Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and coastal Maine questions please.
Aug 18th, 2019, 01:12 AM
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Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and coastal Maine questions please.
Hello all.
We are travelling to Cape Cod, where we are spending three days, followed by four days with Portland, Maine, as our base at the end of September.
Our first question is: On a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard, is it possible to use buses to travel from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown? Is this recommended please? We are trying to avoid bringing our rented car on to the ferry as the price is more than a little horrifying, as is the daily car rental at Martha’s Vineyard.
Our second question is: We’d love to go whale watching. Should we do this on Cape Town or further alone the Maine coast please?
Many thanks for your advice.
Lisa
We are travelling to Cape Cod, where we are spending three days, followed by four days with Portland, Maine, as our base at the end of September.
Our first question is: On a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard, is it possible to use buses to travel from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown? Is this recommended please? We are trying to avoid bringing our rented car on to the ferry as the price is more than a little horrifying, as is the daily car rental at Martha’s Vineyard.
Our second question is: We’d love to go whale watching. Should we do this on Cape Town or further alone the Maine coast please?
Many thanks for your advice.
Lisa
Last edited by uklisa; Aug 18th, 2019 at 01:47 AM.
Aug 18th, 2019, 06:00 AM
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Do not bring your car to MV - there are taxis and vans to get you to whatever section of the island you want to go to, and parking there is a nightmare.
Are you taking a ferry out of Hyannis or Falmouth?
Are you taking a ferry out of Hyannis or Falmouth?
Aug 18th, 2019, 06:14 AM
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Hi capecod73.
Thanks for the advice. We are taking the ferry from Wood’s Hole.
We’d prefer not to take the car - it is expensive - but thought taxis might be pricey too and weren’t sure how regular the bus service would be at the end of September. We do want to see the entire island, not just the towns.
Would parking still be terribly difficult at the end of September?
Many thanks,
Lisa
Thanks for the advice. We are taking the ferry from Wood’s Hole.
We’d prefer not to take the car - it is expensive - but thought taxis might be pricey too and weren’t sure how regular the bus service would be at the end of September. We do want to see the entire island, not just the towns.
Would parking still be terribly difficult at the end of September?
Many thanks,
Lisa
Aug 18th, 2019, 07:15 AM
#4
https://www.mvy.com/getting-around.html We tried one day to get there from Woods hole and the seas were so rough they cancelled the ferry. I have had better luck getting to Nantucket.
Aug 18th, 2019, 07:51 AM
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If you take the ferry from Falmouth it takes you to Oak Bluffs. You can easily bike from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown on the bike trail. Another option would be to rent a car on the island.
You can whale watch from either area. I believe the whale habitat off the tip of Provincetown may be the best in New England.
You can whale watch from either area. I believe the whale habitat off the tip of Provincetown may be the best in New England.
Aug 19th, 2019, 05:16 AM
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Aug 20th, 2019, 07:21 AM
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Not sure where you are staying in Falmouth but Woods Hole is difficult from a parking and congestion perspective. You'll likely have to park at a Steamship lot and then they bus you in which adds another 20 plus minutes to the process. Consider taking the Island Queen. It's a smaller boat but parking is easier and closer (hint - it's what the locals all take if we are going to MV 
but check the schedule as I know they shut down at some point in the fall.
Whale watching - again, depends where on Cape Cod you are staying. If you're based in Falmouth or that area it's a LONG (2 hours or more) drive to PTown. Look into boats departing from Barnstable Harbor that still cruise up to the PTown area to see the whales.
but check the schedule as I know they shut down at some point in the fall. Whale watching - again, depends where on Cape Cod you are staying. If you're based in Falmouth or that area it's a LONG (2 hours or more) drive to PTown. Look into boats departing from Barnstable Harbor that still cruise up to the PTown area to see the whales.
Aug 20th, 2019, 11:38 AM
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Woods hole or Falmouth will both be more than an hour from Brewster, look at both ferry schedules and see which works best for your time frame and be sure to add 20 minutes or so to get from the parking to the ferry. Look at the ferry times both going and returning.
Aug 20th, 2019, 12:00 PM
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Regarding the whale watching - take Dolphin Fleet out of PTown. Captain Scott in particular is awesome.
