Providence, RI; Chatham, MA and the Great Island Cape Cod National Seashore in Wellfleet

For some odd reason I keep calling it Chatham MAINE but we're in Massachusetts! Before we arrived to our rental house in Chatham-which is considered the outer cape- we stopped in Providence, Rhode Island to do the touristy thing (i.e. see the surrounding area of Brown University). Providence, the capital city of Rhode Island, was found(ed?) by a dude named Roger Williams who came over ten years (from England) after the original English settlers/Pilgrims started colonizing/imperializing (sp?) the New World. Once in the New World, the Puritans and he couldn't play nicely and the Puritans wanted him legally deported back to England. He bailed and eventually settled in what is now called Providence. His apt naming was due to its beauty coming only from God's providence. Here is Prospect Park with Roger Williams looking over his city and gesturing to the fine citizens to slow it down. Here's what the statued Mr. Williams oversees everyday...

I'm starting to dig the East Coast geographical offerings and the super-sized history backing up its reputation. We really haven't gotten out of sweet Melissa's 4runner yet to personally suss our surroundings. Speaking of 4runner, we're traveling with six hominds (Team M plus mother in-law), five bikes, travel food and clothes to last us two weeks worth of cycling, hiking, and beach lounging. Here's the faithful rig parked in front of some prime real estate off of Prospect St. located in College Hill formerly Prospect Hill. College Hill is home to University luminaries like Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

College Hill's what you would consider old school, mansions-on-a-hill, stately East Coast pedigreed moolah. I can see why Mr. Williams considered his settlement rather providential...


I forgot any form of jacket but in hindsight the East Coast was experiencing a rather nasty heat wave but just in case it got cold (never did) we stopped in a Salvation Army clothing store outside of the Cape and bought a royal blue $4 jacket with the stitched letters C-O-S-T-A (on my right pec) and R-I-C-A (on my left pec) for myself.

Once inside our elegant Chatham rental home, we bunked in this. This view's from the front door looking towards the living room...

...and if you climbed that ladder on the right, that was the 1/2 story loft where the chilluns slept...

...and from the living room looking to the kitchen and front entrance.


An observation: there sure are a butt-load of Dunkin' Donuts here! Well Dunkin' Donuts was founded in Massachusetts, hence its ubiquity. All sorts out here, drive-thrus, 24 hours, breakfasts...awesome. Nothing wrong with having doughnuts available to you 24 hours.

For Dinner in Chatham, we ate at an establishment called The Box Office Cafe. Not only can you order some pizza/food named after well-known American movies but you can watch movies inside on the various couches while eating or rent a DVD or two, and in the morning order all manner of foodstuffs to break ones fast. Nobody wanted to go halfsies with me on the Tora! Tora! Tora! pizza whose main ingredients were wasabe and shrimp (doesn't that sound/taste appealing?). We walked on the bike path from our house to this restaurant and noticed how Chatham's flora was abundant and photosynthesizing volumes but its humidity oppressive.

Here's the local beach, within walking distance, we lounged on the 4th, called Ridgevale. It was Africa-hot that day...Chatham is pretty hoidy-toidy if you compare it to other towns out here on the Cape. Yes, it has a merchant filled, quaint, walker friendly downtown but at an area called Shore Road you'll see some upscale, world-class beach front homes and hotels.

The morning after we went for a 7 mile hike at the Great Island Cape Cod National Seashore's trail for the Great Beach Hill, located on Chequesset Neck Road in Wellfleet. We would've hiked to Jeremy's Point but it was submerged due to high tide. The East Coast heat wave was in full swing and we were dying. Of course we can never wake up early enough (to avoid the heat) because our circadian rhythms have switched to vacation mode (i.e. sleeping in)! Nothing like sand reflecting UV rays back at you on the hike. Once we arrived at Great Beach Hill (after passing some salt marshes), we decided to climb the bluff, go the shore, remove our shoes and hike back sans shoes skirting between the Atlantic Ocean and sand (rather than reversing our direction). There was hardly another soul out there for our trek.
Here's the Great Beach Hill on the left...

we hit the return, main trail from this boardwalk...


We rehydrate and fill our tummies with ice cream and candy in the hustling and bustling (downtown of) Wellfleet and head back to Chatham in Cape Cod rush hour traffic.