26 April 2010

Weekend Road Trip #1 - Plymouth and Cape Cod Canal

Rockin' and a Rollin, Splishin' and a Splashin'!

This is the first of what I hope is a series of weekend road trips. Yeah, gas is pricey, again, but I can offset those carbons by riding my bike to work as often as possible!
Distance Cambridge to Plymouth 34 miles. A mini-road trip this time.

Plymouth Rock . Have you seen it? This is the place where the Pilgrims landed when they hopped off the Mayflower after that long cruise across the ocean blue (yeah, I know that was Columbus' line, but it's the SAME ocean! So pffffffft!!!). At most tourist sites, they take the "thing" they're famous for, and showcase it! But that is so not how they roll in New England!

Wanna see the Plymouth Rock??? Walk down to the small neo-classical stone temple down by the water and look...WAY DOWN! See that little rock down 10 feet down in the hole? HISTORY! :-D They did pull it out of the fire with the Mayflower II . Why, yes, it is a replica of the actual Mayflower. Y'all know that's cool; don't front!

Note: Take a moment to for the Native American perspective on the Pilgrim Landing at Plymouth.

Next stop, the Cape Cod Canal. Any old timer Cape Cod road tripper knows that you're NOT on the Cape until you cross the Sagamore Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. It's the "Widest Sea Level Canal in the World"! Woo hoo. It is neat. You can sit on the banks and watch big barges and pleasure boats take the short cut across the cape, bypassing the dangerous shoals that kept the Pilgrims stuck in Massachusetts (they were trying for New York, true story!)

I think the thing that struck me the most was the realization that I would NEVER BE CAUGHT DEAD in either of these places after Memorial Day! There was just the right amount of folks milling about in Plymouth. No traffic jams, or long waits for the restaurants. Parking was abundant. In summer, it would be unbearable, and frankly, the sights (and sites) really aren't worth the traffic.

See pics from the road trip
Hmmm...where to go NEXT weekend?

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