Metaboston

Provincetown in Winter

Visiting the tip of Cape Cod in mid-winter.

Provincetown in summer is a nonstop party, a fashionable escape that draws New Englanders of every color, stripe and proclivity — the lone exception being frugal travelers. But Provincetown in the middle of winter — “the dark period,” according to one year-round resident — is a land of quiet bargains, where simpler pleasures emerge from the frenzy of summertime, while out-of-reach luxuries drop drastically in price.

Matt Gross, the Times' Frugal Traveler, spells out that while wintertime Provincetown is cheaper there is still a lot going on in contrast to some resort towns.  And Gross takes his own photos of the trip (including the nice shot of snow in Provincetown above).

'Mystery' Piano of the Cape: CNN Helps You Understand

Piano found in woods near Harwich, Mass. on the Cape.  If this story seems too complex CNN provides a helpful set of highlights to help keep on top of this breaking news:

Story Highlights

• Woman finds piano in woods near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while walking a trail
• Police don't know where piano came from, who put it there
• Piano in good working condition, apparently in key

Free Online Course from Mass Maritime Academy

The course on maritime pollution is an experiment from the Academy

Students can begin enrolling in late September, with all tuition paid by the grant for the first two cohorts. To earn the certificate, students will complete a sequence of five, three-credit courses designed to raise environmental awareness within the maritime industry, both at sea and ashore:

• Ecological Consequences of Marine Pollution
• Marine Pollution and Vessel Engineering Systems
• Marine Pollution and Deck Operations
• Legal Issues in Marine Pollution
• Public Relations, Pollution, and the Maritime Industry

While the course isn't for everyone it shows how online education and free online education is really proliferating.

Preserving the Nantucket Shoreline

The battle between summer-residents and year-rounders over the disappearing Sconset beach and whether a fortune should be spent to preserve its quickly eroding shoreline.

"But if the scientists are right, if the sea levels continue to rise incrementally and storms become not only more frequent but also more powerful, maybe the only thing Nantucket property owners can do is allow nature its destiny. Jim O'Connell, a coastal geologist for the Sea Grant program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, believes that Nantucket's fate is sealed. "I did a lecture out there last year," he says. "I showed aerial and ground photos and talked about what I was seeing and what the data showed. I began with a picture of the open ocean and announced, 'In 8,000 years this will be your island, and until you get to that point, every house is going to enjoy a spectacular ocean view.' I got only a few chuckles."

(Image:  Wikimedia)

Cape Cod Blogging Suit

A blogger on Cape Cod Today and a blog commenter are being sued over discussion of a dredging issue.  David Ardia at the Citizen Media Law Project has a really interesting explanation of the legal issues.

"Peter Robbins, author of the Robbins Report, a blog that appears on the popular community website Cape Cod Today, and an anonymous commenter have been sued over statements they made criticizing a group of Barnstable, MA residents who opposed the dredging of Barnstable Harbor.  The case raises a host of interesting questions, including whether the statements at issue are protected opinions and the potential applicability of Massachusetts' anti-SLAPP and retraction statutes.

The dispute arose over a March 11 post by Robbins entitled Barnstable Harbor: Filling in and falling in, in which he criticized a number of individuals, including Joseph Dugas and his lawyer Paul Revere III, who had challenged orders issued by the Town of Barnstable Conservation Commission and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection that authorized dredging in Barnstable Harbor (not surprising for a community that is so intimately tied to the water, dredging in the harbor is quite a controversial topic). 

Humpback Whales Recovering

Great news although some experts say the overall rise in species population doesn't take into account issues with particular groups of whales, like the 1000 or so who feed from Cape Cod Bay north to Maine.  (Image:  NOAA)

Cape Cod National Seashore Anniversary

 

August 7th was the the 47th anniversary of President Kennedy's signing of the bill that created the Cape Cod National Seashore.  (Image:  National Park Service)

Cape Martin Johnson Heade Painting Sold for $1 Million

The Martin Johnson Heade painting that a Cape family discovered on their walls was auctioned off for over $1 million, twice its estimate.  (Image of the painting 'Haying on the Marsh' from Eldred's Auction House).

Nantucket Confronts Diversity

View Larger Map Long regarded as enclave of the rich and white Nantucket's population is quickly becoming more diverse and the island is facing issues surrounding the increasing heterogeneity, including culture clashes, policing problems and questions of racism.

"In the Nantucket School District, where a decade ago more than 95 percent of the students were white, 25 percent of this year's nearly 1,300 students are members of a minority group and 10 percent grew up speaking another language.

And then there is the Rev. Donovan Kerr's growing New Life Ministries church, which on Sundays attracts as many as 150 congregants, nearly all of them black or Hispanic.

"We represent the other side of Nantucket," said Kerr, who founded his ministry six years ago with six congregants and recently bought land to build a church. "We represent the changes.""

Cicada Jewelry on the Cape

The cicadas that emerged on Cape Cod this summer are now being turned into jewelry by some enterprising teens (video on cicada jewelry begins about 1:20 in).

"Talk about lemonade out of lemons: Katheryn Maloney and Brady Cullinan made jewels out of this summer's cicada swarm.

Yesterday, amid the tents of baked goods and vegetables at the Sandwich Farmers Market at Oakcrest Cove Field off Quaker Meetinghouse Road, their table featured earrings and necklaces made with colored beads, sea glass and dead bugs.

The business partners, both 17, residents of Sandwich and seniors at Sandwich High School, crafted the dainty pieces from the bodies of the insects that have covered areas of the Cape this summer for the first time in 17 years."

For more on cicadas there's Cicada Mania!

Right Whales Off Massachusetts

A significant number of endangered right whales are congregating off Massachusetts to feed on plankton and fish in the Stellwagen Bank.

"Observers say about one-fifth of the world's population of North Atlantic right whales is feeding off the coast of Massachusetts.

The Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass., which has done aerial surveys of Stellwagen Bank, puts the number at 79, the Boston Globe reports. There are believed to be only 350 North Atlantic right whales remaining."

Right whales acquired their name because of their popularity with whalers because they are slow and their corpses float.  (Image:  Greenpeace)

Sponge Bob Hits Cape Cod

What do quirky cartoon characters have against Massachusetts?

First the Mooninites wreaked havoc in Boston, now Sponge Bob Squarepants is blamed for a Cape Cod blackout. 

Living the food barter economy on Martha's Vineyard

Living the food barter economy on Martha's Vineyard with local Jan Buhrman.

"Following Ms. Buhrman for a day or two as she gathers ingredients is a lesson in how to eat locally, even in the coldest days of winter. Because she seems to know everybody on the island who raises, catches or forages for food, it is also a glimpse of an alternative economy of eating, one in which modern capitalism takes a back seat to a looser, island-grown style of bartering.

In summer, for instance, Ms. Buhrman hands out ice from her freezers to help the local fishermen keep their catch cold. In winter, they repay her with fish, oysters and bay scallops."

Cape Cod Ice Cream Former Owner Dies in Skiing Accident

The former owner of one of the top Cape ice cream shops Four Seas Ice Cream dies in New Hampshire.
"Richard Warren, the former owner of a Cape landmark — Four Seas Ice Cream in Centerville — died Saturday after a downhill skiing accident.Warren, 72, was remembered yesterday by family and friends as a generous man with boundless energy. He spent more than four decades running the nationally recognized ice cream shop."

Cape Cod is old

Cape Cod is old:
"About a quarter of Cape residents are over 65, compared to about 13 percent nationwide.

Another telling statistic shows the Cape had 5,000 more deaths than births from 2000 to 2006, the sixth-highest percentage loss in the nation. That puts the Cape ahead of retiree-laden Florida's Pinellas, Volusia and Pasco counties."

First Thanksgiving from William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation

"They begane now to gather in y^e small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which y^ey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion.  All y^e somer ther was no wante.  And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter aproached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c.  Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corne to y^t proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not rained, but true reports."

Description of the first Thanksgiving from William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation (1608-1650). (Image of front page above)

The First American Murderer, Mayflower Edition

The first American murderer was a passenger on the Mayflower.  John Billington was hanged within 10 years of the Mayflower's arrival for shooting  John Newcomen with a blunderbuss. First gun crime too.  (Image of Louisiana blunderbuss)

Find Out About: An Undersea Map of Cape Cod Bay

Scientists are engaged in mapping the 500 square miles of Cape Cod Bay to be prepared to deal with issues from fishing to the proposed wind farm and finding a diverse environment: "There's rocky outcrops the size of Dorchester and then there's muddy plains as flat as can be the size of all of Cape Cod," noted one of the researchers.

