MA - Wareham and Cape Cod - good eats in the area?

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GB

Chief Eating Officer
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Well we were supposed to be going to North Conway, NH, but those plans fell through. Now it looks like we will be in Wareham for anywhere from one night to a full week. Any good eating suggestions in that area?
 
Hubba hubba! Now you're talking my old "stompin' grounds." My parents still have their cottage in Wareham, just off of Great Neck Road.

(well, summer grounds, since we lived about 45 minutes north)

Granted it's been a while since I've been there, so the couple places I come up with may or may not be there.

Onset/Onset Harbor is an all around fun place to spend some time. Beautiful property with a great view of the harbor. They used to have a touristy boat called the "Viking" that went through the harbor and down the Canal some. When I was a kid (maybe I should say when I was younger) the captain let me drive the Viking, with a boatload of passengers! I thought that was so cool!

Anyways, there are a few little shops in the 'hood as well. For restaurants, Marc Anthony's is a corner pizzaria right close to the Viking dock (just west) that makes a pretty good pie. They aren't (or weren't at the time) a "chain" of any size, which I like. Then, just a few doors down to the west is (was) an ice cream place, I think it was called Grandma's. It had ice cream and candy as I recall. Good ice cream that didn't taste mass produced (not that massed produced is bad, but you know what I mean). Diagonally NE of Marc Anthony's is (was) a place that was a up scale restaurant, I think called The Lighthouse, but I am not sure. Like I said, a more classy type restaurant, at least at the time.

The other family favorite is Sandy's. They have two locations, one just on the mainland side of the Bourne Bridge, and one in Sandwich. The one in Sandwich has a bit more of a classy casual atmosphere, while the one is Bourne is straight up family atmosphere. The food is fantastic, and plenty of it. For the "adult" entrees, they have a children's portion size, and an adult portion size (they do have a kids menu besides). We pretty much always got the children's portion size because the quantity of food. With increased costs though, the quantity may be different. I remember Dad got the Fisherman's Platter, full size, that could have fed he, Mom, and me with the one plate!

Getting to Sandy's in Bourne may be tricky, cause of the rotary. You actually take a side road that appears to lead to a hotel and a Salvation Army Thrift store to get there.

Also on this rotary is (was) the Tug Boat, which serves ice cream. Good stuff there, a lot like the place in Onset but more flavors and a cooler atmosphere.

Right next to the Tug Boat is (was) Grandma's Something or other (Pie was in the title somewhere) and Grampy's Tavern right next door. I don't recall eating there, but it always looked really good.

You've likely planned out activities, but here are a couple cool things I recall (outside of Onset).

1. The MA Maritine (sp?) Academy in Buzzards Bay. This is right at the western entrance to the Canal, by the railroad lift bridge (which also has an entrance to get to the bike/walking path on the Canal). A great place to see the MMA ship if docked, but to also see the ships and boats going through the Canal. Always some fishermen there too that have a tale or two to tell.

2. The Christmas Tree Shop was a must stop for my family. It's on the Cape side of the Sagamore Bridge, SE corner. Great stuff at unbelievably low prices, open year round. Also, on the SW corner is a huge outlet mall that is certainly worth checking out. Between these two locations, you may need a second, or at least larger, vehicle! :LOL:

3. Cape Cod Potato Chip factory is in Hyannis, real close to the Hyannis Mall. I recall it being an interesting tour with a free bag of CC Potato Chips for everyone at the end. Also, the Food Court at the Hyannis Mall is huge!

4. Back in Wareham, if I recall correctly, they have a semi-pro baseball team that plays on the west side of town, on the way to Marion and Mattepoisett (sp?).

Also, if there are any golfers in the family, Little Harbor Country Club is a great course, and where I learned to play, right in Wareham. It's a nice 18 hole course next to Little Harbor Beach. You needed a pass to get to the beach, but day passes were available, so while some golf, others could be at the beach. It's a huge, beautiful beach.

Back to food, the trusty usuals are available, including Papa Gino's and Freindly's (a personal favorite of mine) right close.

