Posted by Jeff Loomis on April 28, 2011 at 6:28 PM
I will be on a family vacation in Massachusetts in late June. We will be going to a concert at Foxboro Stadium on Sunday and then we’ll have a few days after that to explore. Since it’s a family vacation, I can’t make it an all out photo excursion, but would still like to fit in some photography. So I’m looking for a mixture of nature related activities that may offer photo opportunities too. My wife and kids (14-19 yrs old) all enjoy nature, so any wild areas, nature preserves, museums, aquariums and the like are all in play.
Possible activities include whale watching, seals/dolphins/birds from shore, hikes, beaches, lighthouses, etc. At this point, we don’t even know where we’ll be staying, so if I could find a central location for these activities that would save on drive time. Boston looks awfully crowded, so maybe someplace south?
I have never been to this area, so I’m absolutely clueless and wide open for suggestions. If you know of a particular whale watch tour, that would be great. Any other ‘insider tips’ would also be very much appreciated. Birds are high on my list.
Thanks in advance!
Jeff
Posted by Greg Lessard on April 29, 2011 at 1:27 AM
Based on your hopes of sea related themes you might consider Cape Cod. Mid cape (out to Chattham) is within a reasonable drive from Foxborough. If you want to be on the ocean near Boston, you might try Plymouth. I prefer south Plymouth near Manomet, but downtown Plymouth will have more tourist options including the Mayflower and Plymouth Plantation. Plymouth is about 50 minutes from Boston without traffic. Whale watches regularly leave from Plymouth. About the same to Foxborough. You might also consider Scituate, Cohasset and Hull. Scituate and Cohasset are out of the way quiet New England towns. 40 minutes to Boston. Cohasset is occasionally featured in major movies. It was prominently used in the Witches of Eastwick. It is very upscale, but friendly. Hull is one long beach. Its glory days are past, but it still has many restaurants and an arcade or two. Its an excellent place to walk the beach. Very busy.
June is a tough month to gage the weather. It could be cold in the 50's and 60's or oppressive and humid in the upper 90's.
Ultimately based on your list of oceanic activities, I would stay on the cape and hope for good weather.
Here is what I would do:
At least one day in Boston, but not more than two. The freedom trail would be a good day activity with some photo opps. Faniuel Hall is a fun shopping/dining experience.
Cape Cod
Go to Provincetown for a whale watch on the Dolphin Fleet. They are the best in the business and they are very close to the whales (meaning less of a puke fest and more time with the whales than if you were to take a boat from Boston or Plymouth). You can read about them on my website here: http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/article.asp?ID=4233
While you are in Provincetown, hang out for an incredible sunset. Race Point is worth a look. Herring Cove Beach is an excellent beach, just make sure you go to the family part of the beach. Whales are often seen off of Herring Cove Beach
http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/gallery.asp?LID=&cat=45864&pID=5&row=7&photoID=8238775&searchTerm=
Seals generally won't be seen in June unless you know where to look. Try South Beach in Chattham, you can take a boat called the Rip Ryder http://monomoyislandferry.com/ to South Beach the seals are often on the southern point of South Beach. Its a long hike but worth it if they are home. A storm changed the beach last summer and many of the seals moved north. You may want to double check to see if they are still hanging out. Rip Ryder will be up front about whether they are likely to be there or not. The outer beach on South Beach is excellent. Great white sharks have been spotted off this coastline over the past two summers. Lots of seals attract them. Many birds can be spotted here too. http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/gallery.asp?LID=&cat=45864&pID=3&row=7&photoID=9877351&searchTerm=
Spend a day in Martha's Vineyard. Take the ferry. Leave the car. Take a shuttle tour around the island. You could also rent bikes. The last time I went, they had a hop on hop off tour which was very convenient for traveling. I enjoyed Edgartown (old whaling village) and the gingerbread cottages in Oak Bluffs.
Spend a day in Plymouth. See Plymouth Plantation and the Mayflower. Try to get a coupon or discount. Long Beach in Plymouth is an excellent 5 mile day hike with many birding opportunities. You can stop walking at any point and just enjoy the beach. Walk the jetty in Plymouth Harbor. Nice views and some good birding.
Spend a day in Newport, RI See the mansions. Visit the harbor for lunch and shopping. Do the cliff walk.
Other activities:
There is a drive in movie theater in Wellfleet. Go to dinner in Wellfleet. Get the oysters. Watch the sunset. See the movie.
Night photography on the cape is excellent when you get to the outer beaches.
Sunrise on the national seashore.
Nauset Light is the iconic Cape Cod Lighthouse http://blog.greglessardphotography.com/2011/03/nauset-by-moonlight.html
Gay Head Light on Martha's Vineyard is fantastic at sunset. Also excellent for black and white.
Bike the cape cod canal. Ride the bikes to Scusset Beach and take a swim.
There is an excellent bike trail that runs the length of cape cod.
Fall River, Ma has Battleship Cove an excellent floating museum of WWII battle ship, destroyer and submarine. May be inetersting for history buffs and young boys. Stop here on the way to Newport.
