Cape Cod Dune Shacks Trail

Those who a familiar with Provincetown may have wondered why all the cars are parked along Route 6 right before you get to town. We have wondered this for years and decided to find out. There is an unmarked path that is through the dunes- officially the Peaked Hills Bars Historic District. In addition to very large sand dunes, the area contains dune shacks that are part of the Provincetown’s rich history.

The history of the Provincetown Dune Shacks dates back to the 19^th century, before the construction of the Cape Cod Canal. During this time, ships traveling from New York to Boston or Halifax would have to negotiate the treacherous waters of outer Cape Cod that were peppered with constantly shifting shoals and sandbars from Chatham to Provincetown. Over time, Cape Cod had amassed over 3,000 shipwrecks and was notorious for its reputation as an ocean “graveyard”.

The dune shacks were initially built, in part with wreckage gathered from the beach, to house members of the US Lifesaving Service along the sparsely populated coastline. Their mission was to assist crew members who washed ashore after a wreck, providing emergency shelter and food until they could be returned home. After the completion of the Cape Cod Canal, ships were able to bypass the hazardous waters and the number of shipwrecks dropped off dramatically, making the lifesaving stations obsolete.

In the 1920’s, many of the dune shacks were purchased and rebuilt by painters and writers who flocked to the artist’s colony developing in Provincetown. Over the years, many well known creatives have spent time at the shacks developing their work including writers Jack Kerouac, e.e. cummings, Norman Mailer, Eugene O’Neil and painter Jackson Pollock.

Since the creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961, most of the real estate along the coast as been purchased by the federal government, including 18 of the 19 existing dune shacks. They are still available for rent in the summertime to artists that apply for residencies from one to several weeks in duration. (Knockabout Blog)

The trail out to the dune shacks and beach involes a fairly arduous 1 1/2 mile climb over some large dunes. You pass cranberry bogs where the natural aquifer rises to near-surface level.

This video gives an idea of what the hike is like. I reccomend it!

September 1, 2023 0

The Oyster Lady of Wellfleet

Originally published August, 2018

We are in Wellfleet today where the oysters are world famous. We decided to learn more about the Oyster farmers- commercial oysters are planted rather than hunted. There are about 80 three-acre “grants” or oyster beds leased from the town of Wellfleet. The grants are a centuries-old Wellfleet custom and right now about 250 people of the 3,000 people who reside in Wellfleet year round are making their income off these beds. The beds are only accessible for a few hours at low tide. One of the best “oystermen” in Wellfleet is actually a woman named Barbara Austin. She is a Wellfleet legend and a long time champion of the Annual Wellfleet Shucking Competition. Click here if you want to learn more about the oyster lady of Wellfleet.

August 29, 2023 0

Cape Cod Seasonal Workers: No Housing, No Job

We have been coming to Cape Cod for decades for summer vacation. After a lull in travel during COVID, the Cape Cod tourist industry is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Traffic at a crawl, crowded restaurants and booked up accomodations attest to this fact.

Even though the tourists are back, there is still a severe labor shortage in Cape Cod, as elsewhere in the U.S. Cape Cod businesses have relied on seasonal foreign student workers who come on a J-1 visas that require participants to find a place to stay before they arrive. Many are finding affordable housing to be non-existent.

There isn’t enough housing available, and the options that do exist aren’t affordable — according to Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents the region. “What the pandemic did is it put that problem on steroids,” Cyr said. As home prices have climbed and apartments have been converted to short-term rentals, suitable lodging has become harder to find.

Much of the housing on the Cape is people’s second and third homes, which became even more attractive for owners to occupy year-round during the pandemic. Additionally, a number of homes that, in the past, would have been rented out for seasonal workers have been converted to short-term rentals, according to Cyr. It is much more profitable to rent out houses by the day or week than for a month or whole season.

Businesses have had to innovate to find solutions to their labor shortages. Some hotels have turned to automating tasks and have guests check in at kiosks or on their phones.

