More About Outer Cape Cod
Eastham was once home to whaling, fishing, salt works, and asparagus farming, but today is best known for its beaches and conservation areas. One third of the town is devoted to the National Seashore Park, established by President John F. Kennedy to protect over 27,000 acres of the Outer Cape. Eastham takes pride in its natural façade and laid back lifestyle, and the shops and restaurants in the town reflect this. The marshes and open waters surrounding Eastham provide some of the best kayaking and canoeing on the Cape, and there are two paved bike paths and numerous walking trails through the unspoiled landscape. Town conservation areas include the National Seashore Park and the Massachusetts Audubon Wildlife
Sanctuary.
Wellfleet is an artsy fishing village where during the summer the population swells from less than 3,000 to an estimated 17,000. Summer vacationers enjoy the town's miles of ocean and bay-side beaches, numerous spring-fed ponds, and the many fine art galleries, shops, and restaurants. Wellfleet Harbor is home port for sailboats, motor yachts, sport fishing boats and trawlers. Wellfleet’s Atlantic Ocean side is also part of the Cape Cod National Seashore Park, and 1,000 acres within the Massachusetts Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary are located here. Don’t miss sampling some of Wellfleet’s famous oysters.
Truro boasts that the town hasn't changed much since Henry David Thoreau took his famous walk from Pilgrim Lake to Pamet Harbor (birthplace of the American Whaling Industry). With abundant bike paths, nature trails, public beaches (ten on both the bay and the ocean) combined with fine restaurants and country shops, it’s understandable what draws visitors to this pristine area of Cape Cod.
Truro even offers a golf course! A public 9-hole, par 36 course, Highland Links is open to the public and offers a pro
shop, snack bar, power and hand cart rentals, lessons and club rentals.
Provincetown is where the Pilgrims first dropped anchor in the New World. Before moving on to Plymouth, they drew up the New World's first document of self-governance, the Mayflower Compact. Its earliest settlers, including pirates and Portuguese fishermen drawn to the fish-filled Banks, relied heavily on the ocean. This reliance continues today as evidenced by Provincetown’s fishing fleet. The Center for Coastal Studies, an independent, non-profit institution dedicated to research, conservation, and public education, was founded here in 1976, and offers whale watching boat trips. Provincetown has become famous, not only for the natural beauty of its location and the internationally famous artists and writers who have lived and worked here, but also for a unique open-mindedness.
Provincetown is well known as the premier gay and lesbian summer resort on the East Coast. Commercial Street is a shoppers’ mecca, with art galleries, jewelry and leather shops -- every imaginable type of hip small business – as well as fine restaurants and small cafes.