We relocated to Boston in May, 2014. Being busy with work, life and other travels, we recently visited famous Cape Cod for the first time. Something strange was in the air over Christmas in New England. Temperatures were 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 from Boston to Cape Cod.
Cape Cod
Cape Cod encompasses a long stretch of peninsula. 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. We decided it was an ideal place to stop for lunch.
Hyannis Port
We had a walk along Hyannis’ Main Street which has many restaurants, cafes and boutique shops. There is a nice variety to suit various tastes and budgets. It’s a cute area and we always appreciate towns that honor historic value by not allowing any chain restaurants to operate. This also helps small businesses thrive in touristy areas.
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. After lunch we returned to the car for the short drive to Hyannis Port.
Kennedy Compound
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!” They then 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 we did not venture as close as the teenagers.
Recap
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 Cod is one of the best day trips from Boston. In summer, catch the ferry to idyllic Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. Bicycling past the ginger bread houses in Martha’s Vineyard is a favorite summer memory. Other favorite roadtrips include Rockport, Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts. Have a favorite road trip from Boston?
Exploring Excellent Cafes in Seattle 
Edmonton and Winnipeg in Winter, Frozen Wonderlands
It is a very pretty part of the world and that is why the Kennedy’s like it.
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!
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.
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.