The Rainbow Connection

The Cape Cod peninsula is one interestingly-shaped piece of land. It looks like an flexed arm extending from the Massachusetts coast complete with biceps, triceps and a little clenched fist. The bay sits snugly in the crook of the arm. I think God must have had a bit of fun shaping this bit of earth. We stayed at Hyannis, which is located at the elbow.

Flex those muscles!

Apparently, Hyannis and its port (Hyannisport) is well-known for churning out one of America's most prominent figures - John F. Kennedy. I'm a total gonzo when it comes to history (I chose to study rock formations and geographical processes in JC instead, cos we were authorised to doodle and make little sketches as part of the lesson), even more so if its American history, so that was a bit of trivia with a wow factor for me.

We spent the day driving up the arm along the Cape Cod National Seashore to Provincetown, located at the very end of the peninsula. Provincetown is unabashedly and unapologetically gay. Rainbow flags adorn the entrance at every building. Singers decked in spaghetti tops, skirts and heels belt out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "The Rainbow Connection" along the street.... in a deep, mellow bass. Happy people walk along hand in hand, past window displays with t-shirts screaming "I LOVE MY TWO DADS".

Paint the town pink!

Other than its colourful community and obvious gay pride, Provincetown is just like any other New England seaside town, coming alive as summer nears and especially vibrant and bustling over the Memorial Day weekend. We just soaked in the atmosphere along the streets, following our noses and disappearing into little fudge and nuts shops every now and then, always tempted by the tantalising aroma of waffle cones and roasted nuts riding merrily on the seabreeze.

Beached whale

Window displays are evil... evil!!

Chomping down on sweet cinnamon roasted cashews and almonds

Ahhh, the dog's life... and evidently that of a lucky human's too.

Row boats waiting patiently for the arrival of the summer holidays to get a fresh coat of paint
and a trip out to sea

The aisle that I would like to walk down someday, to my own little wooden tub

Lobster mascots advertising a Critter Tour

These quaint little shacks on the pier harbour tour offices, visitor services and even art shops

Just pottering around on the pier

The Whale Whisperer

After a hearty seafood lunch (which is worthy of its own blog entry - see later post), we drove back to Hyannis, stopping at small towns along the way. Some, like Truro, are named after their counterparts in England, Truro (the English version) being in Cornwall. With England being across the Atlantic from eastern USA, I guess it's no accident that many of the places on the coast share the same name as those in England, but with a "new" prefix i.e. New England, New York, New Hampshire, New London, etc. Tags like Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester and Portsmouth also make a frequent appearance as town or street names. I must say, however, that there is a marked difference between the beauty of the English originals and the muted American versions of these places. Truro certainly can't hold a candle to the lovely town in Cornwall with its dramatic rocky coast, charming thatchroofed B&Bs and Devonshire Teas.

But New England's greyish coastlines did have a gloomy charm of their own. Here, my sweet yellow manguin carefully chose a smooth pretty sandy-coloured pebble to present to me. (Male penguins really do screen pebbles for the prettiest ones to present to their mates - pretty much like the engagement ring concept.) He said the pebble represents him - not very tall and slightly rounder in the middle :)

Wet, cold and shiny

Goodnight, Cape Cod, goodnight!