Photo by Charles Sternaimolo

For two days last August, photographer Charles Sternaimolo and I explored the shops, restaurants, and cultural venues that make up today’s Main Street in Hyannis, and we met many of the characters that bring it all to life. We walked the length of the street a few times during our photo shoot, attempting to capture the essence of the community through our photos and interviews.

We met people from countries around the world—Bulgaria, Russia, and Slovakia to name a few—and others from just down the street. We saw color and creativity on display everywhere, from the flowers outside the Brazilian Grill to Talk of the Town Gift’s hot air balloon decorations. We enjoyed great meals at Main Street restaurants, learned a lot about the area, and had a good time in the process. We hope you enjoy this photo essay on Main Street in Hyannis—and be on the lookout for the next installments (Provincetown and Chatham) in our next two issues.

Sometimes the best photos . . . just kind of happen

Part of the fun of an assignment like this is the slice-of-life stuff, the people you bump in to, the scenarios you don’t expect, and the photos you couldn’t have dreamed up. Early on our first day, we saw two men working on the clock tower at First Baptist Church. That was pretty timely, if you ask me. Next, we came across 6-year-old triplets getting temporary tattoos. The boys—Kaychaun, Dantae, and Isaiah—were visiting Wings on Main with their aunt. The artist doing the job? Polin Alexsieva of Bulgaria. Then, just around the corner, we met Sophie Mitrokostas, who was walking her poodle, Lulu, along the Village Green, and no, she wouldn’t mind posing for a few photos. We couldn’t have planned it any better.

One mile of merchants

If Hyannis is the melting pot of Cape Cod, Main Street is the fondue. From end to end, there’s a mile of shops, salons, and galleries galore. Shoppers can find pretty much anything here, from clothing and candy, to skateboards and souvenirs. Popping into Puritan Cape Cod, Rick Penn, the company’s president, brought us up to the roof so we could get a high-end view of the street. Back inside, Puritan’s Anne Bellino was game for an impromptu photo shoot, modeling some new styles including AG Jeans, a Vince blouse, and an Eileen Fisher cardigan.

The Kennedys, the Cape League, and  more

Inside the JFK Hyannis Museum—dedicated to everything about the nation’s 35th president—we met Jennifer Andreozzi, and her sons Nicholas and Lucas, of Bristol, RI. They were on the family’s annual Cape Cod vacation and checking out the museum’s “Jack and Bobby” exhibit. Jen Pappalardo, the museum’s operating supervisor, gave us a great tour of the place, which also houses the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Hall of Fame exhibit. One person we did not bump in to is Sergei Khrushchev, the son of former USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who visited the museum in 2014.

Creativity on display

On the west end of Main, we stopped in The Little Beach Gallery where we met owner Jen Villa. The gallery exhibits the work of 60 different artists, and many of the pieces have a nautical theme: buoys, seagulls, and a fun fish made from a snowshoe. What’s Villa’s view of the village? “It’s a mile long of incredible diversity and charm, and every summer it reinvents itself.”

We stopped in a few other colorful shops, including the Poor Man’s Art Gallery and Soho Arts Company, and on each of our trips up and down the street we always paused to appreciate the cool whale sculpture outside Black Whale Gallery.

Photo by Charles Sternaimolo

Make your next reservation . . . on Main Street

Hungry? If so, Main Street has a lot to offer. We enjoyed a great kick-starter breakfast at The Egg & I, coffee at Rendezvous Café & Creperie, and a lobster-roll lunch at the Federated Church of Hyannis, which was celebrating its 58th year of Fridays-in-summer fundraisers. There, we met two Hyannis residents, Geri Brown and Betsy Hendricks. “I like the improvements that have been made [to Main Street], Brown says. “I think it’s very welcoming, not just to tourists but to families as well.”

Hendricks says she loves the flowers on Main Street, and the food at Alberto’s Ristorante. Taking her lead, we dined at Alberto’s that night, savoring some sangria, chicken and eggplant Parmesan, and the attractive views from the patio.

All along the waterfront

A brief walk through the Village Green, or down Ocean, brings us to the lively Hyannis waterfront. Here, travelers hop on ferries to both Nantucket and the Vineyard and it’s a busy, exciting scene. We met Allan Hansen of Chicago, who had just returned from Nantucket, and was happy as a clam. “Just like the brochure said it would be,” he says.

The area has much to offer within walking distance of the ferries, including great seafood restaurants, the Cape Cod Maritime Museum, the pastel-colored HyArts Artist Shanties, and Aselton Park. On Tuesday and Friday nights in July and August, free concerts are performed in the park. We took note—for we were in town on a Friday.

