For my first day at the Cape, I headed to Hyannis, taking 28, the local route paralleling the shore. It was two lane, and it jams up with traffic even midway through a week, it was summer after all. I drove through Hyannis Port, but it offers little except intrusion on the Kennedys still gathered at the family compound, so I pressed on for breakfast at The Daily Paper, a Hyannis diner that offers both lunch and breakfast and was crowded. I sat in a single seat at the bar and filled up on an excellent meal.
My next stop was the JFK Museum, dedicated to remembering the Kennedy life in Hyannis. The staff was friendly and the site offered helpful background and a number of Jacques Lowe photos from the early 1960s in the Cape. The Hyannis museum had a number of Jacques Lowe photos from Hyannis during his time working for the JFK campaign and then presidency.
Lowe had an interesting career as a photographer and many of his Kennedy pictures are iconic. He died in May 2001. Tragically, four months later, the bulk of his negatives were destroyed because they were stored at the World Trade Center, which was struck by planes on 9/11 and collapsed. I once saw a DC exhibit that recreated the most iconic prints from his proof sheets; I do not know if that is also what I saw in Hyannis. The museum focuses on JFK’s presence in Hyannis rather than detailing life for the larger Kennedy clan. However, there was a nice tracing of the family over generations in the final room–I am disappointed that I do not have a photo of it. Since I completed the visit before my parking meter expired, I walked the main street as I had done in Falmouth and window shopped. Compared to Falmough, Hyannis bustles and almost feels crowded.
From there, I took some time finding the the JFK Memorial which overlooks the Cape and sits adjacent to the Korean War Memorial. It was a peaceful place for remembering and enjoying the view.
It was late afternoon when I headed to the Cape Cod National Seashore, where a friendly ranger provided two pieces of good advice. The first was that the parking fees in the NPS lots do not charge after 5 pm
and the second was that Provincetown, at the Cape’s northern tip just outside the NPS seashore, had an outbreak of Covid and many restaurants and attractions had closed. It was about 4-4:30 when I arrived and I had a faculty meeting at Georgetown University to call into at 5. I was starving, so I picked up some fish and chips at a local restaurant, found my way to the Marconi Beach parking lot and feasted on dinner while my colleagues discussed the coming term, our first back in the classroom. As I sat there, the beach seemed to have a shift change. The daytime beach goers headed in for dinner. By the time my dinner meeting ended, I headed to a more vacant beach where I sat for an hour or two watching seagulls, seals,
kids, and kites. As the evening continued, people returned. I was equipped with swim wear, but I decided to just enjoy a peaceful time sitting in the sand.
I examined the map to determine how much more of the beach to take in. Provincetown was 30 minutes away and there were places to stop as the daylight faded away. Then I would have a 90 minute drive back to Falmouth, on the southwestern corner of the Cape. I decided to save my energy for the next day, and headed back to my Falmouth hotel.