Marconi Site and Provincetown, Cape Cod July 2009

Last week, our friend Josh Sullivan was visting us here at Ogremoot on Cape Cod. Josh is traveling around the country as part of a project called 52 Friends. If you're visiting for the first time, one thing you've got to do is take the ride out to Provincetown, all the way at the end of the Cape.

We set out Tuesday morning, and our first stop was the Marconi Site on the Cape Cod National Seashore in South Wellfleet MA.

This was the site where Guglielmo Marconi sent the first wireless telegraph message from the USA to England, bearing a greeting from President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII.

There is a small shelter on the site of the original station.

Actually, it occupies about half of the original station. Erosion has washed away about half of the land on which the transmitter stood.

Inside the shelter is a model of Marconi's station.

The Marconi Site has free parking, hiking trails, and beautiful views of the ocean, but no direct access to the beach. Although it isn't completely clear in these photos, there is a shear forty foot drop down to the beach below.

These pictures were taken standing right at the fence, which is set up both for safety concerns, and to help control erosion. (Note: While I was there some people hopped the fence to get a view done the cliff, if you visit here, please resist the temptation to do that! These dunes are very fragile ecosystems!).

Down below we saw some people walking on the beach. You can get to the beach by following the signs for "Marconi Beach" at the entrance.

Here is another look down the dunes.

There were plenty of beach roses (Rosa rugosa) in bloom. These are also known as Japanese roses.

Here's a flower.

And a fruit, or rose hip.

Looking inland, we saw scrub pine barrens and the park's water tower.

Here are pictures of myself and Josh at the Marconi Site.

Me first! I love this t-shirt that I bought a few weeks back at the Origins convention.

Here is Josh.

After leaving the Marconi site, our next stop was Provincetown. We parked downtown and went exploring the docks.

A charter fishing boat had just docked. They caught some good sized stripers.

Stripers, of course, are striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Some herring gulls (Larus argentatus) gathered to snack on the bits that were thrown out when the fish were cleaned. This one is a juvenile. He did an impressive job of swalllowing huge bits of fish skin whole while fighting off his fellow gulls.

Looking back toward town, the Pilgrim Monument looks down on Provincetown.

The Sea Gypsy gets ready to take kids on a pirate-themed harbor cruise.

While the docks are dominated by charter and cruise vessels, Provincetown still has a very active fishing fleet. Here are some commercial fishing vessels.

Also situated on the docks is the Whydah Pirate Museum, which contains the remains of the pirate ship Whydah, which wrecked on Cape Cod in 1717. It's the only authenticated pirate treasure on display anywhere.

At the end of the dock, the tall ship Unicorn was in port for a visit.

This vessel is operated by Sisters Under Sail, a leadership program for teen girls.

Here's a view from the bow end.

A coast guard vessel was anchored near the breakwater.

Also docked near the end of the pier was the high-speed Provincetown-Boston ferry Salacia, which makes the run up to Boston in 90 minutes.

Here she is departing.

This ship has some serious horsepower.

The catamaran hulls help with the speed too.

We headed into town and ate at the Mayflower Cafe. They've got some good Portuguese food, as well as burgers, standwiches, and fish & chips at pretty decent prices.

Here's Provincetown's City Hall, currently undergoing extensive renovations (you can see a little bit of the scaffolding on the right side.