A couple of Cape Cod characters

Simply put, there are many fun and interesting folks on Main Street. At Cape Cod Harley Davidson, we met Karen Luby-Drew. She says the store draws visitors from around the world. “They want the shirts that say ‘Cape Cod’ on them,” she says. “It’s very nice to meet people from all over—we have all kinds on Main Street.”

Across the street at the Joke Shop, we met employees Grant Sherman and Cameron Pierce. They modeled the store’s popular “Billy Bob” hat featuring wild “Billy Bob” hair. “The joke shop is unique,” Cameron says, “because it brings in all walks of life.” Grant adds that in 2015 a group of monks stopped in and tried on a few masks, and that was quite a sight.

These guys really took us for a ride

While on Main Street, we regularly observed and heard the Cape Cod Duckmobiles tour going by, so we had to try it. On the entertaining and informative tour—which brings passengers along Main, down Ocean Street to the water, into and around the harbor, and back—driver Paul Frongillo and narrator Amanda Ross were a comedy team rivaling Laurel and Hardy. “Let’s see if this old duck starts,” Frongillo said while turning the key. “Yes! Once again into the breach!”

En route, Ross informed us that Main Street boasts 242 shops including 42 restaurants. As the boat entered the water, she announced that “emergency snorkels” were available up front. “And,” Frongillo added, “there’s just about enough for everybody.”

A nightcap at the Beech Tree—and Behram Haliti

Busy during the day, Main Street really comes alive when the sun goes down. We stopped at the Beech Tree Cantina and sat at the one-of-a-kind outdoor bar that’s built around and below a magnificent beech. What a spot—and the margaritas were tasty, too.

Moving on, we saw a crowd outside Wackenhammer’s Clockwork Arcade & Carousel. In summer, the place is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and we noticed the colorful carousel was never short on riders. Vendors were set up nearby, including Behram Haliti of Kosovo, who was selling colorful bubble makers. Here for the summer, Haliti said he was enjoying his time in Hyannis; meanwhile, a dog passing by was fascinated by the bubbles, and did his best to have them for dinner. The point of playing real money casino games is to play at the best real money casino sites online, hoping that you can somehow win some cash.

Main Street Hyannis Photo Gallery

Photography by Charles Sternaimolo

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Photo by Joshua Shortsleeve

For the recent birthday of my wife, Judy, our associate publisher, I wanted to give her something she did not already have. I mean how often does one turn 30? Our two sons, Max, 19, and Josh, 22, obviously were both born very prematurely.

Looking back, I can’t remember a time when Judy was not collecting “Beach Glass.” It is fun to find, hold, and closely examine these colorful beach treasures. However, once you bring “Beach Glass” home and add it to a collection in a jar or vase, I find it difficult to see and appreciate, and dinner guests seem puzzled when one pours the whole vase out on the dinner table for all to see.

So, for Judy’s birthday this year, I made a “Beach Glass Lantern.” Max went online and ordered the glass I needed—a clear glass container, two feet in height and four inches in diameter. I wound white lights, 50 in total, onto a small white plastic dowel to stand in the middle. Judy put a little beach sand in the bottom as a base. She then added beach glass from her collection of jars and vases. Then Josh photographed the completed lantern for me . . . and for you! The friends who have seen it seem to like it very much so I thought I would share the idea with the entire Cape Cod Life family.

Now, each evening when this lantern is lit, we can see and appreciate the beauty of this “Beach Glass.” It reminds me of many happy hours of leisure time and family vacations. On Cape Cod I think it’s fair to say Judy has found “Beach Glass” on beaches in every town from Town Neck in Sandwich to Race Point in Provincetown. The islands are also well represented in this collection: Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and, of course, Cuttyhunk!

Speaking of Cuttyhunk, I would also like to share with you a wonderful piece, below, written on this topic by our friend from Cuttyhunk, Katy Tripp.

My Best, Brian

“The Beauty of Beach Glass”
By Katy Tripp

Cuttyhunk is like the birthplace of beach glass. When you pick up a piece of beach glass, think of the life it has had. It started out as a whole thing: bottle, vase, decanter, vial, glass, or the like. Somehow it got thrown out or tossed and it broke . . . just as some people’s lives. The sharp edges cut deep into the soul of life as we live day by day, when love, hate, tragedy, or whatever, is inflicted on us.

Just as the waves and undercurrents of the oceans have taken the sharp edge off the glass and smoothed and rounded them, so have the turmoils softened some people. They will never be what they were in the beginning, but through life’s storms and worries they have become a thing of beauty, to be held close like a rare, good friend.

