Oot & Aboot: JFK territory

It becomes increasingly clear during my time in Boston, that JFK is BIG here. Before being in Boston I knew next to nothing about the 35th president except that he was assassinated and married to Jackie O. What started to click was that I always thought JFK had a twang in his accent. That twang was the accent of a Bostonian. Boston is JFK’s birthplace and where he spent the first decade of his life. Today I am to join a tour to Cape Cod. Cape Cod is a seaside town about two hours out of Boston and where the Kennedy compound is.

Cape Cod is almost an island and is located closely to the famous Martha’s Vineyard, the playground of the rich and famous. Cape Cod is a very popular place for families to vacation during the summer, like The Hamptons is to New York folk. I met up with my bus and we headed to Cape Cod via the hoods of Boston, where our tour guide tells us is a rough neighbourhood. Areas such as Quincy outside of the city. The bus takes us through the town of Sagamore and then the town of Sandwich. What becomes very clear is the many retired people that live here and that the area isn’t a cheap one to live. The seaside houses are beautiful. The houses are very quaint and small, and made of wooden shingles. I would suggest that many have stood there for decades, perhaps since the early 20^th century. The population is small as evident in the town squares we pass through but development is occurring constantly as it continues to grow in popularity as a summer holiday destination. Personally, I prefer surf beaches to harbour beaches, but it’s a lifestyle that would suit many. The Cape Cod peninsula was created during the ice age and is almost an island now. We pass several salt marshes and our tour guides continues to ramble on about cranberry farms that are a plenty in the area. Doesn’t get more interesting than that. Not. To give you an idea of living expenses there, you’ll pay $2,000 a month for a small cottage to rent. But people will pay it as Martha’s Vineyard is literally full.

We travel through Hyannis and down the main street to head to the JFK Memorial. JFK spent much of his off time in Hyannis and sailing boats in Hyannis Harbour so he is very celebrated in Cape Cod area. There still are Kennedy owned homes alongside other very rich families. JFK used his home in Hyannis as his summer Whitehouse. JFK’s Memorial is located right on Hyannis Harbour, a spot very popular for sailing. It was quite an overcast day and not all that hot, so I was fearing of rain later on. The other downfall was that I may not see much during the afternoon cruise that is planned. From the memorial, you can see in the distance Hyannis Port where the Kennedy compound is situated.

After checking out the memorial we head to Lobster Boat for lunch. I get to talking to a Canadian chick who is doing the tour by herself too so we end up having lunch together and chat about world travels. Lobster Boat claims to have the best Clam Chowder after winning Best Clam Chowder in the Cape Cod Clam Chowder Festival (big achievement!). So I have my second dose of Clam Chowder which is slightly better than my first time in San Fran, but still not a huge fan.

After lunch we slowly (thanks to July 4^th long weekend traffic) make our way to Hyannis Harbour where I am to take an hour cruise along Cape Cod and to see the Kennedy compound closer. The security that exists around the Kennedy compound is quite amazing, even now, buses can only get so close, which is not at all, and boats have to keep a distance. It was good to get out on a boat, but just as I suspected, I really couldn’t see anything with the fog and the fact you cant get all that close. Oh well.

After our boat cruise we travel on to Main Street in Hyannis where we are given an hour or so to roam, shop, and do whatever. My Canadian mate kindly gives me her ticket to the John F Kennedy Hyannis Museum as she’s not keen on going. So stoked about that and decide to check that out instead of shopping as it’s all overpriced stuff because it’s ‘from Cape Cod. I’m amazed a museum exists for JFK just for his years in Cape Cod; he is clearly one very revered president. The museum is filled mainly with photographs of Kennedy family in Hyannis and a short video. It doesn’t really give much of a picture of him but interesting none the less. After an hour there I head back to the bus. After a two hour bus ride home in which almost everyone on the bus slept, we got back into Boston at about 6.30pm.

I head straight to Faneuil Hall to get some pasta for dinner. The have fantastic food there! I headed to the Comedy Club in the hope of checking out some comedy that night, but alas, they had no one planned to appear for that night. So I go back to the hotel and call it a night.

What I learnt today in Boston: