New England - Eastern USA - page 359

Sleeping & Eating
Bow Roof House B&B$$$
( 508-945-1346; 59 Queen Anne Rd; r incl breakfast $115) This homey, six-room, c 1780
house is delightfully old-fashioned in price and offerings, and within easy walking dis-
tance of the town center and beach.
Chatham Cookware Café CAFE$
( 508-945-1250; 524 Main St; sandwiches $8; 6:30am-4pm) No, it's not a place to buy
pots and pans, but rather the downtown spot for a coffee fix, homemade muffins and
sandwiches.
Chatham Fish Pier Market SEAFOOD$$$
( www.chathamfishpiermarket.com ; 45 Barcliff Ave; mains $12-25; 10am-7pm Mon-Thu, to 8pm
Fri-Sun) If you like it fresh and local to the core, this salt-sprayed fish shack, with its own
sushi chef and day boats, is for you. The chowder's incredible and the fish so fresh it was
swimming earlier in the day. It's all takeout, but there are shady picnic tables nearby as
well as a harbor full of sights.
Cape Cod National Seashore
Extending some 40 miles around the curve of the Outer Cape, Cape Cod National
Seashore ( www.nps.gov/caco ) encompasses most of the shoreline from Eastham to
Provincetown. It's a treasure-trove of unspoiled beaches, dunes, salt marshes and forests.
Thanks to President John F Kennedy, this vast area was set aside for preservation in the
1960s, just before a building boom hit the rest of his native Cape Cod. The Salt Pond
Visitor Center ( 508-255-3421; 50 Doane Rd, cnr US 6 & Nauset Rd, Eastham; 9am-5pm)
is the place to start and has a great view to boot. Here you will find exhibits and
films about the area's ecology and the scoop on the park's numerous cycling and hiking
trails, some of which begin right at the center.
You brought your board, didn't you? Coast Guard Beach , just down the road from
the visitor center, is a stunner that attracts everyone from surfers to beachcombers. And
the view of untouched Nauset Marsh from the dunes above the beach is nothing short of
spectacular. Nauset Light Beach , running north from Coast Guard Beach, takes its name
from the lighthouse perched above it; three other classic lighthouses are nearby. Sum-
mertime beach parking passes cost $15/45 per day/season and are valid at all Cape Cod
National Seashore beaches including Provincetown.