(as printed in Cape Cod LIFE July 2016 issue)

P.S. I STAND CORRECTED

In my last column, in the June issue, I wrote about my wife Judy’s collection of “Beach Glass.” I told how I made a “Beach Glass Lantern” for her with small white lights mixed with the colorful glass. I told of her collecting this “Beach Glass” on many oceanfront beaches around the Cape & Islands.

When the issue came out I received an email from my younger brother, Kevin. He was very complimentary about the look of the “Lantern” but told me it is a “Sea Glass Lantern,” not a “Beach Glass Lantern.” He went on to explain that “Beach Glass” is found on the shores of freshwater lakes and rivers; and “Sea Glass” is found on the shores of saltwater oceans and bays.

I think because he has a Ph.D. from Oxford University in England he feels he can be persnickety. These professorial types! Let’s see if he gets a free subscription to Cape Cod LIFE any longer. Sincerely Kev, thanks for the correction.

       Love, Brian

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Three eateries at Cape and Islands airports offer one-of-a-kind views—and some top-flight food!

Photo courtesy of Centerville Pie Company

Cape Cod is renowned for its abundance of dining options, many paired with exquisite views of the coastline. Another Cape and Islands trend that is taking off, so to speak, is the coupling of an enjoyable dining experience with an airport environment. “Airport food” typically conjures up an array of fast-food joints, but on Cape Cod and the Islands that image is far from accurate; the airports in Chatham, Hyannis, and Nantucket have begun to revolutionize the meaning of airport food for travelers and locals alike.

Even when air travel is not part of their plans, Cape Codders and Islanders are frequenting the airport eateries highlighted in the following pages for both their distinctive atmospheres and delicious meals. For a one-of-a-kind dining adventure, book a seat—at the Hangar B Eatery in Chatham, Centerville Pie Company’s new cafe at the Barnstable Airport, and Crosswinds Restaurant on Nantucket—and watch each dish touch down (on your table) with flair.

Ever had pie . . . on a plane?

Centerville Pie Company @ Barnstable Municipal Airport

The local women whom Oprah Winfrey has dubbed “the pie ladies” have opened a new location at Barnstable Municipal Airport. Earlier this spring, Laurie Bowen and Kristen Broadley, owners of Centerville Pie Company at 1669 Falmouth Road (Route 28) in Centerville, opened a new café at the airport. Serving breakfast and lunch, the café features a full-service grill and a menu loaded with a large selection of savory and sweet pies. The company also offers validated parking for café customers.

With a focus on local ingredients, including Cape Cod cranberries, Centerville Pie places the highest standards on food quality—and has developed a devoted following. “We are proud to offer travelers on Cape Cod the highest quality and most exciting food options available,” says Broadley. “There’s a lot of love in our food,” adds Bowen.

In addition to pies, the new airport café serves soups, salads, sandwiches, and more, including the company’s newly launched frozen shepherd’s pie. Currently, the airport café is open Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The hours are likely to expand in summer.

Centerville Pie’s story is well known in local circles. Shortly after opening the business in March of 2009, Bowen and Broadley, who are married, learned that Ms. Winfrey was visiting the Cape to attend Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s funeral. Broadley dropped off a chicken pie for the celebrity at her hotel; Oprah reportedly loved it, and, with her compliments, the company was soon on the map and flourishing.

Centerville Pie has a relationship with Cape Abilities, a local organization that provides training and work opportunities for local adults who are developmentally disabled. The pie company employs a number of these Cape Cod individuals, and with the new airport cafe the owners hope to create even more work opportunities. Centerville Pie will also continue to donate a portion of its profits to Cape Abilities.

Barnstable Municipal Airport
480 Barnstable Road, Hyannis
774-470-1406 • centervillepies.com

Photo courtesy of Crosswinds Restaurant

A special spot that”s known for its specials

Crosswinds Restaurant @ Nantucket Memorial Airport

If Nantucket Memorial Airport looks familiar, it’s probably because the airport was the fictional setting for Wings, a sitcom that aired on NBC from 1990 to 1997. Not only does the airport double as the show’s “Tom Nevers Field Airport”—and cater to thousands of travelers every year—it’s also home to a popular local landing spot: Crosswinds Restaurant.

For travelers in search of a meal or a cocktail before or after a flight, Crosswinds offers indoor and outdoor seating and a full bar. Inside, model airplanes hanging from the ceiling and aviation-themed paraphernalia on the walls add to the décor, while actual airplanes are visible just outside.

Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Crosswinds offers a variety of traditional American dishes including fried calamari, fish and chips, and chicken pot pie, as well as the chef’s specialty: orecchiette pasta.