Aug 23rd, 2019, 06:05 PM
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Do you need restaurant recommendations? I just returned from the Cape today, and we had lunch at the Sesuit Harbor Café in Dennis, which borders Brewster. It's one of the best meals I've had on the Cape, and definitely one of the best waterfront locations. The Café overlooks the marina and Cape Cod Bay. It's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm not sure when it closes for the season. There is only outside dining. It was wonderful sitting outside overlooking the boats and the water. I think it's better than Cobies and Kate's Seafood.
Aug 23rd, 2019, 09:20 PM
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Thanks so much Karen. That’s much appreciated. We hadn’t started looking at restaurants yet.
We also plan to explore as much of the Cape as possible but are there are stand out spots you could highlight please?
Many thanks again for the restaurant recommendation.
Lisa
We also plan to explore as much of the Cape as possible but are there are stand out spots you could highlight please?
Many thanks again for the restaurant recommendation.
Lisa
Aug 24th, 2019, 08:12 AM
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Parking and traffic and crowds are only a problem on MV between July 4th week and approximately August 20th.
Bus service will get you everywhere but you may get stuck in Menemsha and Aquinnah for awhile waiting for the next bus to come.
Round trip walk on from Woods Hole is $17. Round trip from Falmouth is more and from Hyannis way more, but faster and more convenient for Brewster. Whale watches from P-town.
Bus service will get you everywhere but you may get stuck in Menemsha and Aquinnah for awhile waiting for the next bus to come.
Round trip walk on from Woods Hole is $17. Round trip from Falmouth is more and from Hyannis way more, but faster and more convenient for Brewster. Whale watches from P-town.
Aug 24th, 2019, 08:56 AM
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Thanks Egbert. We are on Martha’s Vineyard for a day trip on 28 September, having had three days in Boston before, and have now booked on to the Wood’s Hole ferry with our rental car so we can see as much of the Island between 9am and 7pm.
The next day we’ve booked a whale-watching tour with Dolphin Fleet in Provincetown.
The remainder of our three-and-half days will be spent exploring Cape Cod before we head up the Maine coast for four days with Portland as our base. We go on to Vermont for four days before ending the holiday with a couple of days in the Berkshires.
Thanks so much for all the advice.
Lisa
The next day we’ve booked a whale-watching tour with Dolphin Fleet in Provincetown.
The remainder of our three-and-half days will be spent exploring Cape Cod before we head up the Maine coast for four days with Portland as our base. We go on to Vermont for four days before ending the holiday with a couple of days in the Berkshires.
Thanks so much for all the advice.
Lisa
Aug 25th, 2019, 03:54 PM
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After your whale watch cruise and visit to MV, you don't have a lot of time. But I will suggest beautiful places to visit for the remainder of your stay on the Cape. Depending on the time of your whale watch cruise in Provincetown, perhaps you can visit some of the places that same day.
Where are you coming from? How much do you know about Cape Cod?
Most people consider the outer Cape as the "real" Cape Cod. The towns of the outer Cape include Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. I also consider Eastham (lower Cape) as part of the real Cape Cod because this is where the Cape Cod National Seashore begins. President John Kennedy established the National Seashore in 1961, and thus protected the ocean, marshes, and dunes from ugly commercialization.The Salt Pond Visitor Center is in Eastham. There are hiking and biking trails (flat) that lead to Nauset Marsh. Last September we spent a few days in Eastham and went on several scenic and easy walks out to the Marsh. I think we picked up one of the trails at the Fort Hill area. We stopped at the Tourist Information center on Rt 6, and I asked for a book on scenic walks. These are easy walks; we are 69 and 72, and I had arthritis pain at the time, but was able to manage these walks. One of our favorite restaurants is Arnolds, located on Rt 6 in Eastham. It's a clam shack but quite large now; it's grown and expanded over the years. They take only cash or checks. I think they are only open on weekends in September. Delicious fried whole belly clams, oysters, and lobster rolls!!