British Look at the Pilgrims

Melvyn Bragg's BBC radio show In Our Time assembles a trio of academics to discuss a particular topic.  Recently he put together a group that took an interesting look at the Pilgrims touching on points like how the Pilgrims were swindled, the importance of beer for the trip, whether the Mayflower's companion vessel was intentional disabled by sailors who weren't keen on the trip and how they came up with such a pithy governing document, the very compact Mayflower Compact and that the Pilgrims might not have been so friendly with their Native American savior Tisquantum (Squanto) if they'd known what his name meant.

Perils of the Beach

Just in time for the weekend.  Inspired by the sight of a Martha's Vineyard sand hole cave-in a Harvard Med School doctor warns of the dangers of digging big holes in the sand.  When they collapse kids inside can suffocate leading to more deaths than shark attacks.  Lifeguards warning of the risk are often treated as party-poopers.  Another example of how people's sense of risk about the unusual (sharks) compared to the routine (digging holes on the beach) can be off.  (Pictured left, the most dangerous sandpit of all:  the home of the Sarlacc in "Return of the Jedi").

Viking Relic on Martha's Vineyard?

Norman's Land, a small island off Martha's Vineyard, is the site of a mysterious rock on which appear runes that some claim demonstrate the presence of Leif Ericson (left) and other Vikings as the first Europeans to visit the Vineyard.  Now a team including "John Alden of the Historical Maritime Group of New England, dive and salvage expert H. Arnold Carr, Island resident and Viking researcher William (Bill) Brine, author Kenneth M. Jungersen and Robert Wallace, captain of the Auk research vessel" wants to locate the stone and bring it to the Martha's Vineyard Museum for study to determine its authenticity. 

Although there are adherents to the idea that the rock was carved by vikings there are also plenty of detractors, for example,

scholars found it highly unlikely that an engraving could withstand the constant wave action and erosion of the ocean, and questioned the use of the Roman numerals because such enumeration was not used for dating until the 14th or 15th centuries in Scandinavia [and] perhaps the most damning report of the authenticity of the rune stone came on August 31, 1954, when the Gazette reported that "over the past weekend Capt. Martin Dahl said he saw a Norwegian cook chisel the message into the rock in 1913."

The expedition is complicated by the fact that unexploded bombs remain on the island from its days as a naval range.

 

Ice Cream in Falmouth

Samantha Pearsall points out the cornucopia of high-quality ice cream shops right at the beginning of the Cape in Falmouth.  Smitty's Too is our pick for the best of her 7 suggestions although they're all worth a visit.

Smitty's Too comes up quickly after Whistle Stop, less than a minute's drive. But be sure not to miss this small, secluded ice cream shop right next to Jack in the Beanstalk. There are a few umbrella-covered picnic tables and plenty of parking for your convenience. But obviously, the delicious homemade ice cream is what brings in the crowds each night.

If this inspires you be sure to check out the Cape Cod Ice Cream Challenge that spans the Cape in its search for quality ice cream.  (Although they weren't too excited by Smitty's Too.)

Martha's Vineyard: Rabbit Fever Zone

Martha's Vineyard, is the world headquarters for summer island fun and rabbit fever (which sounds kind of cute) but is otherwise known as pneumonic tularemia (scarier), a "highly infectious and potentially fatal bacterial disease."  Working outside is the best way to get it but you can even get it mowing the lawn.  The disease is caused by a bacteria carried by rabbits and rodents.  Symptoms include "sudden fever; chills; headaches; diarrhea; muscle aches; joint pain; dry cough; progressive weakness." Have fun this weekend and watch out for the rabbits!

Dogs Asked Not to Visit Nantucket Beaches

Nantucket's request that poop-producing dogs not visit island beaches strikes at one of the cornerstones of the modern Nantucket lifestyle.  What next?  No more beach driving permits and a prohibition on driving your giant truck onto the beach?

Memorial to Philip R. Craig

Martha's Vineyard mystery author Philip R. Craig is memorialized by his friend, fellow local mystery author (and Craig co-author) William G. Tapply.

The Vineyard Gazette has a lovely warm obituary that describes the journey that took him from a one-room schoolhouse near Durango, CO to Martha's Vineyard.  His first mystery, A Beautiful Place to Die was written when he was 55.

