When you are hiking and pond-hopping in the sandy back roads of the Cape Cod National Seashore and encounter signs like this, ignore them. Everybody does. Just go on through to a lovely isolated ocean beach. In the 1950s and 60s, it was a nude beach for the artists, writers, bohemian free-love intelligentsia from Boston and NYC, and the horny modernist architects from the US and Germany.
More random pics of the place we love below the fold -
That beach. If you swim straight eastward long enough, you will hit Portugal. Or play in the waves with the seals and the sharks. We did, of course.
Horse Leech Pond. Play in the ocean, then freshen up in a warm kettle pond. Delightful. Shark-free and I never got a leech there either. The turtles eat the leeches.
Our stairs down to our little beach. Keep the kayaks down there. Higher tides only.
Our patio
Wonderful rustic living room - huge fireplace. We like rustic. Sea breezes all day and night.
Ocean beach, stormy rainy day. You can see whales blowing offshore. I love those sorts of days for beach hikes. I love "bad weather."
The Cape, especially the Outer Cape, is all about outdoor recreation regardless of weather. Since you are out in the north Atlantic, any sort of weather can happen. You mostly live outdoors. Place is filled with runners, bikers, swimmers, sailors, fishers, kayakers, etc. Mostly bug-free, due to sea breeze. In the woods, lots of skeeters so you have to pick your woodsy hike days for sunny and breezy mid-day.
Now that Wellfleet has plenty of good restaurants, you no longer need to drive to P-town for a good dinner out. Our habit is to eat out every other day, and to grill or get lobsters on the off days.
The menus are pretty much all seafood and everybody has a raw bar with Wellfleet Oysters and Wellfleet Littlenecks. Our updated restaurant ratings for this year:
Arnold's - always good basic casual Cape Cod seafood but I never go there. The lines deter me.
Moby Dick: Fine basic BYOB casual family seafood place on Rte. 6. Looks like a tourist trap but good family place where you can make a mess.
The Bookstore: Semi-casual, good bar, edible seafood, lively atmosphere.
The Pearl: Best chef in town, I think. Place is busy, noisy, good live bands. The wasabi tuna sushi is dynamite. Usually have to wait for a table.
The Wicked Oyster: Our current favorite. Not a casual place, really. Adult. Takes reservations. You can actually have a conversation. Good wine list, no noisy bar. The panko sole is wonderful.
Winslow Tavern: Entirely pleasant, semi-casual and adult, food is OK and atmosphere is civilized.
Mac's (not the Mac's on the harbor): Casual but an adventurous seafood chef and a hopping bar scene. Jolly. I like it a lot.
Mac's on the harbor: Seafood lunch on picnic benches on the sand. Fun. Good fish tacos.
The Beachcomber (photo below): Funkiest place in town, feels like Key West. I love it for fun lunch, never have been there for the nighttime music scene. Good bar, food not great but functional. The outdoor bar is full of gals in bikinis, which is pleasant. Get the fish and chips. For the younger crowd, go at night and find a new friend.
Garden in front of Wicked Oyster. Despite the crappy sandy soil, flowers grow like crazy because of the misty mornings and the long growing season due to the ocean's moderating influence on the local climate.
Your water recreational life is mostly determined by tides out there. Gotta check the tide table daily. Tides vary between 9 and 12' changes, which is a lot. Deep water becomes mudflats full of delicious clams.
We had a funeral for our pup Paco out there, at high tide. Ashes. A place where he always loved to swim with us.
Sunset, from our back yard
