djbooks, I appreciate your suggestions. You seem very knowledgeable about the Cape, so I would love your opinion about my itinerary ideas. I last posted at approximately the same time you did, so I had not read your post yet, nor had you read mine.

Chatham seems to be most Fodorites' suggestion for a 3 day weekend. However, Chatham is a bit pricey that time of year. This is one reason I would like to stay in Sandwich for my final (3rd) night. The other reason is that I have consistantly read in guide books that it is a very charming village and shouldn't be missed. If I go with this plan, I can have the best of both worlds ...I hope.

Your points were well taken, though, regarding check in time at my accommodations in Sandwich, as well as having to pack and unpack again. I will have to look into the latest check-in time at the inn. As far as packing and unpacking, I am used to it from a few European vacations I have taken.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am also considering an extra pre-night (Thursday) in either Yarmouth Port, Brewster, or, possibly, Provincetown. So, my tentative itinerary is this:

Thursday night in Yarmouth Port, Brewster, or Provincetown

Friday and Saturday nights in Chatham

Sunday night in Sandwich

What do you think? My idea was to drive along 6A, on Thursday, to my choice of accommodations, and then possibly continue on to P-town, hoping that traffic won't be too bad on a weekday.

On the second day I will move to the Captain's House Inn, in Chatham, for 2 nights. While I am there, I would like to have time to enjoy the inn, and the village of Chatham, as well as go to Eastham for the beach, and also to try and visit the Audubon sanctuary.

On, Sunday, we have tickets at the Melody Tent in Hyannis for a performance that begins at 4:00 PM.

Monday, enjoy the areas of Sandwich and East Sandwich before going home.

I would appreciate your opinion of this plan. You also seem to have some great ideas about how to efficiently fill the days in Cape Cod, so please share anything that would help make our stay more wonderful. Also, do you think we should stay in Yarmouth Port, Brewster, or P-town the first night?

Thanks again djbooks. I'll be looking forward to your reply!

Gene the so called Cape Cod expert.......
1. "There is no public boat from anywhere in Massachusetts to Provincetown, other than the ferries from Boston.".............try Plymouth MA

"The majority of Cape Cod visitors are affluent, families, staying on vacation at mid to upper scale resorts like you.".........Where did you get this information? Cape Cod seriously lacks upscale resorts but has an abundance of overpriced, overused, motels. Affluent? more like middle class.

"This means very high traffic everywhere and minimum 5 day stays at most accomodations."..........never seen 5 day minimums on holiday weekends. more like 3 day minimums.

"hundreds of quaint villages, harbors, beaches and sites".........really,hundreds? Must of missed something

djkbooks, is the Cape Cod guide you recommended by Kim Grant?? I just want to be sure that I'm looking for the right one.

Thanks

Topped for Gene to read.

happy2travel, the seals I saw last week were all out on a sand bar, hundreds of them all together, sunning, scratching, singing, and if you can believe my brother-in-law, interacting in a more intimate fashion as well. It was low tide. I had previously taken a tour at high tide and we saw lots of seals, but they were swimming instead of sunning themselves.

I see that you are now considering spending a night in Provincetown. This can be lots of fun, but it won't be the romantic, isolated, untouristy kind of experience. Provincetown is a great place to walk around at night to observe the human parade in its many and most colorful variants. But VERY touristy.

In addition to the art galleries in Provincetown, there are many galleries in Wellfleet, which is a very picturesque town.

As far as beaches in Eastham go, which are you considering? The National Seashore visitor center is in Eastham as well as two national seashore beaches on the ocean. The parking is problematic, however. You have to park at a location away from the beach and take a shuttle to the beach unless you arrive early enough to park at Nauset Light Beach, which has a rather small parking lot. If you want to go to a National Seashore beach in the area, you can also consider Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, which is quite near the Audubon Sanctuary and which has a much larger parking lot.

If you decide to stay in Brewster, try to get to the bay at low tide to walk out on the flats. One way to do this without paying for a Brewster beach sticker (which must be purchased at the town hall) is to park at the Museum of Natural History and walk on the Wing Island Trail out to the bay. Another way to avoid the sticker requirement is to arrive at any bay beach in Brewster after 3:00 PM. Do check the tides, though. In Brewster you can not swim at low tide but you can walk out into the bay for miles. At high tide you can swim, but the beach becomes much more narrow.

Nikki, thanks for the detailed info regarding the seal viewing and the beaches. It seems like a little bit of a hassle to visit the Eastham beaches, but they have been highly recommended. However, since we would like to visit the Audubon Sanctuary, it might make more sense for us to visit Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. Which beach do you prefer?

