CN

My wife and I are just planning out our trip to Boston, Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard. We are leaving Vermont in about 2 weeks (in the Porsche) and touring to the east coast for a few days. Do any of you have suggestions for accommodations, restaurants & points of interest? I would appreciate any feedback. Our criteria is: nice, clean and older style with local character. We also appreciate high quality at a reasonable cost. Bed & Breakfast style accommodations would be considered. If anybody has any recommendations, we would very much appreciate the info. Thanks in advance.

RoninLB

P-town on the cape should still be really interesting. It turns into an artist colony in the summer.. like artists and designer pro's from europe/everywhere spend summer there seling their stuff. I wouldn't suggest it for kids, it's kinda funky. Plenty of evening action in the bars and exotic/different shops. In the day you have a choice of beaches. At the foot of the P-town's main drag is a nice hotel that's just far enough away from the entertainment. It may be called the Provincetown Inn? A bus is always passing thru for the 3min ride into town. Let's say you arrive in late afternoon, stay 1 full day, leave next am.. perfect.

art

I don't know the dates, but don't plan on doing anything in Boston during the Dem convention. The whole town is going to be locked down (unless you are a Kennedy).

If you are interested, this area (Westport) is really beautiful like the cape with lots of nice back roads and much less traffic. No 'attractions' other than the beach though. There is a small inn at the fishing dock called Paquachuck Inn.

2002M3Drew

Martha's Vineyard is going to be a little bit of a hassle for you, especially if you were planning on taking the car over. The only way to get cars over is by Steamship Authority Ferry, and reservations in the summer months are non-existant. I'm pretty sure they eliminated the old stand-by system for the summer months, as well, but you may want to call and check.

Otherwise, if you don't mind parking in Woods Hole or Falmouth and taking the ferry over as regular passengers w/o car, you can go without a reservation. I'd call and find reservations in an inn before going...they are extremely crowded in July and August! Try the Ocean Inn in Vineyard Haven or the Harbor View in Edgartown. You can also to some of the online MV travel sites...they have some kind of a rental assistance agency there, I think called MV Reservations? Not sure...haven't used them.

Good luck, it's worth the trip. The best season there is late September/early October...still warm, and 1/10th the crowd! And you can get your car there and back eaily.

CN

Thanks to everyone for all the valuable information. On the basis of what you have told me which has been confirmed, we have decided to stay in or near Cape Cod for the entire time we are in the area. We will arrive on the 26th of July and depart on the 29th. The only problem we are having is picking a hotel. There is lots to choose from and the Mrs. is very picky. Here is the hotel "best of all worlds" criteria:

Nice place
Near popular beach
Near popular shopping district (my wife has a black belt in shopping)
Easy access
Porsche friendly parking

Thanks again for all the information.

Regards,

dak911

There is (was some years ago ) a really neat motel at the far end of town, closest to the beaches, I think it is called The Moors, bit of a drive back to town but its quiet and they have a GREAT Portugese restaurant.

Buffalo

Here are a couple of great Boston area eating establishments from a California Boy.

Three years ago we did the cross country trip, with a tour of New England on our Harleys.

Go to Gloucester, Mass - easy trip from Boston. Give McT's a try-right on the water. We liked it so much we eat there two nights. Great Food.

When you are done, go to the Crows Nest Bar (from the movie "Perfect Storm") and have a beer.

Also, go to Rockport. Roy Moores Lobster Co. (commonly called a Lobster Pound) is a no frills, pick you lobster from the tank a sit on a crate kind of place. Fantastic.

Have a great time. If I could get another month off - "I would be outta here" and heading your way.

Regards

RoninLB

I mentioned a real perfect place to stay in my pervious post.

StanV

CN,

My wife and I were in Cape Cod in April (she ran the Boston marathon, so I needed a rest afterwards)

We stayed at a bed&breakfast that was really more like a country inn, called
Honeysuckle Hill, in Barnstable (it might have been West Barnstable). Heritage house, wonderful breakfasts, knowledgeable hosts, beautiful setting.

I don't know how easy it would be to get in, but you could try their website:

http://www.honeysucklehill.com/

Being April, the beaches were deserted but still incredible. We were told that it's pretty crowded in summer. Enjoy your holiday.

TroyN

I stayed here a couple of years back, it was nice, and right on the harbor in Hyannis. I think it fits all of your criteria but I'm not sure if there's a beach within walking distance. Very convenient location, nice view of the harbor.

deanp

There are a lot of great places to stay on the Cape depending on what you want. There are B&B's right in Provincetown which means walking distance to everything but the beach. The Provincetown In, as suggested is right at the tip, great views depending on the rooms plus there is a rock jetty that you can walk (1mile +/_) to get to a beach by the lighthouse.

Before the center of Provincetown are a bunch of motels on Rt 6A, The Tides is one that comes to mind, it is a Best Western Motel that has it's own stretch of private beach on the bay side. You will not find hotels/ motels on the ocean as that side is mostly National Seashore.

There are a number or reservation places in Provincetown that can assist you with reservations based on your requirements. Chatham and Truro are also nice, but if your wife desires shopping, you'll want P-town or Chatham for the boutiques. At the other end is Dennis, Hyannis, Yarmouth etc, but the real flavor of the Cape lies further up Rt 6.

Bear in mind that Provincetown has a strong gay community, and it is very open there. If this bothers you or your wife you may want to consider something else.

Hope this helps, you'll want to make reservations soon as rooms may be hard to come by as you are in the heart of the season.

deanp

Here are some links:

http://princealbertguesthouse.net/

http://www.provincetown.com/

http://www.capecod.com/


Oh, and one place to eat is Moby Dick's Rt 6 in Wellfleet. Low brow casual BYOB seafood place with great food, great service, etc..

CN

Thanks to all for your help, it has yet again, proven to be of great value to be a Rennlister. We have found a nice, highly recommended hotel in Yarmouth and we will be there Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday next week. As far as the "Gay" thing, well, we are both modern minded and appreciate the freedom of choice that others have so we won't be bothered by the openly gay actions of others. Thanks again for all the help.

Flyin Elvis

For a delightful evening of food try the Nauset Beach Club in Chatham. Great food and wine that is not boiled lobster and fried clams. About the post about concerning Gloucester; I live the next town over in Manchester. Drive past the Crowes Nest but unless you want to hang with junkies and drunks, don't go in. It's gross. The scenes from the Storm were shot at a bar they built for the movies. Also skip McTee's and go to the artist colony on Rocky neck to Madfish Grill or the Rudder. Better food and sit right on the harbor, open air. Also the Franklin Cape Ann on Main st is Boston food at Gloucester prices. I recently sold my 83 911SC and purchased a 90 C2; Cape Ann (north shore Cape) has very scenic cruising routes along the ocean, Rockport, back shore of Gloucester, Rt 127 down the coast through Salem etc. You will LOVE the ride. Flash twice if you approach a Silver C2 and have a great vacation where ever you go...

deanp

CN,

Yarmouth will be nice, be sure to take a day and go further up Rt 6. You won't be sorry. Happy to hear of your open mindedness, unfortunately my wife and I know people that won't go because of that. Sad....