Travel Cape Cod for 4th of July

[Gimmethebag]

Anyone have any recommendations for places to go and things to do on Cape Cod?

We're going for the first week in July and are staying at the Chatham Bars Inn. We have a whale watching charter and plans for the hotel's annual 4th of July BBQ/clam bake already but I would like to visit the towns nearby and see more of the Cape. It's my first time in New England.

 

[KM7029]

See the parade in Chatham on the morning of 7/4. Also, check out a little bit of a Chatham band concert if you are there on a Friday night. Definitely check out Lighthouse Beach in that town too.

Take a trip up to Provincetown, wander the town and go on a Sand Dune tour. Visit one of the majestic National Seashore Beaches in Wellfleet.

 

[mcb100]

We went to Cape Cod last summer and loved it, although we did not stay in the same part as you. I went on a whale watching tour there and I really loved it. My SO did not go on the whale watching tour with me though, as the boat was going really fast and he did not want to get sea sick. It was a really great experience-- I saw several whales, one whale breeched and I saw a shark (only from the top). I usually do not like tourist attractions, to be honest.

Our favorite beach was Mayflower Beach. The water was cold, but it was clear waters and almost white sand when we went. Lots of seagulls. I collected quite a ton of pretty shells from the beach. Not bright pink shells like you would find in Florida but still very pretty shells.

We stopped at Eden Hand Arts. I met some great people and got a 14k gold bracelet that you can only buy in Massachusetts, so it was a great souvenir for me. I found several good seafood places to eat, which wasn't cheap but the food was amazing. I ate lobster and a lot of scallops, very yummy. We also did the lighthouse tour on a cloudy day and climbed up inside of it--it was surprisingly informative.

 

[Gimmethebag]

Update in case anyone searches for a similar topic:

Our favorite meal: Chatham Wine Bar

The food at this tiny spot was absolutely incredible. It's a very European menu (Spanish and Italian). I had the crab cake, some of a cheese plate (fig almond cake was fantastic), lobster bisque, seared scallops over beet and carrot purees, and a Boston creme cake bomb for dessert and everything was prepared perfectly.

I also liked our lunch at The Goose Inn based on our appetizer of lobster rangoons. We were honestly not very impressed with our meals at Chatham Bars Inn.

Go-to shops: Sea Bags (made from recycled sails), The Black Dog (Martha's Vineyard-based), Sara Campbell (Boston-based), and Violet's. I also really liked the Chatham Candy Manor.

Must-do activity: whale watching (we saw 6-8 whales!!) and touring the Chatham Bars Inn Farm in Brewster, MA. The Chatham 4th of July parade was indeed worth going to and 100% Americana.

I wish we had enough time to see the Cape Cod Chips factory. Traffic on the Cape is very real during the summer and especially on the weekends when people are arriving/departing. Instead of going to the potato chips factory, we left the Cape very early on Saturday so we wouldn't get stuck in traffic. We used the extra time to shop on Newbury Street in Boston before our flight.