The restaurant also prepares different specials each night. On Tuesdays, diners can opt for the Steakhouse Sizzle, a choice of prime rib, New York strip steak, or filet mignon, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables for $12.95. Other popular specials include “Endless Pasta and 50¢ Jumbo Wing Night” on Wednesdays and “Traditional Turkey Dinner” on Sundays. The menu also features several “Breakfast at Night” options including buttermilk pancakes, omelets, and vanilla French toast. Another bonus? Crosswinds’ motto is “Bigger portions, smaller check.”

At the bar, customers can order a variety of cleverly named drinks including a Fogged In, a No Fly Zone, or, for the brave, a Nor’Easter with Grey Goose vodka, Midori Melon, and lemonade.

Lastly, Crosswinds offers an “On The Fly” counter where customers catching a flight, or otherwise on a tight schedule, can purchase a quick meal to go.

Crosswinds Restaurant
14 Airport Road, Nantucket
508-228-6005
crosswindsnantucket.com

Photo by Dan Cutrona

Fuel up for the day ahead

Hangar B Eatery @ Chatham Municipal Airport

On a typical summer day, Hangar B Eatery—the restaurant at the Chatham Municipal Airport—is filled with customers by about 7:30 a.m., and there’s a wait for the remainder of the day. According to Brian Erskine, who co-owns the restaurant with Tracy Shields, patrons with children generally don’t mind the wait because, with planes landing and taking off on the tarmac just outside, there’s always something to keep the kids entertained.

Located one floor above the airport’s reception office, Hangar B features a dining room and an outdoor deck, both of which afford views of the runway. During a visit earlier this year, it was easy to notice the restaurant’s casual feel and welcoming ambiance: a couple takes a selfie, a family of four orders breakfast, and a group of older longtime friends shares a meal by the window. “Just you today?” a server asks another regular walking in the door.

The “specials” board boasts dishes such as chocolate croissant French toast, while the regular menu offers several traditional options including a “pilot’s breakfast”—two eggs, home fries, sourdough toast, and sausage or bacon. The staff makes potato buttermilk doughnuts and other pastries, too. They even mix and bake their own organic granola and jar their own jam.

Erskine handles the menu and the food preparation; Shields coordinates the ambiance and serves as head waitress. She also created the restaurant’s colorful logo. When they opened Hangar B in 2010, the co-owners wanted to create a restaurant with a refined yet informal atmosphere that would provide healthy options using locally grown products. After moving to Cape Cod from the West Coast in 2007, they began scouting locations. “I’ve been a chef for 20 years,” Erskine says, “and when the space became available, we wanted to try out this idea.”

The business partners faced some challenges in those early years. “There was resistance at first to the idea of an airport restaurant that was upscale and used organic and local products,” Erskine says. “A lot of people told us, ‘You’ll never make it.’” Since then, the restaurant has grown into a popular local meeting place—for diners who drive, walk, or land. One day last summer, the staff cooked its way through 1,000 eggs.

“We have a healthy following,” Erskine says. “People are becoming more conscious about what they’re eating.” Erskine adds that everything in the restaurant is made from scratch, and several gluten-free options are available. Hangar B has received numerous accolades as well, and has been awarded the title of “Best Brunch Cape Cod” in Boston magazine in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

The name of the restaurant—Hangar B—celebrates the co-owners’ son, Booker, who is 9. Over the years, the employees and clientele have become like an extended family. “For a long time, it was just me and one other guy in the kitchen,” Erskine says. “Now we’ve expanded a bit, and a lot of the staff has remained the same over the years. It’s a family.”

The owners have big plans for the future, which include continued involvement in community service efforts—such as a recent contribution to Calmer Choice, a nonprofit that teaches mindfulness to students in Barnstable County—and perhaps even a Hangar B cookbook. “It’s become sort of amazing,” Erskine says. “I didn’t expect in my wildest imagination that the restaurant would be this successful.”

The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. five days a week from April vacation to July 4; daily from July 4 to Labor Day; and Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the off-season.

Hangar B Eatery
240 George Ryder Road, Chatham
508-593-3655
hangarbcapecod.com

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It’s been 20 years since Highland and Nauset Light were moved back from eroding cliffs

A recent image of Highland Light, now located a safe distance inland

It’s a familiar story: Perched on the edge of cliffs to maximize their visibility to passing ships, lighthouses are especially vulnerable to land erosion caused by time, weather, and the relentless pounding of the sea. Eventually the lights must be moved—or topple into the ocean.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the move of two historic Cape Cod lighthouses. In 1996 Highland Light in North Truro and Nauset Light in Eastham were both moved back from the ocean edge and given a new—though still finite—lease on life.

How do you move a lighthouse? The short answer is “very carefully.” The long answer involves committed citizens, aggressive fundraising, creative partnerships, and the special skills of one company that has created an unusual niche for itself moving old lighthouses and other historic structures.

