Boston, Massachusetts - Day 1

We spent 1-1/2 days at Boston.  The first day we chose to visit Cape Cod and see how the rich and famous spend their summers.  The traffic patterns in Boston makes travel difficult, old narrow roads that twist and wind, so our trip to the Cape took about 90 minutes. 

Our first stop after reaching the Cape was at Sandwich, Massachusetts.  Many towns in the state are named after city's in England. ( I guess the 16th century colonists weren't creative enough to think of  original names.)  The grist mill above was built by Thomas Dexter in 1654 to grind corn into meal, the most important crop of that period.

Across the street was the The First Church of Christ, a Congregational Church, founded in 1638.  When Elvis Presley cut his first gospel music record, a photo of this church was selected for its cover. 

Then we traveled to Chatham, a seaside town at the southeast corner of Cape Cod.  Incorporated in 1712, its population of 6,000 swells to 25,000 during summer months.

The houses are meticulously maintained creating a "fairy tale" resort community.  A 3-bedroom summer cottage on the ocean will rent for $40,000 per week. 

In the 17th century, the harbor had so many cod that sailing craft had difficulty navigating the waters.

The Chatham lighthouse was constructed in 1841 and originally had twin towers.  In 1923 the north tower was relocated 12 miles to Nauset.

A sandbar separates the Chatham coastline from the Atlantic Ocean.

Multi-million dollar homes sit high along the shoreline.  Atlantic storms and hurricanes continually erode the shore and every year one or more houses tumble into the ocean.  (Homeowner's insurance does not cover this loss.)

Nearby at Hyannis Port we passed by the "Kennedy Compound" and stopped at the Jack Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial.  (Heavy vegetation screened the Kennedy homes and photos were not possible.)  The memorial overlooked Jack's favorite view of the yacht club and bay.  

Jack Kennedy always believed that the Korean conflict was the forgotten war so adjacent to his memorial is a special Korean War Memorial.