Day 9, East Coast trip (Tuesday Sept. 26,2023)

Day 9 Cape Cod Sep. 26, 2023 

 Finally the sun came out at least for little bit today and there was no rain. It was windy along the coast, but the lighter sky raised everybody spirits I am sure. We set out today to see some of the lighthouses that are stretched out along the coast mostly facing the ocean side.

 The first lighthouse up route 6 was the Nauset Lighthouse . Perhaps I should begin by stating that many of the lighthouses on this coast have been moved, sometimes as many as four times because of the erosion on the cliffs on the Oceanside this. This Lighthouse has been moved two times just recently the entire complex was moved about a third of a mile inland. And that included the parking lot, the bathrooms and other outbuildings. Adjoining this lighthouse about half mile away are three small lighthouses just 25 feet high, no longer in service, and named the Three Sisters. When the first lighthouses were put up along this coast, Highland light which we will see next, was the first with one light tower. Then next came Chatham which we saw two days ago and it had two Light houses. So when they built the three sisters it was not intended that way but to not confuse the Mariners they built three lighthouses. Since that time this configuration has changed and of course now electronic lighting almost eliminates any duplication of lights.

Nauset Lighthouse Cape Cod

 So far internet activity is slow so I will post these three  until the AM

 We then moved further up the coast to the Highland light, which is about the third of a mile from the parking lot. There was however a driveway allowed for handicapped licenses and we took advantage of that. This save some walking. That is twice that we have found this advantage and courtesy. That allowed us to get some good photos as well as visit the gift shop where there was a museum with additional information about this Lighthouse. You can't go all week without buying something from the locals.!!!

Highland Lighthouse the first light on Cape Cod 

                                                it was first called "The Cape Cod Light" 

Then it was North to the tip of Cape Cod where there are three more lighthouses. One called Race Point named for the current that runs past this point. This is the site of many shipwrecks as combined with the current and the sandbars the ships coming around Cape Cod have a difficult time, especially in the old days of sailing ships and steamers. About 2 miles from the point, one sees immediately the amount of sand that makes up this tip of the cape. It surrounds the road on both sides and I'm sure with the 60 mile hour winds that are common here, keeping the roads cleared is a huge problem.. You might know that to get to the Race Point lighthouse, it is a 2 mile walk through sand. There are great stories about the lighthouse keepers who finally after walking to town to get supplies through that sand devised a Ford that could Drive through the sand equipped with tread like tracks. His sons had gotten very tired of walking to school those 2 miles through the sand every day.(And you think you had it tough in the snow?) 

Taken Three miles away this is the light one must

                                  walk the 2 miles through sand, to get to. It is called Race Point Lighthouse.
 

There are two more lights on two islands adjacent to Provncetown, (Another Pilgrims landing site), but we did not look for them on this day.(Woods End Lighthouse and Stage Harbor Lighthouse) 

 We returned to our campsite by way of picking up a tank full of propane (which went empty during the early morning), and Stopped at a place called" Burgers" and Ruth couldn't resist so we picked up two to go for supper. They were very good along with some sides but quite pricey at $30 dollars for the two!!! That was as expensive as the lobster we had two nights ago!!! 

It was a good day because of the improved weather. The wind was not high, but did keep the birds down. We did see a few and in the morning in the campground there were seven Flickers, a robin and a Bluejay that started our day off in good shape. My evening walk spotted a flock of Chimney Swifts. We did pass a few small cranberry marshes,but it is early yet. 

 Tomorrow we head for Northern Massachusetts on the coast near the town of Salisbury. There are some good wild life areas there and we hope to take advantage of that. Stay tuned and thanks for reading,––Jim