Highland Light is Cape Cod’s oldest and tallest lighthouse. Officially named Cape Cod Light, it sits 120 feet above the ocean with its beam elevation 174 feet above the sea. Ships can identify it from 25 miles away. When the original light was built on the cliffs of Truro in 1797, it was located 510 feet from the cliff edge. In 1857 the lighthouse was replaced by the current structure on the same site. In the early 1990s, a measurement from the base of the light to the cliff edge showed only 128 feet, according to the Committee to Save the Cape Cod Light, a grassroots organization chaired by the late Gordon S. Russell. In July of 1996, the lighthouse was moved 450 feet west to put it about 550 feet from the cliff edge, where it should be safe for another 200 years.

That same year Nauset Light was facing an even more dire situation. Originally erected in Chatham in 1877 as the North Tower of the Twin Lights, it was dismantled in 1923 and moved to Eastham, where it was reassembled 275 feet from the edge of the bluff. By September of 1996, though, only 36 feet of earth remained between the base of the tower and the edge of the cliff. Work at Nauset began immediately after an October 12 groundbreaking ceremony, and a month later, the tower was lowered onto a new foundation at a new site across Nauset Beach Road. Although the lighthouse had traveled only 75 to 100 feet as the crow flies, it now stands approximately 330 feet from the cliff edge.

“Time was of the essence,” recalls Valerie Dumont, who served at the Nauset move as onsite construction supervisor for International Chimney Corporation of Buffalo, New York, which orchestrated the moves of both lighthouses. “Winter storms had done a terrible number on the cliffs that year,” Dumont says, and the lighthouse was so close to the edge of the cliff, the company could not bring in heavy equipment.

A postcard image of Nauset Light in Eastham prior to its big move in 1996. Cape Cod Life Archives

International Chimney was founded about 80 years ago to build smokestacks for steel mills along the Great Lakes. The company still specializes in industrial chimneys and stacks, but has carved out quite a niche in moving historic structures, including lighthouses. In addition to the Highland and Nauset lights, the company also relocated the Southeast Light on Block Island, the Cape Hatteras Light in North Carolina, the Sankaty Head Light on Nantucket in 2007, and Gay Head Light on Martha’s Vineyard in 2015.

“Historical structure moves and restorations are about 20 percent of the business of International Chimney, but 100 percent of the fun,” said Joseph J. Jakubik, manager of the company’s historical preservation division. While a lighthouse has few doors and windows—which are typically the weak links in a building move—its vertical shape creates a concentrated load, that is, more pounds per square foot of pressure, Jakubik explains.

Highland Light was by far the heavier of the two lights, with an estimated weight of between 400 and 500 tons to Nauset’s 90 tons. Work began in June of 1996. After the lighthouse was braced and reinforced—a process Jakubik likened to “putting it in a girdle”—the ground around the light was excavated. The staircase was suspended from above and the floor removed. Then holes were cut into the foundation, steel lift beams were inserted, hydraulic jacks were installed, and the light was lifted. Roll beams and rollers were slipped underneath, and large pneumatic jacks began to slowly push the structure forward.

According to North Truro resident Dave Spang, the process was painstakingly slow. Spang is a former Cape Cod National Seashore interpreter who was occasionally assigned to work at the site during the move to explain to visitors what was going on. “Visitors would ask, ‘When is it going to move?’ and I’d tell them, ‘It’s moving now.’ It was like watching grass grow.”

One of Spang’s most vivid memories is of workers lubricating the steel beams with Ivory soap; they went through “cases and cases” of the stuff. “Each time they pushed it would only go 5 or 6 feet,” Spang says, “The workers would get down and rub the I-beams with Ivory soap.”

The all-masonry structure was very unbalanced because of the attached lightkeeper’s quarters, Jakubik says. “The keeper’s quarters had a light footprint and the tower had a heavy footprint. The trick was to keep everything level while it was moving.” Also, due to the weight and the type of rollers used, the lighthouse could only be moved in a straight line. “Right off the bat, we had to aim it where it was going,” Jakubik says. “There was no steering involved.”

The move took 18 days, from July 11 to 29, 1996. The $1.55 million cost was paid by a four-way partnership, with $500,000 coming from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; $450,000 each from the Coast Guard and the National Park Service; and $150,000 from the Truro Historical Society.

While Nauset was technically an easier move, there was far less room at the site for equipment. At Nauset, the International Chimney crew began the process by cutting a hole in the floor of the lighthouse, taking out a square plug of concrete, and digging below the foundation by hand with shovels, Dumont says. Simultaneously, the outside of the foundation was being excavated using a “mini”-excavator. “Vibration is not good in any circumstances,” Dumont says, “but it was very important here because of the proximity to the cliff.”