Whatever you do, don't try to leave the cape on Sunday afternoon in a rush. Leave plenty of time to get over the Cape Cod Canal Bridges to go to the concert. Leave way early. If you arrive too soon, go to Patriots Place and hang out. Don't leave it to chance. Cape traffic on Fri and Sunday is unbelievable. The commute in the summer is not good, but can be managed so long as there is no construction on the bridges. When you go off cape, I would leave and return at non-commute hours to avoid any hassles.
Greg covered most everything and more that I was going to post but I'll add if there is a Waterfire scheduled for Providence, RI when you are there it's a fun way to spend an evening.
Posted by Greg Lessard on April 30, 2011 at 11:46 PM
I totally agree about the waterfire. You can read an article about them here:http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/article.asp?ID=4913
Wow, thanks for the in depth responses. I knew I came to the right place. Greg, you have a great website with some wonderful photography. I will read through it for more tips and some inspiration. With limited funds (and never enough time), we will probably pare our list down to a few activities.
Hali - The Waterfire looks pretty cool too. I checked their website and they don't have the 2011 schedule posted yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it.
Both your suggestions will give me a lot to think about and research. I'm glad I started this far in advance.
Discussion
4 repliesPossible activities include whale watching, seals/dolphins/birds from shore, hikes, beaches, lighthouses, etc. At this point, we don’t even know where we’ll be staying, so if I could find a central location for these activities that would save on drive time. Boston looks awfully crowded, so maybe someplace south?
I have never been to this area, so I’m absolutely clueless and wide open for suggestions. If you know of a particular whale watch tour, that would be great. Any other ‘insider tips’ would also be very much appreciated. Birds are high on my list.
Thanks in advance!
Jeff
June is a tough month to gage the weather. It could be cold in the 50's and 60's or oppressive and humid in the upper 90's.
Ultimately based on your list of oceanic activities, I would stay on the cape and hope for good weather.
Here is what I would do:
At least one day in Boston, but not more than two. The freedom trail would be a good day activity with some photo opps. Faniuel Hall is a fun shopping/dining experience.
Cape Cod
Go to Provincetown for a whale watch on the Dolphin Fleet. They are the best in the business and they are very close to the whales (meaning less of a puke fest and more time with the whales than if you were to take a boat from Boston or Plymouth). You can read about them on my website here: http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/article.asp?ID=4233
While you are in Provincetown, hang out for an incredible sunset. Race Point is worth a look. Herring Cove Beach is an excellent beach, just make sure you go to the family part of the beach. Whales are often seen off of Herring Cove Beach
http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/gallery.asp?LID=&cat=45864&pID=5&row=7&photoID=8238775&searchTerm=
Seals generally won't be seen in June unless you know where to look. Try South Beach in Chattham, you can take a boat called the Rip Ryder http://monomoyislandferry.com/ to South Beach the seals are often on the southern point of South Beach. Its a long hike but worth it if they are home. A storm changed the beach last summer and many of the seals moved north. You may want to double check to see if they are still hanging out. Rip Ryder will be up front about whether they are likely to be there or not. The outer beach on South Beach is excellent. Great white sharks have been spotted off this coastline over the past two summers. Lots of seals attract them. Many birds can be spotted here too. http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/gallery.asp?LID=&cat=45864&pID=3&row=7&photoID=9877351&searchTerm=
Spend a day in Martha's Vineyard. Take the ferry. Leave the car. Take a shuttle tour around the island. You could also rent bikes. The last time I went, they had a hop on hop off tour which was very convenient for traveling. I enjoyed Edgartown (old whaling village) and the gingerbread cottages in Oak Bluffs.
Spend a day in Plymouth. See Plymouth Plantation and the Mayflower. Try to get a coupon or discount. Long Beach in Plymouth is an excellent 5 mile day hike with many birding opportunities. You can stop walking at any point and just enjoy the beach. Walk the jetty in Plymouth Harbor. Nice views and some good birding.
Spend a day in Newport, RI See the mansions. Visit the harbor for lunch and shopping. Do the cliff walk.
Other activities:
There is a drive in movie theater in Wellfleet. Go to dinner in Wellfleet. Get the oysters. Watch the sunset. See the movie.
Night photography on the cape is excellent when you get to the outer beaches.
Sunrise on the national seashore.
Nauset Light is the iconic Cape Cod Lighthouse http://blog.greglessardphotography.com/2011/03/nauset-by-moonlight.html
Gay Head Light on Martha's Vineyard is fantastic at sunset. Also excellent for black and white.
Bike the cape cod canal. Ride the bikes to Scusset Beach and take a swim.
There is an excellent bike trail that runs the length of cape cod.
Fall River, Ma has Battleship Cove an excellent floating museum of WWII battle ship, destroyer and submarine. May be inetersting for history buffs and young boys. Stop here on the way to Newport.
Whatever you do, don't try to leave the cape on Sunday afternoon in a rush. Leave plenty of time to get over the Cape Cod Canal Bridges to go to the concert. Leave way early. If you arrive too soon, go to Patriots Place and hang out. Don't leave it to chance. Cape traffic on Fri and Sunday is unbelievable. The commute in the summer is not good, but can be managed so long as there is no construction on the bridges. When you go off cape, I would leave and return at non-commute hours to avoid any hassles.
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Greg Lessard
Hali - The Waterfire looks pretty cool too. I checked their website and they don't have the 2011 schedule posted yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it.
Both your suggestions will give me a lot to think about and research. I'm glad I started this far in advance.