Top Travel Days of 2020, Every Day on Cape Cod

Lobster Rolls at Arnold's on Cape CodPent up for months due to the pandemic lockdown, come mid-July, we were ready to leave the house and head to Eastham on the Cape for a week. We rented a cottage down the block from the bayside Thumpertown Beach, where we would spend most afternoons and evenings swimming in the calm surf and watching the sunset. In the mornings we would bike to Nauset Light Beach and on the up-and-down Province Lands Bike Trail, walk the Fort Hill Trail and beaches of Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and swim in the surrounding kettle ponds. We had our requisite lobster rolls and tasty onion rings at Arnold’s, but also were content barbecuing in the backyard and spending time outdoors with the family. Another highlight was a guided tour with Art’s Dune Tours in Provincetown. You must be doing something right if you’re still in business since 1946. We spent an hour in a Suburban as our driver and guide cruised over the sand dunes on Provincetown’s Cape Cod National Seashore, telling us about the unique topography and the history behind the longstanding dune houses that still cling precariously to the shoreline. We ended at Race Point Beach to watch another glorious sunset. Breathing in that salty air and viewing the serene seascape was the best form of pandemic therapy.

Hotels We’re Booking Right Now

Cliff House, Maine We currently have a group of 15 family members at the Cheeca Lodge in the Florida Keys and a couple who flew in from Atlanta with a negative COVID-19 test to stay at the Cliff House in Maine. We recently booked a family vacation at Wequassett Resort and a romantic retreat at Chatham Bars, both in August on Cape Cod. We also designed a 10-day itinerary for a family headed to South and North Dakota in early August and are currently working on a late September 50th birthday celebration in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains at Primland Resort, where you can stay at a luxurious treehouse. If you want to get away this summer or fall for a therapeutic escape from the pandemic and the news (like we recently did for a week on Cape Cod), please let ActiveTravels know.

Depending on where you’re located, we’ll work within the travel restrictions to not only find you a perfect getaway, but lodging that you feel comfortable in, like an isolated private house or cabin. And since we’re part of Virtuoso, we’ll get you those free amenities. At Cliff House, that translates into upgrade upon arrival, daily continental breakfast, and a Cliff House signature “Sea Bag” tote, made from recycled sails and valued at $150. Don’t forget that we design our coveted Dream Day itineraries across North America. So we’re more than happy to create a detailed tailor-made road trip that includes lodging, all activities, recommended guides, restaurants, and scenic routes. This is easily accessible on a phone app we create. As the motto on our website states, “We Help You Get There.”

6 Favorite Lobster/Clam Shacks, Including Arnold’s Lobster and Clam Bar, Eastham, Massachusetts

Arnold's Lobster, Cape CodGrab a tray at almost any hour from late morning to closing time at Arnold’s and more than likely you’ll be standing in a line, waiting for lobster rolls and a mound of tender onion rings to bring to nearby Coast Guard Beach, or for a fried clams or lobster dinner devoured at the outdoor picnic tables under the pines. The owner, Nick Nickerson, equates his success with the unyielding desire to find the tastiest seafood around, and if he has to pay extra to the local fishermen, so be it. Scallops that have been collected by fishermen in Cape Cod Bay arrive by 10 am. He prefers to get his clams for steamers at the Town Cove on the Eastham/Orleans border. Clams for frying can come as far away as Rhode Island, but Nickerson prefers the ones that come from sand beds instead of mud flats, stating that the latter tastes like, well, mud. For lobster, he prefers the hard shelled version found on the back shore of the Cape, off Coast Guard and Nauset Beaches. Work off your meal by playing a round of miniature golf next door.

This entry is excerpted from my latest book, New England in a Nutshell. The book/ebook is slated to published on July 2nd and you can pre-order now at Amazon. The ebook includes all hyperlinks to listings. The paperback includes front and back cover illustrations from Manhattan-based artist, Sarah Schechter, and a small sampling of photos from Lisa, who accompanied me on many of my assignments, resulting in published work for the Boston Globe.