Cape Wind Book Skeptical of Project Opponents

Mashpee resident Wendy Williams's new book (with Robert Whitcomb) takes a look at what lies behind the controversy over the Cape Wind project to build a wind farm  in Nantucket Sound off the Cape.  She claims that a prime reason for  the project's uncertain status despite the increasing need for clean energy is the adamant opposition of rich summer residents like Ted Kennedy, Bunny Mellon, Bill Koch, Walter Cronkite and David McCullough to the disruption of their views.  An interesting article about what looks to be a fascinating book.  In some ways not surprising as NIMBY is often a key motivation in opposition to all kinds of necessary projects and contemporary windmills have a bit of a cold science-fiction appearance that contrasts sharply with the old-fashioned Cape and Islands aesthetic.

Customer Service is Fun at Cape Cod Potato Chips

Finding a whole potato in your bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips might be a bit of a disappointment but less so when it begins this entertaining message exchange with the very decent people in customer service at the Hyannis-based food company. 

If you're a fan of their delicious chips, you can visit the factory.

Two MIT Students Die in Unrelated Events

Missing MIT student Daniel Barclay's body has been found on Scusset Beach in Bourne on the Cape.  According to the MIT Tech, "The last sign of Barclay was his AOL Instant Messenger away message that was set late Sunday evening, Barclay's mother Susan Kayton '78 said. According to Kayton, the message read, 'I have to meet with some sketchy people I thought I'd never have to deal with ever again in east Cambridge.'"

Meanwhile, another MIT student Ivan Dimitrov, of Bulgaria, was killed in a motorcycle accident "when he apparently lost control of a 1998 Kawasaki 600 motorcycle on the Fenway exit ramp from Storrow Drive East."

Kurt Vonnegut's Cape Cod Saab Dealership

Tracking down Kurt Vonnegut's Cape Cod Saab dealership.  Vonnegut ran a Saab dealership in West Barnstable after World War II and before his writing career took off.  Old dealership stationery shown in the sketch from Man Without a Face.

Also, Vonnegut's mythical MIT commencement address.

Injured Whale Off Provincetown

An endangered right whale injured with deep gashes that were probably caused by a ship's propellor was sighted off Provincetown.  Right whales are so endangered because they were the favorite targets of whalers in the 18th and 19th century.

A "Brief Life" of Edward Gorey

The always-interesting Harvard Magazine covers alumnus, artist, and writer Edward Gorey in its Vita column.  The article has a nice focus on his life at Harvard and his friendships with other Harvard writers like poet Frank O'Hara, Alison Lurie, John Ashbery, and Donald Hall.  He was an unusual artist and an eccentric man so it is interesting when the article puts him in collegiate context although arriving on campus in the late '40s "sporting a full-length sheepskin-lined coat, sneakers, and thick rings on his long fingers. His hair ... combed forward, Roman style. A typical freshman he was not."

It's worth looking at the article just for the picture of Gorey resting surrounded by his cats.  Note the foreground cat sprawled out over the "At Home" section of the paper.

Gorey's house in Yarmouthport has been turned to a museum but like most house museums its probably most interesting for the true aficionado.  For the rest, immerse yourself in his books.

Cape Cod Manatee

Now a manatee has been sighted in Falmouth, just over the Cape Cod Canal, by a vacationing snorkeler.  Perhaps the same manatee spotted elsewhere.

Martha's Vineyard's Beach Guards

A look at the fences and hired guards who keep you from walking on Martha's Vineyard's private beaches.  It seems funny that plutocratic (and smaller) Nantucket has an open beach policy while liberal (and much larger) Martha's Vineyard is so much stricter but perhaps the greater travel time to Nantucket is enough to maintain Nantucket privacy.

Woods Hole Film Festival

The Woods Hole Film Festival still has a number of interesting movies to show before it finishing up on Saturday, August 5th. 

Spaceman:  A Baseball Odyssey is on Friday at 7pm with a good local connection as the Film Festival description makes clear:

            

Bill "Spaceman" Lee's life is an endless journey to find another baseball game. After pitching thirteen years professionally for the Boston Red Sox and the Montreal Expos, the Spaceman has spent the last twenty five years traveling to China, Russia, Japan, Central America and across the U.S. and Canada to play ball. The film follows Lee, approaching sixty years young, on a road trip from his farm in Vermont to the impoverished baseball mecca of Cuba and on his triumphant return to Fenway Park.

