Postcards from Around the World

Leaf Peeping in New England (8)

[Leaf peeping is an informal term in the United States and Canada for the activity in which people travel to view and photograph the fall foliage in areas where leaves change colours in autumn, particularly in northern New England]

When I was teaching it meant holidays could only be taken during the school holidays when it was more expensive and busy. And I couldn’t tag on to the OH’s conferences either. Which is why during one October half term we decided to do a fly drive holiday to the eastern side of the USA and do a spot of leaf peeping.

Provincetown

is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. When we arrived there the weather had improved and we stopped to take a walk around what is quite a quirky little town, with a lovely harbour. Often called “P-town” or “Ptown”, the locale is known as a vacation destination for its beaches, harbour, artists and tourist industry.

Interestingly there was a strong Portuguese heritage (mainly immigrants from the Azores) whose families fished the waters off Cape Cod for over 200 years, built a major fish packing and distribution industry and made an important contribution to the history and culture of Provincetown. There was an art installation on one of the wharfs when we were there, but I imagine that has long gone due to the weather.

Unfortunately we didn’t visit the Pilgrim Monument and Museum which allows you to walk up the tower for spectacular views. I guess we were just all walked out by then.

We ate fish and chips in a café on Fisherman’s Wharf before setting off back along Route 6¹ to our hotel in Sandwich. It was getting dark as we approached the more urban areas and I couldn’t understand why oncoming cars kept flashing their lights at me, until I finally realised that my car was on full beam! The joys of a hire car.

¹U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honours an American Civil War veterans association, runs east-northeast from Bishop, California to PROVINCETOWN, Massachusetts.  From 1936 to 1964, it had its western terminus at Long Beach, California. During this time, US 6 was the longest highway in the country!

This is the last of the leaf peeping trip. I hope you enjoyed the scenery as much as I did.