Next, crews passed steel beams from outside the structure through the center and out the opposite side, creating a grid of steel beams. Jacks were put in place and everything was connected through hydraulic lines. Then the system was pressurized to lift the 90-ton lighthouse evenly. “You have to lift it high enough to place dollies under the main beams,” Dumont says. In this case, the lighthouse was raised about six feet.

Working with Expert House Movers of Sharptown, Maryland, the International Chimney crew set the lighthouse on dollies with rubber tires, which ferried the structure slowly to its new home. The actual move took two days in November, which Dumont remembers as so cold that even the hydraulic fuel was a little sluggish. Not much would change, though, if they had to do it again today, she says. “Even with the advances in technology, you still couldn’t use heavy equipment on a lighthouse that close to the cliff.”

Hawkins Conrad of Eastham, who was involved in the earliest efforts to save the light and served as president of the Nauset Light Preservation Society, recalls the excitement—and trepidation—on day one of the move. “When they first began to move the structure,” he says, “the initial tug made the whole lighthouse rock back and forth a little bit, and we all went ‘Oooh!’” Conrad still marvels at how close the light came to falling into the sea. “We got out by the skin of our teeth.”

The $300,000 cost of moving Nauset Light was covered by donations and a federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) grant.

Ownership of both lights passed from the U.S. Coast Guard to the National Park Service, which established agreements with private nonprofit groups to maintain the lights. Eastern National, a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, operates the Highland Light Museum Store in the keeper’s house and offers guided tours of the lighthouse, including a climb to the top, during the summer, Monday through Saturday (highlandlighthouse.org). The Truro Historical Society operates the adjacent Highland House Museum, which will mount a special exhibition this summer focused on Highland Light and the move (trurohistoricalsociety.org/highlandhouse). The Nauset Light Preservation Society maintains and operates Nauset Light. Volunteers conduct tours to the top of the tower on Sundays from May through late October, with additional tours on Wednesdays in July and August (nausetlight.org).

Ellen Albanese is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Waquoit.

The post Light-savers appeared first on Cape Cod LIFE.

Art’s Dune Tours celebrates 70 years in 2016!

Photography by Josh Shortsleeve

Driving slowly through the dunes of Provincetown, Rob Costa serves a variety of roles for Art’s Dune Tours. First, he’s a driver and skilled at easing the large Chevy Suburban loaded with seven passengers along the twisting, turning, and soft-sanded roads running through the dunes. Second, he’s the owner of the company, continuing a legacy his father Art began back in 1946 of introducing visitors from far and wide to this scenic area on the Outer Cape.

Finally, Costa is the guide on this particular excursion, and after leading thousands of tours, he casually rattles off details, anecdotes, and one-liners while passing by different spots on the route. “We have the biggest dunes anywhere on the Cape,” he says while passing a 100-footer. “We were formed by ocean and wind coming up the dune, caused by the glacial sand spirit.” Passing some of the area’s famous dune shacks, he points out that “Annie Dillard wrote her last book there,” and that writers Tennessee Williams, Jack Kerouac, and others had spent time at this shack or at that one. Pointing towards one oddly shaped structure, he asks his passengers what they think it might be. He offers some hints. “We call it the international house . . . When you go in there, you’re Russian. When you’re in there, you’re . . . European, and when you’re done, you’re Finnish.” Any questions?

This year, Art’s Dune Tours celebrates its 70th anniversary of bringing customers well off the beaten path to experience Provincetown’s beautiful dunes and beaches. “It’s truly an amazing area to see,” Costa says. “It can be spiritual, it can be inspiring, it can be historical, cultural, beautiful, so many things to so many people.” From mid-April to mid-November, the company offers several tours per day; some last an hour and include a drive through the dunes and along the Atlantic shore, while others are longer and come with dinner on the beach, a sandy sunset viewing, or a stop at Race Point Light.

Art’s Dune Tours hosted a group of Cape Cod LIFE staff members for a tour last September to experience some of the fun. Many photographs were taken throughout, and dinner consisted of a lobster bake and s’mores on the backshore near Race Point Beach.

Photo courtesy of Art’s Dune Tours

Rob’s father, Art Costa, founded Art’s Dune Tours in 1946. Raised in Provincetown, Art served in the army during World War II, and was issued a Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster for his efforts while fighting in Italy. After his time in the service, Art returned to the Cape with some shrapnel in his leg, and a desire to see and enjoy the sand, and to bring others along for the ride. “He was a gentle soul,” Costa says of his dad. “Everybody loved him. He was friendly with everyone. He was very soft spoken and just loved doing what he did.”

