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Discovering Cape Cod - Page 3

© Rowena Carr-Allinson

Heading inland, getting away from the sandy shores, opt for Marston Mills, a place of natural beauty with numerous ponds and lakes.

Driving up to Provincetown will take around an hour. The dunes along the coast line the route as you enter the quaint town, which sits on the tip of the peninsula.

The community here is well known for its bohemian character. With a largely gay population, Provincetown is known as a creative and arty center. The coastline here is said to have inspired many writers and painters including Charles Hawthorne, William von der Heydt, Marguerite and William Zorach and even Jackson Pollock.

Off-season Provincetown is a bit of a ghost town. We stopped off at the Lobster Pot on Commercial Street for a lobster roll and some chowder with a sea view. It's the done thing on Cape Cod, especially when it's raining! The restaurant was subdued but pleasantly uncomplicated. Massive water tanks housed lobsters, who were blissfully unaware of their impending fate.

While the wind whistled outside, watching the rough sea come crashing along the picket fenced shoreline and the rain whipped against the windscreen wipers, I could imagine how Provincetown looked in the busy summer months with its beach and food outlets buzzing with life and activity.

If you are looking for an alternative route back to Boston, you can catch a 90mn ferry here.

Food One of the main attractions in the Cape, is the fantastic local food.

Clam chowders, seafood and lobster rolls hold prime position on Massachusetts's menu. On the Cape alone, there are 750 restaurants dishing up the tastiest local specialities.

Amongst those I particularly recommend The Dolphin, on Main Street in Barnstable. This cosy restaurant has the most incredible crab soup. Although I asked for the recipe I wasn't given it... a secret, apparently. Although the main course and the service weren't much to write home about, that crab soup rates as one of the best things I have ever tasted. With undertones of saffron and a thousand other flavours I could never put my finger on, the rich and tasty soup was warm, smooth and a beautiful rust colour. It was everything shellfish soup should be.

For something different and more modern, try the Amari. A blend of local and Italian food, the friendly staff dish up some good, honest food in mass quantities. On the menu, pizza or shrimps for $14 washed down with a $4.50 beer.

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