Cape Cod - can't miss - must avoid (Boston, Plymouth: home, live)

[knitgirl]

I'll be going to the Cape for the 1st time ever with my parents (70's but very active), adult sibs and a 5 yr old and a 7 yr old. We'll be staying in Orleans. Are there things that you would consider things not to miss that aren't necessarily obvious? Are there things that get a lot of hype that should be avoided? I live outside Chicago and tend to avoid Navy Pier which is an overpriced tourist trap, some people love it. We'll be there the last week in July. The 7 yr old loves baseball, so we're planning on a Cape Cod League game. Definitely will be doing some beach time, but that depends on the weather. Are whale watching trips fun for kids or too long? Are there any good farmers' markets? How about your favorite cheap restaurant? What about a nice place that has more upscale food but isn't wildly expensive? Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

[western mass and love it]

haha there is no cheap place to eat on the cape,unless you like 8 dollar hamburgs.

[clevedark]

I like Mac's in Wellfleet, altho it isn't cheap. It's a trip--for some reason every psychiatrist and psychotherapist on the east coast vacations in Wellfleet and Truro in August, and if you go to Mac's you'll see them all over the place, nodding at each other and stroking their beards. For real.

[CoastalMaine]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

haha there is no cheap place to eat on the cape,unless you like 8 dollar hamburgs.

That's total crap.

[CoastalMaine]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

I'll be going to the Cape for the 1st time ever with my parents (70's but very active), adult sibs and a 5 yr old and a 7 yr old. We'll be staying in Orleans. Are there things that you would consider things not to miss that aren't necessarily obvious? Are there things that get a lot of hype that should be avoided? I live outside Chicago and tend to avoid Navy Pier which is an overpriced tourist trap, some people love it. We'll be there the last week in July. The 7 yr old loves baseball, so we're planning on a Cape Cod League game. Definitely will be doing some beach time, but that depends on the weather. Are whale watching trips fun for kids or too long? Are there any good farmers' markets? How about your favorite cheap restaurant? What about a nice place that has more upscale food but isn't wildly expensive? Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

The CC League games are great fun!!! There is miniature golf in Brewster that's great fun for kids... on Underpass Rd.....

Places to eat... Land Ho is a local institution, lots of reasonable sandwich shops for lunch... Wendy's is right in Orleans at the rotary... DQ is in town as well... whale watching... I think they'd enjoy it because they're out to sea and it's an adventure. The Beacon on West Rd. is a little more upscale, but reasonably priced... Dan's Deli, The Yard'am Restaurant, the Homeport is a good, reasonably priced family restaurant... There is a farmer's market that should be open by that time of year... off West Rd as well... you'd enjoy taking the kids to the drive-in in Wellfleet... and the flea market there as well... biking the trail in P'town part of the National Seashore is wonderful...the town band plays on Sundays in Brewster and Friday nights in Chatham... puppet shows or plays for kids every Thursday at the Brewster UU church.... there are go carts and trampolines on route28 in Harwich... send me a DM if I can help any further. Enjoy!

[capecodcathy]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaine

That's total crap.

Ditto, Coastal! We were just in Ptown and got two burgers and fries (my son's favorite ANYWHERE) fried clams and fries (fed two adults), three large drinks for $20 bucks. Tatiana's, right off Commercial St. near the large parking lot.

If you go to Ptown, you may want to take the trek to the Watch Tower. It's a hike up, but the view is stunning. May not be good for the Elders, though.

I would like to say something about Ptown, which gets a bad rap sometimes for it's non-traditional lifestyle. I took some visitors there this week and was pleased to see so many families of all ages. Yes, it can be quirky, and that's the beauty of it. The people are all friendly, helpful, and obliging to visitors. Families are welcomed and encouraged. My visitors were a little nervous at the thought of being there (they're from the South). Within about 2 minutes they completely embraced the whole experience that is Provincetown. I had to drag them away so I could get home at a reasonable hour!

Enjoy your trip!

[capecodcathy]

This is one of the best posts I've seen for Cape Cod Visitors:

Where to spend a weekend on the Cape??? - Massachusetts (MA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

[knitgirl]

Thanks so much for all your help! I've been looking at the forecast and it looks like we will be spending much less time on the beach than I had hoped. I'm a total waterbaby, I could easily spend a week just swimming, but if it's going to be cool and/or wet, it'll be really nice to have other options. My sister has spent time in Provincetown, so we're definitely planning on spending some time wandering around there.

[accept-logic]

My wife, six-year-old son, and I spent a month on our sailboat last summer sailing from northeast Mass to Acadia National Park in Maine and then south to The Cape. My son's absolute favorite part of the entire trip was the three days we spent in P-Town. It's a great place for a family to visit.

[Camden Northsider]

We recently vacationed in Cape Cod and we really enjoyed going to Martha's Vineyard and just walking around. We took a ferry from Falmouth (I think it was $18/ person), arrived in Oak Bluffs, and then took public transportation (keep walking past the tourist trap buses to the information desk and ask where to get on a public transit) to Edgartown and just walked around enjoying the historic architecture, ate at seafood restaurant overlooking the water, etc. (might be more interesting to adults than kids, but it seemed like there were a lot of families with kids doing something there, and there was a historic carousel/ some arcade games in operation in town of Oak Bluffs). And it was good to get out on the water.

We also enjoyed Provincetown but weren't able to spend much time there so can't say too much about it. We had just been to Maui in February so we had our fill of whale-watching/ seeing trips there so can't speak on that either unfortunately (although we really enjoyed the ones we did in Maui).

On the way back to airport/ Boston we stopped in Plymouth to kill some time. We weren't expecting much but we ended up enjoying our time there- there's a replication of the Mayflower in the harbor, you can see Plymouth Rock (which really isn't much to see at all), and there's some good history and little boardwalk restaurants/ shops lining the avenue.