In 1946, Art purchased a 1936 Ford Woodie and started the company. “I think it took some time to build it up,” Costa says of the business. In the decades that have passed since then, several other dune tour operators have come and gone, Costa says, but at present Art’s is the only one providing the service. “We’re the only ones left,” he says.

One of the highlights of the tour is the chance to view the 19 dune shacks that are located within the Peaked Hill Bars National Historic District. The district is named for the region, which was once home to one of the nine U.S. lifesaving stations overlooking the Cape’s Atlantic coast. Originally, the shacks served as homes for the lifesaving employees in the late 19th century. In the 1920s, Eugene O’Neill and other writers and artists took up residency in the shacks, or built new ones, and the location developed into a creative—though remote—place to be.

With the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961, the federal government took over ownership of much of the area along the coast in the Outer Cape, including the Provincetown dunes, yet those living in the shacks at the time were granted squatters’ rights to the properties until they died. Today, eight of the shacks are still owned by individual families, while the 11 others are owned by the government, but local non-profit organizations are granted lengthy artist-in-residency programs so individuals can stay in the shacks for extended periods, just like O’Neill and others did years ago.

Costa says the company’s busiest months are July and August, and in summer he typically has eight trucks running throughout the day. In spring and fall, Costa says the motor coach business, which has been growing in the area since the 1980s, brings a lot of customers, as does the various off-season festivals the town of Provincetown celebrates.

Photo Courtesy of Art’s Dune Tours

Art Costa, at right, brought many famous folks out to the dunes during his career, including Red Sox slugger Ted Williams, at left, and broadcaster Curt Gowdy.

About how many passengers have toured with Art’s over the years? “I don’t know exactly,” Costa says. “I would say hundreds of thousands.” That amount includes many celebrities and movie stars, such as Farrah Fawcett, Ryan O’Neal, Elizabeth Taylor, Rosie O’Donnell, and Secretary of State John Kerry. Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams also toured the dunes with well-known sports broadcaster Curt Gowdy, and during the early 1960s, Art pitched in with some rides during the filming of a scene for The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen. Costa says he thinks that Dunaway ripped her dress while out in the dunes, and then requested (or demanded) that Art drive back into town to pick up a seamstress, and to bring her back to the dunes to sew up the dress. “My mom made Steve McQueen a coffee cake,” Costa adds. “He loved it so much he asked for another one.”

Rob’s mother, Patricia Costa, was also born in Provincetown. Her maiden name is DeCosta, and she and her future husband were even born on the same street—just 19 years apart. Patricia also spent some time working for the company as a tour guide. Costa recalls one tour he led many years ago when his mother joined him for the outing. They both worked for the same company, but she had never been on one of her son’s tours, and he had never been on hers.

The arrangement made for a humor-filled afternoon. “You put two tour guides from the same family in one truck and they’re always trying to one-up each other,” Costa says, “but I must say she got me good, she actually won the competition.” Driving by the Ray Wells shack—named for the late artist and Mews Restaurant founder who once owned it—Patricia let out the mother of all one-liners. “She told everybody that I was conceived behind the shack,” Rob says. “And it’s a true story. Everybody was cracking up, and I was beat red.”

During the mid-1990s, Art began to develop Alzheimer’s disease, so Rob, who was living in Connecticut at the time and working in sales and part time as a tour guide, moved back to Provincetown to help run the business. Art passed away in 2006, and Priscilla followed in 2012.

“I was very much blessed having great parents,” Costa says. “My dad was a gentle soul, my mom was more like an angel. Together, they were well liked and respected. You can’t get much better than that.”

Today, Art’s is still very much a family business. Rob Costa owns the company and leads tours, while his partner, Rob Papa, manages the office. Rob’s aunt Priscilla Braddock and cousin Lisa Zawaduk are also involved with the company, which numbers about 25 employees.

Costa says he loves his job, and enjoys interacting with the passengers. “You’re meeting different people, you’re in an ever-changing landscape, the lighting is always different,” he says, “but people’s appreciations make it much more interesting than a repeating tour all the time. I absolutely love what I do, and I can’t see me doing anything else.”

For those who have never been on an Art’s dune tour, why should they sign up?

For starters, the drive from the company’s office at the center of Provincetown to the entrance to the dunes is just five minutes. Traveling through the towering dunes can be an inspiring experience, and one may understand why writers and artists, such as O’Neill, Jackson Pollack, e.e. Cummings, and others have been drawn here over the years. The name of one of the dune shacks—“Euphoria”—may offer further inspiration. Also, in summer one can view both the sunrise and the sunset from the beach—on the same day. Anything else? “They should come see what we’ve been enjoying for 70 years,” Costa says.

