walk the dog along the beach at dawn. At night we'd head to the beach for a bonfire. Even as I changed, the place remained constant.

The kitchens all had a temperamental gas stove fueled by propane tanks behind the cottage. Our kitchen had vintage tools including an antique curved chopper that my mother loved, but never would have dreamed of removing. There was a sense of permanence. No on would steal anything because then when you returned it wouldn't be the same.

I took my girls back there when Danielle was 11 months old and Amanda was almost 9. The daughter of the family now owns the place and she was happy to let us wander around and enjoy the amazing sense of timelessness.  From the outside things were the same.  I bet if I'd gone into our old cottage I'd have found that chopper in a kitchen drawer.

Danielle, 2008

For more information please refer to:

 http://www.nps.gov/caco/cape-cod-national-seashore-50th-anniversary.htm

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70A12FF395F1B738DDDAC0994DF405B8685F0D3

http://www.ccmht.org/links.html

http://www.cooksbytheocean.com/

Cape Cod with Two Kids & a Wheelchair: Eastham

Today we went to the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham. It has a wonderful view of the salt marsh. It also has a small museum, complete with a box of shells pleasantly labeled "please touch." Danielle loved listening to the sound of the ocean in a whelk and was mesmerized by the prehistoric looking horseshoe crab.

She was amazed when I told her that horseshoe crabs were around before dinosaurs. In fact, the oldest  horseshoe crab fossils were found in 445 million year-old rocks. She would have loved to see a live one. Unfortunately she's unlikely to see one this time of year. They're deep sea dwellers most of the year, coming to shore mainly in May and June.

Horseshoe Crab

While we were at the Visitor Center we got Amanda a National Parks "Access Pass". This is a free pass available to any U.S. citizen with permanent disabilities. The Access Pass admits the pass holder and up to  3 adults for free where per-person fees are charged. (Children under 16 are always admitted free.)  It also admits the vehicle the pass holder is riding in for free in parks where vehicle entry fees are charged (for instance, Yellowstone National Park.)

The Park Rangers were friendly and helpful. We got the pass in less than five minutes. Not only that, but the Ranger pulled out a map of Cape Cod and marked all of the National Seashore beaches on it, highlighting the ones with free surf chairs.

I love the wild ocean side beaches on Cape Cod, but for the most part they aren't accessible by wheelchair. Now Coast Guard Beach in Eastham has a wheelchair-accessible ramp to the beach and two submersible wheelchairs. Most summer visitors take a shuttle bus from a remote parking area, but anyone with a handicap parking permit can park at the top of the hill. The Ranger at the booth at the bottom of the lot checked our parking pass, tipped his mounty hat and waved us in. The view from the parking lot is spectacular.  

There were a lot of cars in the lot reserved for individuals with disability parking permits, but we only saw one other person in a wheelchair. She was in a power chair, looking at the view from the parking lot. It made me wonder why she wasn't down at the beach.

It turns out that it is a long trek down the dune even with a ramp. The two surf chairs were free and readily available. But, why are the surf chairs left at the beach end of the ramp? This is one of those instances where things may have been set up by someone with good intentions, but no practical experience.

A person in a wheelchair needs to either have a companion walk to the far end of the ramp and bring one up to the parking lot or has to get his/her usual chair down the ramp. Then where do you leave your wheelchair? We left ours at the end of the ramp, getting sand in the wheels and heating up in the sun. I suppose one of us should have pushed the empty chair back to the car.

The beach chair worked, but was it heavy going through soft sand. And I don't think it could have actually been used in the water at that beach (at least not during high tide) because there is a sheer drop at the shore and a heavy undertow. I was happy to get Amanda on an ocean beach for the first time in 6 years- I'm just not sure that we'd do it again.

I am sure that we'll be back in Eastham later this week. Danielle specifically asked to see a "red lighthouse." The closest I can find is Nauset Light. It's white with a red top and a light that flashes red and white at night. It's open on Wednesdays so we should be able to drop by in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, this is one place that Amanda just won't be able to access.

