JULY 7, 2015
OUR FAVORITE TOWN. Of all the towns and villages we’ve visited on Cape Cod, our favorite and perhaps the most picturesque and charming is Chatham. If the Cape is viewed as a bent arm, Chatham is the elbow. The geographic features of the town are hilly, wooded uplands, extensive barrier beaches, spits, harbors, numerous small estuaries and both salt and freshwater ponds. Main Street is a shopper’s paradise, lined with tempting stores and restaurants. Historic churches, museums and antiques, beautiful homes, fishing boats in a harbor, and a lighthouse make this a must-visit spot on the Cape.
Shopping in Chatham.
This little church in the center of town opened its doors in 1782. As with many of these New England churches, a cemetery is located on the grounds.
To give you an idea of just how steeped in history is New England, you can see on this headstone that the Reverend Nathan Underwood served “with Washington in the Revolutionary War.” That would be George Washington.
Fishing boats on parade in the harbor at Chatham.
Fishing boats unload the day’s catch at this dock every afternoon.
U.S. Coast Guard craft in the harbor at Chatham. Not a bad place to go to work every day, I’d say.
Just outside the harbor at Chatham.
Beachfront residence overlooking the harbor entrance at Chatham.
Chatham Light
Patriotism on display in Chatham.
If the winters weren’t so cold here, I’d move to a house like this one in a heartbeat.
This little beach is at the end of a narrow street in a residential neighborhood in Chatham. It reminds me of where my family spent summers, on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California.
This is Balboa Island, California. My family spent every summer here when I was growing up. It looks similar to the picture above, in Cape Cod, doesn’t it?
Setting sun at day’s end. I heard on the local TV News that a wildfire in Canada created the conditions that allowed me to get this photograph.
A LITTLE ABOUT CHATHAM. Situated on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Chatham’s dramatic coastal setting offers a summer retreat for tourists and folks escaping the heat of New York and Boston. The town’s population is five-fold greater in the summer than it is in the winter. Known as the “First Stop of the East Wind,” Chatham’s past is intertwined with the sea.
JOIN US AGAIN SOON. OUR ADVENTURE CONTINUES.
