Nearby Attractions
Mayflower replica, Plymouth
Awashonks figurehead, New Bedford Whaling Museum
The historical, cultural, recreational, and scenic attractions of Cape Cod and the nearby area are so multitudinous they cannot be listed in this book. Here, by community, are a few sites related thematically to the National Seashore.
Bourne
The 7-mile-long Cape Cod Canal links Massachusetts Bay with Buzzards Bay and saves mariners 100 miles of traveling around the Cape in hazardous waters. The Army Corps of Engineers manages the canal and the 3 bridges that cross it. The canal was first envisioned by Myles Standish in 1624, and 150 years later George Washington liked the idea so much he ordered a survey. But nothing happened for years. New York financier August Belmont took over the construction in 1909 after it had been worked on for nearly 30 years. He saw it through to completion in 1914, but he lost millions of dollars on it. The Federal Government took over the canal in 1928, and the Army Corps deepened and widened it. Stop at the canal visitor center on Main Street in Bourne Monday through Friday to see a model of the canal and an audiovisual show. Canal boat tours are offered out of Onset Bay Town Pier. Hikers and bicyclists can take a 14-mile roundtrip along the canal.
Woods Hole
The National Marine Fisheries Service Aquarium has tanks of seals, East Coast fish and shellfish, and exhibits about fisheries. The Marine Biological Laboratory offers a tour in the summer of a lab and of sea life in holding tanks. It also presents a slide show about its scientific studies.
Mashpee
The Wampanoag Indian Museum on Mass. 130 has exhibits and artifacts of early Wampanoag life (see [pages 32-33]).