Before the pandemic, if you wanted to order take-out at Mac’s Seafood, that has multiple locations on the Cape, you had to call them up. Then, during the pandemic, Mac’s Seafood adopted online ordering. Mac Hay, the owner estimates it’s saved five to seven minutes of staff time on each order, and it’s one of a number of measures they’ve taken to maximize staff time. (marketplace.org)

Chatham Bars Inn leases several buildings, including a motel, to provide beds for workers. That helps when it comes to hiring, said Danyel Matterson, Director of Human Resources for the beach resort.

This year, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce received $155,000 from the state to hire housing coordinator Christina Arabadzhieva to help solve the problem. In her first four months, the chamber has been able to place 90 J-1 visa students and identified about 50 new hosts. (Cape Cod Times).

Perhaps businesses facing labor shortages in other places around the U.S. can help themselves and help solve the housing crisis at the same time.

August 29, 2023 1

The Mooncussers of Cape Cod

Noun mooncusser (plural mooncussers) 1. (uncommon, historical,humorous) A land-based pirate who, on dark nights along dangerous coasts, would demolish any legitimate lighthouses or beacons, erect a decoy signal fire in a different, deliberately misleading location, and then, after having induced a shipwreck, subdue any survivors and plunder the wreckage for valuables. Wikionary

Mooncussers are a part of the mystique of Cape Cod history. Today there are several restaurants and bars with this name. According to local travel guide, Cape Cod Travel, mooncussers were a lazy version of a sea pirate, and are described as scoundrels whose acts were despicable (2010).

In his 1937 book, Mooncussers of Cape Cod, Henry Kittredge recounts stories from old time Cape Cod residents about the colorful characters and the shipwrecks of historic Cape Cod. He quotes “a Boston newspaper,” c. 1760:

“There is a tradition that a band of robbers anciently

infested the shores of Cape Cod. These robbers, mounted on

horses, are said to have decoyed vessels on to the rocks in

the darkest nights by means of large lanterns, and,

plundering them of everything, put the sailors to death, etc.

They are now usually known by the name of moon-cussers.”

Kittredge is skeptical about the truth of this telling, especially since there are not rocks on the sandy shores of Cape Cod. However, there were many documented shipwrecks on the outer shoals of Cape Cod, so it is entirely likely that people scavenged materials from wrecks. The question is how cut throat were these folks? Angela Macdonald, who wrote her masters thesis on the myth of the mooncussers, states that there was recognition of the fact that mooncussers were sometimes legitimate salvagers and that they often saved shipwrecked sailors before they robbed them. A case in federal court sided with the mooncussers after an 1859 case where a “salvage crew” out of Chatham, Massachusetts was accused of piloting a ship in distress without its owner. The salvage crew claimed to see the ship in distress, so they saved it from impending doom. Ultimately, the crew was awarded $259 plus court costs (2010).\ Whatever the truth is about mooncussers, the legend lives on.

August 26, 2023 0

Truro, a Nature Lover’s Paradise

We are in Truro on Cape Cod, where we have been coming for some years now. Truro, located on the outer cape near Provincetown is the least populated town on the Cape. Known for its wild, natural beauty, dramatic sandy cliffs, and prehistoric kettle holes, it is popular with writers, artists, and nature lovers.

We are again staying at Westoe cottage, built in the 1920’s, one of eight Sladeville Cottages, which are all part of the historic registry. The Westoe cottage is on the Pamet River, which is rich with wildlife as it meanders through the salt marsh. It is fun to float down the river with a lifejacket in the tidal current or kayak over to the Corn Hill Beach a short distance away.

According to the sound ID on my Merlin Bird app, I found a new bird for my life list- a Whimbrel, which I had never heard of. According to the Cape Cod Seashore National Park Service, Whimbrels “hunt in in saltmarshes and mudflats for fiddler crabs. They visually spot the crab’s burrow in the mud and then extract it using their long decurved bills. They also use this technique to capture swimming crabs, mud crabs, crayfish, mole crabs, small fish, marine worms, sea cucumbers, sand shrimp, and small mollusks such as coffee bean snails. They will rinse off the crabs they catch and remove the largest claw before they consume it.” There are certainly plenty of fiddler crabs here. John says I can’t put it on my life list until I actually see one, so off I go to spot a Whimbrel!

August 22, 2023 0