Cape Cod Trip 2010

DAY TRIP TO CHATHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

While visiting Cape Cod last week, I took a day trip to visit the town and harbors around Chatham, Massachusetts which is on the southeast tip of Cape Cod. Such a beautiful, quaint little village with a very busy Main Street, lined with shops, boutiques and restaurants, along with the usual tourist attractions. I drove through town southeast to Morris Island, which is part of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. At the tip of Chatham, I drove past the Chatham Lighthouse. There you'll find a narrow road leading back to the refuge. On the right is Chatham Harbor filled with boats. On the left is the refuge which is basically flatlands with various water inlets weaving throughout.

Pulling up to the refuge office, I parked, got out and took the wooden plank walkway and steps leading down to the beach.





It was a really windy day with the wind blowing 25 mph. Walking along the shore, I encountered plovers and dead horseshoe crabs aplenty. Looking back at the refuge there was a large osprey nest almost dead center, with Mom and Pop flying to and from the nest, feeding their young. I have a few photos of the nest I'll post later, but wanted to post these images of the coastline and the harbor.

As you drive down the narrow road leading to the wildlife refuge, looking to the right, you'll see this beautiful little harbor lined with boats. It was late afternoon and the light was almost perfect.



The Chatham Lighthouse is in the background in this image below. As I walked from the refuge along the beach towards Chatham I noticed kayakers paddling back into the harbor.





These beach cottages were sitting out past the town, its harbors and the refuge. How do they manage not to get blown away in a storm, I'll never know.



My favorite image of Chatham has to be this lone boat floating in the water actually in the refuge itself.



I'll be posting quite a few photos of my trip in the next few days or weeks. Hope everyone had a great week. ENJOY!