Cod piece

We spent today viewing the Cape, stopping off en route to Provincetown. We took a look in Shiver Me Timbers, a roadside antiques centre in Dennis, with the most bonkers collection of junk and gems indoors and out. Without a weight limit and a suitcase with very little space to spare, how I would've spent hours sifting through to pick up some lovely old pre-loved and quirky pieces, especially for the garden.

We pressed on to Chatham, which is a bit like Sandwich but with even more shops - definitely more upmarket than Hyannis, but again you probably need the cottage to match the merchandise, and a large wallet to afford the very tasteful clothing. Sadly, I have neither.

On to Provincetown along a picturesque coastal road, with the sun making an appearance from time to time, but remaining resolutely behind the clouds when we reached PTown. It's another strange mix of the tasteful and the tacky, and we had a walk along the pier with its fishing, whale watching and pirate ship cruises. Ice cream stop today was almond chip from Lewis Bros, a very old creamery, and we sat while I scoffed it (Toni has so much more willpower when it comes to frozen desserts) watching a large group of mainly mature and well-dressed gay men playing croquet near the memorial. And I still can't fathom out the rules.

We headed up to the Provincetown memorial, erected in honour of the Pilgrim fathers who first set foot in the US on this narrow strip of land. Contrary to popular belief, it was PTown and not Plymouth where the US as we know it was founded. The 200+ steps up to the top were embellished by memorial stones awarded by various New England towns, most of which bear familiar UK names including Manchester, Rochester, Kingston and even Norwood. 

There's a good little museum on site too, which also covers the whaling history of PTown - though now thankfully the locals are more involved in conservation and un-entangling the whales from fishing lines than killing them for blubber and oil.

A stroll back towards the car down a pretty street, refreshing wheat beer in the sunshine at a pleasant bar staffed by very pretty waiters, and we headed back to Hyannis, via Chatham for dinner - swordfish for me which was pretty darn good. (Though be warned, seafood here isn't cheap...)