Wellfleet has a beautiful center with many art and pottery galleries, small shops and restaurants. It is known for their oysters! One of our favorite restaurants is the Bookstore Restaurant overlooking Mayo Beach. The Massachusetts Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Wellfleet, and has many scenic and beautiful nature walks, all flat, easy to do. We did this last summer with our young grandchildren and pushing a stroller. There is a boardwalk trail that takes you over a salt marsh to a small beach.
Truro, the next town after Wellfleet, has a very, very small downtown. Rt 6A follows the water very closely. There are vineyards in Truro, and Highland Light, the Cape's oldest lighthouse, is in Truro. I think this is where we took another gorgeous walk last September.
Then you come to Provincetown, the end of the Cape, and the end of the National Seashore. The National Seashore runs through Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. Provincetown is liberal and diverse, with upscale art galleries and boutiques mixed in with your tacky t-shirt and souvenir shops. There are restaurants with outdoor dining facing the beach and harbor/wharf. The Province Lands Visitor Center is located in Provincetown, with more hiking/biking trails through the sand dunes. Very scenic!
Brewster, where you are staying, is lovely, too. Route 6A is very pretty and scenic with nice houses, some restaurants, cute stores, not tacky or commercialized at all. We rented a house in Brewster for a week last summer with our family and had a great time! The bay beaches are beautiful with warm, calm waters. I assume you won't be swimming in September but it's a great place for walks along the beach. We love stopping at the Brewster Store, a general store on Rt 6A, with an eclectic inventory, from children's books to kitchen stuff to unique cards, soaps, etc. There are also more scenic nature walks taking you through forests, marshland and ponds, to the bay, at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.
And one more restaurant recommendation: We had dinner recently at Mahoney's Atlantic Bar and Grill on Main Street in Orleans (next to Brewster). I had the best cod ever. It was cooked perfectly! My sister loved her sole amandine and my mom loved her bowl of clam chowder. This is a nice sit-down restaurant; it's not a clam shack. I love clam shacks but sometimes it's nice to be waited on.
I know I've given you a lot of information and you don't have a lot of time, but hopefully you will find something in my post that calls out to you!
Aug 25th, 2019, 11:39 PM
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Hello Karen.
We live in Exeter in Devon in the UK after having previously lived in Barnstaple in North Devon. We’re about an hour from Plymouth and it’s been really interesting coming across Barnstable, Falmouth, Truro, Gloucester and Biddeford (Bideford here) and other very familiar names.
We are very grateful for all the information you’ve generously provided. We’re members of the Ramblers here in the UK and so would love to fit in a couple of walks but, you’re quite right, we don’t have much time due to our day on Martha’s Vineyard on the whale-watching at Provincetown. Might me a few early starts and later finishes so we can do justice to all the opportunities for exploration.
Thank again Karen.
Lisa
We live in Exeter in Devon in the UK after having previously lived in Barnstaple in North Devon. We’re about an hour from Plymouth and it’s been really interesting coming across Barnstable, Falmouth, Truro, Gloucester and Biddeford (Bideford here) and other very familiar names.
We are very grateful for all the information you’ve generously provided. We’re members of the Ramblers here in the UK and so would love to fit in a couple of walks but, you’re quite right, we don’t have much time due to our day on Martha’s Vineyard on the whale-watching at Provincetown. Might me a few early starts and later finishes so we can do justice to all the opportunities for exploration.
Thank again Karen.
Lisa
Last edited by uklisa; Aug 25th, 2019 at 11:53 PM.
Aug 30th, 2019, 02:46 PM
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I would recommend https://www.fivefifty-five.com/ restaurant in Portland for a nice meal. They have a delicious signature tasting menu that allows you for several courses and you can get it paired with wine or not. We eat there for our anniversary each year. For a good lobster "shack" and a lobster roll Portland Lobster Co is great, and has some good seating on the water. If you like food ( we do!) they have great Maine Foodie Tours in Portland, Kennebunkport, Boothbay Harbor and Bar Harbor. All are fantastic. We did a Lobster Boat tour through Lucky Catch in Portland and it was very fun and informative.
Booth Bay Harbor is a cute little town that has the Topside Inn bed and breakfast which is really nice. Check that out if you need accommodations.
Booth Bay Harbor is a cute little town that has the Topside Inn bed and breakfast which is really nice. Check that out if you need accommodations.