Also, thanks for the tips regarding the bay in Brewster. That would also be an interesting experience, especially during low tide.

Now, I just have to decide whether we should stay in Provincetown, Brewster, or Yarmouth Port. Although P-town sounds like a great time, and I definitely want to visit, I'm not sure it would be the right place for us to stay overnight. Brewster seems nice for an overnight stay but, according to what I have read, it might be very similar to Chatham. Yarmouth Port would certainly be different, but there isn't much to do in the area. You have also tempted me with Wellfleet, which sounds like it has a very nice village center, and has the Audubon Sanctuary and Marconi Beach right there. Of these 4 towns, which would be your first choice?

Nikki, thanks again. The information you shared with me is most helpful!

happy2travel, Brewster and Yarmouth Port are not that different from each other and are about fifteen minutes apart on Route 6A.

Ahh, which beach do I prefer? That's a question that generates lots of discussion among visitors. My friend Ellen, the pickiest beach afficionado, claims that Coast Guard Beach in Eastham has fewer rocks than Marconi in Wellfleet or Nauset Beach in Orleans, so she is willing to put up with the minor hassle of the shuttle from the parking lot. She might be right. However, all the ocean beaches are beautiful, and there is a lovely ocean beach in Chatham, where you are staying, although I have not been there.

For salt water swimming I prefer the bay, particularly the bay beaches on the north side of Dennis, since you can swim there even at low tide. In Eastham and Brewster, the tide goes way out, so you can only swim in the bay at high tide. I believe there are nice bay beaches in Wellfleet also that are less tidally dependent. For all bay beaches, you will need to pay for parking, since they are run by the individual towns. The ocean has more surf, which is fun if you like the waves, but the bay has beautiful water if you like to swim laps, as I do. This said, however, my absolute favorite places to swim are the fresh water ponds.

Where to stay? There is no one right answer, you have lots of good choices, have a great time.

Nikki, thanks for the beach info. I didn't realize that there were many fresh water ponds along Cape Cod. Where are they located?

As far as where to stay for the first night, I guess that your point was both Brewster and Yarmouth Port are similar and close enough that either would be fine. Based on your comments (and other research)I checked into staying in Eastham or Wellfleet, but the accommodations there are very limited. Eastham has either very expensive Inns, or inexpensive motels -nothing in between. Wellfleet doesn't have much in the way of accommodations at all.

So, even though, originally, I wasn't thinking about staying in Provincetown, I looked into accommodations there. I found the Crowne Pointe Historic Inn, which looks like a beautiful upscale inn with many amenities, and a great location, right in the middle of things. What do you think about Provincetown as a place to stay for the night?

I thought that we could head up there our first day (we would leave at 5 or 6 in the morning so we would get to P-town by lunchtime). Hopefully, the traffic conditions will be lighter since it will be a Thursday. We could have lunch, go whale watching, enjoy the inn for a bit, and then go out for the evening. The next day we could leave before lunch and head towards Chatham, stopping at Wellfleet along the way.

What do you think? I am looking forward to reading your opiniion.

happy2, you shouldn't run into bad traffic on Thursday morning, sounds like a good time to head up to P-town if you decide to spend the first night there. Plenty to do up there, lots of beaches in the National Seashore, bike trails, walking paths, in addition to the town itself and the whale watches. And as I said before, the night time scene is quite entertaining.

There are fresh water ponds all over the Cape, kettle ponds formed by the melting of the receding glaciers at the end of the Ice Age. Best to inquire where you are staying. Most are town owned, although there are a couple on National Seashore property in Wellfleet. There are several at Nickerson State Park in Brewster, where admission is free.

If you follow the plan you outlined in your last note and spend a day driving down to Chatham, consider stopping at the National Seashore Visitor Center in Eastham to see the small but interesting museum. There are some nice walking trails in that area; my favorite is the Fort Hill Trail. There will be information about the trails at the visitor center. Of course if you have already walked on the trails at the Audubon Sanctuary on your way through Wellfleet, you might skip the trails in Eastham. Very different views, however, as the Audubon Sanctuary is on the bay and the National Seashore trails are along the ocean side.

Nikki, thanks for the additional information. I am looking forward to hiking the trails you mentioned, and discovering at least a few freshwater ponds. Thanks again!

Happy, sorry I didn't see your ? sooner, was visiting my parents out of town this week. But Yes, all the rooms have the stocked fridge with the in room snacks. ;)