Maybe when we're in the area we'll go for a short hike. The Nauset Dunes Trail starts at the Visitor Center and is not too tough for wheelchairs and strollers. It's about a mile and a half with a slope at the beach end. However, the views of the dunes and marshes make it worth the climb, even pushing a wheelchair. When I was a kid we took our puppy, Noodle, for a walk here. He got so tired that my father had to carry him the entire way back to the Visitor Center. I'd better make sure that the same thing doesn't happen to Danielle if we do hike!

For information regarding the National Park Service Access Pass please go to: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

For information about horseshoe crab fossils please go to : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207135801.htm

We're going to Wellfleet!

Wellfleet, Massachusetts is a tiny town at the end of Cape Cod with a very funny Fourth of July parade. I wish I could be there to see it this year. It is a real, old time parade with cub scouts marching and every rescue vehicle the town owns.

It also typically features any one who wants to walk down Main Street wearing a silly costume. We took Amanda years ago. That year there was a lawn mower shaped like clam that spat water - Amanda loved it. She also loved the motorcyclist who did several "wheelies" in front of her. There were political protesters, pirates, belly dancers and drag queens marching. Like I said, I real old time small town parade..

Sallie & family, age 3 or 4

In  a few weeks we'll be in Wellfleet, visiting my father. When I was a child we rented a tiny cottage on the dunes for two weeks every summer.  A lot of the things that I loved as a kid are now accessible so I can share them with both girls.

As kids we snuck across the dunes from the cottage we rented and tramped around the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp. Amanda obviously isn't about to sneak across any sand dunes, but the trail is accessible through the Marconi Station parking lot.  It's about a 1-1/2 mile boardwalk that winds through the trees and marshy areas.  Most of it should be accessible for Amanda.  It is near the Marconi site on Route 6A in Wellfleet. It is also near where my mother's ashes are scattered.

The Marconi site is wheelchair accessible and has a great view of the Atlantic.  In 1903 Marconi transmitted the first  two-way, transatlantic wireless messages between the president of the United States and the king of England from this location. Not that my kids will care, but it is a nice place to walk and admire the ocean.

We'll explore the tiny center of Wellfleet. I don't think I'll risk bringing a wheelchair into any of the art galleries, but Emack & Bolios, "a Nice Cream Place", is outside and should be easy to access. I also don't think we can get Amanda into the local candy store, The Chocolate Sparrow, but I doubt I'll be able to keep Danielle out!

When we were kids we hunted for fiddler crabs under Uncle Tim's bridge at low tide. The trick is to find a hole and poke a stick in behind the hole. The crab will run out and - if you are quick & very brave- you can grab it without getting your fingers pinched by the big claw. The bridge leads to a small island conservation area and a few houses. The island isn't accessible, having only sand paths, but the bridge is fun to cross and I should be able to navigate Amanda on to it. Danielle will love playing pirate on the island.

I’m so excited that Cape Cod beaches are becoming increasingly accessible!  I haven't been able to bring Amanda to a beach since she was little. Many of the beaches have accessible parking, but no way to get to the beach due to high dunes, stairs, etc. Now several have ramps. Mayo Beach in the center of Wellfleet has a ramp. And, when we're at the harbor we can watch the fishing boats and get some soft serve ice cream at was The Harbor Freeze - hopefully its still there! 

Of course, we'll go out for seafood. Being allergic to most shellfish I'm limited to fried clams (too bad, huh?) There was a wonderful little clam shack at the end of LeCount Hollow Rd in South Wellfleet, but it disappeared years ago. Now we stop by PJ's Family Restaurant. The food is good, but not healthy. You really can't expect a great salad at a place that specializes in fried food and ice cream! My mouth is already watering...

For fun, check out these Wellfleet webcams - maybe you'll see us on one in a few weeks! http://www.mywellfleet.com/

I got great information about Cape Cod Accessibility through these sites:

http://www.capecoddisability.org/outer.html

http://www.everythingcapecod.net/Cape_Cod_Beaches.html

http://www.softseattravel.com/Cape-Cod-Wheelchair-Accessible-Trails.html