Advice from all of you...please

Hello fellow travellers. I%26#39;m taking Mom to the Cape Cod area at the end of May/beginning of June. If any of you are familiar with Cape May, New Jersey, this is the type of quaint town we love. I am a photographer and looking for advice on which of the towns hold more charm than the others. Hyannis, Martha%26#39;s, Nantucket, or any of the other Cape Cod towns. PLEASE ADVISE. Thanks all for your help. This is our annual mother/daughter trip and I want to make it special for my mom....Deborah

Advice from all of you...please

I hate to sound biased, but I love Chatham. It reminds me of Cape May. Chatham is the quintessential New England seaside town. Cedar shake houses, lovely churches, charming Main St., Chatham Bars Inn, lighthouse and beautiful beach. I live outside the US most of the year, and look forward to spending my summers in Chatham. For me, it%26#39;s the perfect ';Slice of Americana';. There are several other great little towns too....i%26#39;m sure others will post their favorites.

Advice from all of you...please

Brewster, too -- especially the mill and herring ladder. Lovely homes!

I totally agree with both Chatham %26amp; Brewster. I hate to say it but you%26#39;d have to search a bit harder to find what you are looking for in Hyannis. Any town from Harwich out to Provincetown will give you what you are looking for. Eastham, Welfleet %26amp; Truro are the most lets see how to say it, well least developed. Brewster too. Orleans, Harwich and Chatham are a bit more developed, but in a very Cape Cod way to preserve what we all love about the Cape. Hyannis to me, has lost the Cape Cod feel in most areas. Nantucket and MV are also great, however I can%26#39;t speak from recent experience as it%26#39;s been years since I%26#39;ve been there!

Hands down: Chatham. Chatham is a great homebase to explore from while on the Cape. Downtown Chatham (and the rest of the town), screams: ';Old Cape Cod';.Check out the Bradford Inn for downtown lodging.

If you decide to visit Nantucket, you can take the high speed ferry out of Harwichport at Saquatucket Harbor which is a short drive from S.Chatham.

The National Seashore beaches of Orleans, Eastham, etc. will provide fantastic photo ops. too. The entire Cape is a photographer%26#39;s heaven. How long are you planning to visit?

It can be a bit nippy up here in May and June (especially while on the water or walking the beach), so bring some warm layers! Parts of the Cape may look like Cape May, but the weather pattern is very different!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all for your time and thoughts! I sometimes have my photo%26#39;s published in Coastal and Cottage living types of magazines. If anyone knows of some specific locations, homes/structures, etc., that are special, I would love to know. After reading the responses, I will likely not stay in Hyannis as we had penciled in. I think those towns mentioned are far more fitting of us. What do you all think about MV and Nantucket? Any special places my camera should visit? Thanks again friends!

Also visit the quaint town of Sandwich, please. You won%26#39;t be disappointed. Then drive to Falmouth and take some shots of a real traditional village green with sea captain%26#39;s homes surrounding it.

http://www.falmouthhistoricalsociety.org/

From Falmouth you will want to take the Island Queen over to Oak Bluffs in MV. This is where you will finds hundred of adorable gingerbread houses to phtograph in the center of the village. http://www.mvcma.org/

That is a must for any avid photographer, pofessional or otherwise.

Good luck and have fun!

I second mainstreetman%26#39;s vote for Sandwich. In particular, visit the Thornton Burgess home/museum.

My favorite scenic spot in Chatham is Stage Harbor. From the rotary on Main St., turn right onto Stage Harbor Rd, go past the Oyster Pond then turn right onto Cedar St., go to end and turn left onto Battlefield, then left onto Stage Harbor. It winds down to a gorgeous view of the harbor %26amp; lighthouse in the distance. I%26#39;ve often seen artists set up their easels and paint in this spot.

Breathtaking on a sunny day.

Photo opportunities? The gingerbread houses at Martha%26#39;s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. www.mvcma.org. While you%26#39;re there, the Flying Horses Carousel. Reported to be the oldest carousel in America

http://www.mvpreservation.org/carousel.html

Both the above are a five-minute walk from the Oak Bluffs ferry.

There is no shortage of lovely architecture on the north side of Cape Cod from Sandwich to Orleans. Rt. 6A is one of the 10 most scenic roadways in the country with charming greens, country stores and old cape cod houses. So no matter where you stay, make sure you take a leisurely drive along 6A....it sharply contrasts with the commercial development that you will find along Rt. 28 and the faster traffic on Rt. 6 which goes down the ';spine'; of the Cape. All of these roads converge at the Orleans Rotary and only one road, Rt. 6, will bring you through the outer cape towns of Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro. The cape is very narrow (about 3 miles wide on the outer cape so ocean and bay are practically touching!!

One place that you should not miss is the Fort Hill Area in Eastham. Along with the three historic homes (One is the Captain Penniman House, a second French Empire design that is often photographed and maintained by the National Seashore. Another is a the charming Fort Hill B+B, a Greek Revival Farmhouse...our favorite place to stay. And the third is a privately owned, gorgeous colonial with a huge tree in front.) the entire area is listed on the National Historic Register and has been preserved by the National Park Service as representative of the Cape in the period from 1880-1940. www.nps.gov/caco The panoramic scenic views from Fort Hill, out to Nauset Marsh, Coast Guard Beach and the Atlantic Ocean are often featured in magazines and the gentle walks along the shore, fields, forest and Maple Swamp will provide many opportunities for landscape photos.

If you want the absolute best garden shots for that country cottage look, go in early June when the wild roses are in bloom, perfuming the air. Perennial gardens with peonies, roses, and lavender will be at their peak from June 1-15 but the abundant blue hydrangeas, so characteristic of Cape Cod, generally do not bloom until summer is well under way. In any event, you will love the scenic towns on the lower and outer cape. Don%26#39;t miss Wellfleet...another gem!

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