Sunset Over the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port

 

We relocated to Boston in May, 2014 and due to being busy with work, life and other travels, we only recently made time to visit famous Cape Cod. Something strange was in the air over Christmas in New England that saw temperatures well above average for this time of year, with highs approaching 60 fahrenheit (15 celsius)! Combined with sunny skies, it was the perfect excuse to rent a zipcar for 7 hours and make the 60 mile drive to Cape Cod.

CapeCod-us2
Capecodzip
Cape Cod is a long stretch and given the day was short, we knew that reaching the end of the Cape in Provincetown, which was recently featured by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown, would be best left for another time. When we reached Cape Cod we saw signs to exit the highway for Hyannis Port and decided it was a good place to stop for lunch.

We had a walk along Hyannis’ Main Street which has many restaurants, cafes and boutique shops, with a nice mix of prices and tastes to suit pretty much anybody. It’s a cute area and we always appreciate towns that honor historic value by not allowing any chain restaurants to operate, which also helps small businesses thrive in touristy areas.

Lighthouse capecod
Hyannis Port is famous for being the summer home of the Kennedy family since the days of President John F. Kennedy. There’s a museum dedicated to the former president called the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum. We unfortunately didn’t have time to visit the museum and after lunch we returned to the car for the short drive to Hyannis Port.

Cape Cod collage
Cape Cod is extremely busy during the summer, but because it was winter, the beaches were quiet for a stroll. We were wondering where the Kennedy compound was and searched for it on google maps. We reached a private pier and could see one of the large beach houses with all the drapes closed. Some teenagers came by and yelled “that’s the Kennedy compound!” and ran across the pathway of the pier onto the stretch of beach to get closer to the Kennedy family home. Since the sign didn’t say “private beach” and was a bit ambiguous, we decided to follow suit, but not get as close as the teenagers.

We really enjoyed watching a beautiful sunset over the Kennedy Compound, with a lovely view of Hyannis Port. After sunset and a temperature drop, it was time to get back in the car and return to Boston. Albeit short, it was a relaxing afternoon break from city life, and our brush with history was just icing on the cake.

Cape - sunset
Sunset over the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port.

 

Author

  • Alex&Bell

    Alex and Bell originally met while solo traveling after finishing university in 2002, in Brugge, Belgium. Alex grew up in the USA and Bell hails from Australia. During our nearly 20 year marriage we've lived around the world, including spending six years living in the Netherlands and Ireland. We have traveled to nearly 70 countries and enjoy giving readers authentic and quality travel tips. Alex is an award winning travel journalist and travel planner, who also freelances for other outlets. Bell is an award winning PhD scientist who currently works for a non-profit lung cancer advocacy research organization called Lungevity. Happy travels and if you have any questions leave a comment or drop an email!

4 thoughts on “Sunset Over the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port

    1. Indeed! On an interesting side note the packed Hyannis cafe on Main Street where we ate lunch had the TV on Fox News- which is the conservative leaning news outlet of the US. We thought they could have at least had the TV set to CNN like American airports do!

  1. This looks like the huge house next store to the compound. It has the very tall white collumns and was never owned by the Kennedys.

    1. Interesting, we may have made a mistake there. That house shows up in google image searches of the Kennedy Compound, but perhaps because it is indeed the house next door to Joe Kennedy’s. There are 3 houses that make up the Kennedy Compound.

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