As you likely know, there is a lot to do down at the Cape. Go further south to get to the National Oceanic something or other, which is where the ferries to get to Martha's Vineyard (and Nantucket Island, I think) are. Go out to the tip of the Cape to Provincetown to see some cool scenery.

I'm sure I've missed some, likely a lot, but these are what I recall as highlights of my ventures down on the Cape.
 
Thanks for that great rundown BigDog! Sandys sounds like the type of place I am hoping to hit while we are there.

I have seen the tugboat icecream place millions of times, but have never stopped. Maybe we will have to do that this time around.

I hadn't even considered taking the ferry to MV, but that could be a very fun thing to do one day.
 
GB, when will you be there?
I'll be in MA this weekend. DH is riding his bicycle in the PMC. He & several others start a day early. They leave Friday from the NY/MA line & ride to Sturbridge. Sat. AM they leave Sturbridge & ride to Bourne. Sun. AM they leave Bourne & ride to Provincetown. It's all for the Jimmy Fund/Dana Farber Cancer Foundation. If anyone is interested in supporting Seth's efforts, please go here:
http://www.truerwords.net/fundraising/how-to-pmc.html

I heard there's a great seafood place near the ferry dock in Bourne. Can you confirm BigDog?

And in case you want to offer any suggestions to me for food, I will be in Auburn on Friday night & Bourne (Best Western) on Sat. night. I will be looking for some place where I can get good takeout because Seth is always so exhausted after the day's ride. Sat. night he will wanting carbs.

Then on Sunday we'll come home from P-town to Mystic. Last year we stopped at some place that was supposed to be great for Fried Whole Belly Clams. In Dennis - Something & Kream if I remember right. Cone&Cream? What was it!?
 
We are going to miss you by just a short while Corinne :( We will be there somewhere around the 12 or 13th I think.
 
I want to go to Cape Cod, too!!
schluchz.gif
 
it would be 1538.62 € for the flight (09.08 - 16.08.) and there would be more costs for lodging and eating...
quite expensive for only one week..... :sigh:
 
found a better offer... :)
9 days trip with a flight to Boston and a rental car for 1 week... 569€ p.P...

but I'm pretty sure I won't get the days off at work...

but one day I will come back there.... *promise*
 
cara said:
you visit me and I visit you ;o)

Just don't visit each other at the same time! That would be bad!

Hmmmmmmmmm, that's got me thinking maybe the folks would let me have a DC BBQ at the cottage sometime . . . . . . . Wareham is only a couple three hour ride from just about anywhere in New England, short northern NH and VT.
 
Back from the Cape. There were approx. 4500 riders in the PMC this year & the goal was to raise $25,000,000. I bet they'll do it when it's all said & done. Everyone has until Oct. to raise the funds.

We stayed at the Best Western - Bourne Bridge hotel last night. The hotel was very nice but the restaurant on site was not very good. I wouldn't go there again. They are supposed to be like an English Tavern or something. The Brits really aren't known for their food, are they? An Indian family owns the hotel part - I suggested that they might want to change the restaurant to Indian fare when I checked out today. (I love Indian cuisine.) Apparently the hotel & restaurant are separate entities. :-(

On the way home from P-town we stopped at the "Lobster Shanty" - I have no idea what town we were in. Some place on RT 6! The food was OK - not fantastic. I won't go there again, either. It was a lot of money for mediocre food.

Are my standards too high?
 
BigDog said:
Did you not go to Sandy's? I think it is right by that hotel!

No, I didn't. :-( I'm sorry! The tug boat doesn't seem to be there anymore - at least I didn't see it. If I had seen it, I would have known that I was going the right way. It would have been on the opposite side of the rotary from where we were. Not that that mattered - I must have passed the place when I went to pick him up at the MMA.

Neither of us wanted to leave the hotel to go get dinner so I just walked down the hall. I already booked a room at the same place for next year & don't plan to eat in that restaurant again so I will keep Sandy's in mind for next year. Thank you!
 
Corinne said:
Last year we stopped at some place that was supposed to be great for Fried Whole Belly Clams. In Dennis - Something & Kream if I remember right. Cone&Cream? What was it!?

Kreme n' Kone in West Dennis. I haven't been there, but my parents live a mile or two from it.

Was it good, Corinne?

Lee
 

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