Another film with a local connection is a documentary that takes the women's perspective on Gloucester fishing:  A Fish Story on Saturday, August 5th at 5.  Fishermen having been getting more attention with shows like Dangerous Catch but this documentary shows what is going on right next door in Gloucester rather than in the Bering Sea, and from a different view.

Shot over the course of five years, 'A Fish Story' is the tale of two women, their families, and communities as they struggle to survive in the wake of an environmental disaster. Angela Sanfilippo of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Shareen Davis of Chatham, Massachusetts were born into fishing families and married men who continue to make a living from the sea. Fishing defines who they are and has sustained their communities for generations. But their way of life is threatened when a coalition of National environmental organizations files a lawsuit that could put hundreds of fishermen out of business. With heartache and humor, 'A Fish Story' finds Angela and Shareen at the center of this political storm as they struggle to save both fish and fishermen.

In the short film competition on Saturday you can also keep a look out for the Massachusetts movie The Fens:

The Fens is a story of friendship, tradition and most importantly, perspective. Following three friends through a petty argument, we discover that Richie is having some serious girl issues, Bobby is sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, and Sean is quiet for a reason we don't yet know. Do you ever get caught up in the day-to-day stuff, at the risk of losing sight of the big picture?

Part of the fun of this film festival is trying some movies that you might not otherwise see and then actually seeing the director.  While documentaries are getting more publicity lately, shorts are often hard to find.

 

Classic Cape Cod

Samantha Critchell's top 10 classic Cape Cod experiences. 

Controversial Shark Fishing Tournament on Martha's Vineyard

The Vineyard Gazette describes how the annual Boston Big Game Fishing Club Monster Shark Tournament fishing competition has become increasingly controversial as both the tournament and the endangered status of many shark species has become more publicized.  This year's tournament, the 17th, runs from July 20-22. 

Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, the book and later movie set at a Martha's Vineyard-like beach resort, that made sharks into pop culture monsters, grew to regret his role in contributing to the notoriey of sharks.

Andrea Doria, Shipwreck Near Nantucket, Claims Another Victim

David Bright, an expert on shipwrecks, died from the effects of diving the Andrea Doria wreck, 60 miles off Nantucket:

Bright was an experienced historian and technical diver who had explored the Titanic, Andrea Doria and other shipwrecks many times - 120 times for the Andrea Doria alone.

The Andrea Doria was headed from Genoa, Italy, to New York when it collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm on July 25, 1956, killing 46 of its 1,706 passengers and crew. The Italian luxury liner lies at the bottom of the Atlantic in 200 feet (60 meters) of water, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Nantucket.

Because of its depth, it is considered the Mount Everest of scuba diving. 

"Reverse Discrimination" in Provincetown?

Some incidents in Provincetown of gays disparaging straights as "breeders" leads the Provincetown police chief to call a town meeting to damp down tensions.

Nantucket in the Off-Season

The Perfect Storm

You may need foul-weather gear but there are benefits to visiting Nantucket in the winter:  a population 1/5 of its summertime high and, according to this article, " . . . times when you understand instinctively why Nantucket is called the faraway island, and they come most often in the off-season. Usually the moment is a gift, a sense of splendid isolation while walking on deserted paths in the island's moors, or watching seals glide in Nantucket Harbor, or hearing only the sound of your own footsteps as you stroll past the stately Greek Revival mansions of upper Main Street . . . In the fall, when the federally
protected least terns and piping plovers have migrated south, more of the beach is accessible for driving than in the busy summer season. Taking advantage of the opportunity, my husband and I rented a small Jeep that came with a beach-driving permit and set out with our 16-year-old daughter. At the 1,117-acre Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, on the hook-shaped northeast end of the island, we drove for miles along a breathtaking remote spit that ends at Great Point, where the Great Point Lighthouse, first built in 1816 and rebuilt after a storm in the 1980's, stands. We watched seals play in the water - another seasonal opportunity, since they migrate from Maine during the winter - and stayed to see the sunset before reluctantly turning to leave."

Elizabeth Lochtefeld Murder on Nantucket

Elizabeth Lochtefeld, 44, a former Manhattan construction consultant, was slain in Nantucket's first murder in 20 years. A former boyfriend has been accused in the stabbing. Lochtefeld had begun spending more time on Nantucket. Her funeral was held recently.