Art’s Dune Tours offers one-hour tours for $29 for adults, $18 for children; longer and more involved tours, and those featuring meals, are more expensive. Art’s Dune Tours is at 4 Standish Street, Provincetown. For more information, call 508-487-1950, or visit artsdunetours.com.

Matthew Gill is the editor of Cape Cod LIFE magazine.

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Offering exercise, camaraderie, and a lot of fun, pickleball is getting pretty popular on Cape Cod!

Photographer – Dan Cutrona

While vacationing in Florida recently, Bourne resident Ric Collamore fell hard and fast; the attraction was strong and immediate. His heart was pumping, his feet were moving—and his life would never be the same. What was the object of his affection? Pickleball!

“I became addicted to the sport within a couple of days,” says Collamore, who spends his winters in Florida. When he returned to the Cape two years ago, he sought permission to use courts in the town of Bourne to start up a local pickleball program. Since then, he has taught more than 40 people how to play, and he enjoys sharing his love for the game.

“It’s evolved into this beautiful thing,” Collamore says. As of early May, Bourne has four outdoor pickleball courts on Sagamore Beach, and three indoor courts set up at the Bourne Memorial Community Center. One can enjoy pickleball all year long.

From interviews and conversations with several Cape Cod residents, it seems Collamore’s passion for this sport is not an isolated case. During the past few years, pickleball groups have been popping up all over the Cape, from the canal to Harwich, and all the way to Truro.

First things first: What is pickleball?

According to USA Pickleball’s (USAPA) website, pickleball is “a paddle sport created for all ages and skill levels” that combines many elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. Collamore offers a more colorful description: “The best way I’ve found to describe it is ping-pong on steroids,” he says with a laugh.

The game is played on a badminton-sized court (20 by 44 feet) with a modified tennis net (it’s about two inches shorter). Each player holds a paddle that’s larger than a ping-pong paddle, but not as large as a tennis racket, and the game is played with a plastic ball that’s similar to a wiffleball. The game is most commonly played with two individuals per side. The first team to 11 points wins, but teams must win by two points. Typical games last about 15 minutes.

While pickleball on Cape Cod is relatively new, the sport has been around for more than 50 years, and is widely popular in retirement communities in both Florida and Arizona. According to the USAPA website, pickleball was invented in 1965 by three dads as a simple game to entertain their children.   

Pickleball on the Cape

A resident of Barnstable and a USAPA ambassador, George Rice started the first pickleball meet-ups on Cape Cod about a decade ago and has watched participation in the sport grow each year. “You can play it when you’re 8 years old and when you’re 88 years old,” Rice says, adding that the game is not difficult to comprehend. “You can learn and play the same day.”

While the rules are generally simple, the game is played at a fast pace and participants must be strategic. “It’s not about how hard you hit the ball,” Rice says, “it’s where you hit it.”

The game is especially popular among seniors, partly due to the smaller court size, which, practically speaking, means less running is required and there’s less strain on the body. Rice says many people have taken up the sport after being sidelined by a sports injury. At 80, Rice plays regularly despite his arthritis. “You can get sweating out there, but you don’t have to do that,” he says. “Everyone plays at their own level. You can play as much or as hard as you want.”

A welcoming community

In addition to the exercise, Collamore says there’s another aspect of pickleball that’s unique—the pickleball community. “Everyone plays competitively, but no one acts competitively,” Collamore says. “Everyone is there to have a good time and get some exercise; it’s a social sport. There’s a camaraderie on the court. At the end of the game, everyone bumps paddles at the net.”

Rice agrees. “The one thing about pickleball is no matter where they are, they are always nice people.”

Pickleball on the Cape is, generally, a pick-up activity. A group sets a date, time, and place, and players of all ages and abilities show up and rotate into different games with different partners and opponents. If someone doesn’t know how to play, other participants, or the organizer, will lend a paddle and explain the basics.

Ruth Sherman, a Yarmouth resident and a longtime racquetball player, took up pickleball for the first time this past fall. The come-as-you-are attitude appeals to her. “I like playing with a lot of different people,” Sherman says. “It makes it interesting. It’s fun to have some variety and see different styles of the game.”

Pickleball has found a foothold on the Cape, and local advocates expect the sport will continue to grow. Rice estimates that about 500 people across the Cape currently play pickleball, and during the summer, an average of 40 people turn up for his scheduled meet-up sessions. Rice encourages anyone to try the sport, but he does offer a disclaimer. “It’s addicting,” he says. “Most people get hooked after playing it!”

To find out where pickleball is played on the Cape and Islands, visit usapa.org, and click on the “Places to Play” tab.

Nancy White is a freelance writer from Hull.

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