6 Reasons to Love Cape Cod

In spring 2018, we launched a series of illustrated books that’s near and dear to our hearts: the Little Local Cookbooks. Each one of these small, giftable books acts as both a cookbook and a travel guide: celebrating the quintessential flavors and landmarks of its place of origin.

One of the two books that launched our Little Local Series, A Little Taste of Cape Cod honors a tiny piece of land that has had an outsized impact on our lives, a place that has been mythologized for its beaches, boardwalks, and beautiful denizens: Cape Cod. Our Boston-based author, Annie B. Copps, has deep roots in the Bay State, where she’s been writing, teaching, and talking about food for 30 years. She visits the cape at every opportunity, and it shows in her recipes, which make brilliant use of the region’s bounty—the briny oysters, the umami mussels, the tart cranberries, the delicate lobster. Meanwhile, illustrator Courtney Jentzen evokes the visual feast that is Cape Cod, with rich watercolors depicting sailboats at anchor, a beach picnic at sunset, and a wild, wondrous cranberry bog, vivid red beneath a pale blue sky.

We couldn’t be happier to showcase this dreamy spot, where we either go every summer to lie on the sand and feast on fresh seafood—or sorely wish we did. Here are six reasons to love Cape Cod:

1. Beach Picnics

You might say that the perfect beach picnic hinges on three things: location, location, location. Choose the right spot to set down your blanket and basket, and you’ll have all the requisite ingredients for a sublime meal al fresco: warm sunshine on your face, soft sand underfoot, a robin’s-egg blue sky above, and the soothing sound of rolling waves in the background. Choose the wrong stretch of sand for your picnic, and...let’s just say, your meal might be more the stuff of sitcoms than the stuff of dreams.

As picnic spots go, it doesn’t get much dreamier than Cape Cod. Stretching out from Massachusetts’ southeastern end and curling into the Atlantic, the cape has nearly 600 miles of pristine shoreline—beaches for days, literally. Given the peninsula’s geography, it’s easy to choose-your-own-adventure: head to the bay side for warmer, calmer water (all the better for a post-lunch wade) or opt for the Atlantic side, with its wide-open ocean views. Some sections of shoreline beckon with exceptionally soft sand (Old Silver, Race Point), while others are rife with tide pools to explore (Skaket, Breakwater). One constant? The gentle, grass-covered rises that run along the backs of the beaches. Formed by wrack—a mixture of plants that trap stray bits of sand—these dunes create a natural barrier between the beach and all that lies inland. Meaning that, while you picnic on the beach, you really can forget about the mad, mad world for a while.

Not sure what to pack in your picnic basket? If you’re looking to impress with a splashy romantic lunch, consider laying out a spread of oysters with mignonette sauce. For something simpler, make fried clam rolls and bring them along for a peripatetic picnic. But no matter what dish is on the menu, you’ll want to wash it down with the cape’s own eponymous cocktail: the sweet-tart Cape Codder. (For more details on the Cape Codder, read on.)

2. Fishing Shacks

Tall and proud, often arrayed with colorful buoys, weather-worn fishing shacks still stand on docks and beaches through the cape, living testaments to the area’s long, proud maritime history. Fishing has been big business here for centuries, ever since early settlers took to the peninsula’s harbors, bays, and shoals to harvest bluefin tuna, mahimahi, oysters, clams, and lobsters. (Famously, the island of Nantucket, just off the cape, was once a major whaling hub, serving as the port of call for the Essex, the vessel that inspired Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.)

The whalers are long gone, of course, but the cape still supports a multimillion dollar commercial fishing industry, and sportfishing charter companies dot the cape. In fact, you’ll find pieces of maritime history everywhere on the cape, from the deck of the SS Lobster Roll (a scenic dinner cruise out of Dennis) to the recreated boat building shop at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum. You’ll also see that history in the area’s events: the Lobsterfest Gala, the Wellfleet Oyster Festival, and the Provincetown Portuguese Festival—a weekend-long shindig that culminates with the blessing of the town’s fishing boats.

3. Cranberries and Cranberry Bogs

In the early 1990s, a fifth grade class on Massachusetts’ North Shore petitioned state legislators to recognize the cranberry as Massachusetts official state berry. The students’ efforts paid off when, after two years of lobbying and hearings, state representatives did exactly that. It makes sense: The small red berry is a big deal here, with the annual harvest valued at around $60 million.

Many of the state’s berries are grown on Cape Cod, where deposits from ancient glaciers created natural bogs—wetland areas ideally suited to cultivating the crop. Today, these cold, clear berry-filled ponds are scattered throughout the cape and the nearby islands, from Annie’s Crannies in Dennis to Milestone Bog on Nantucket, an area where the berries have been continuously cultivated since 1857. Want to visit a cranberry farm, buy fresh berries curbside, or tour a bog yourself? Check out the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association’s roundup of local offerings.

4. The Cape Codder

Cape Cod’s famed cranberries show up in all sorts of ways: rubbed on baby back ribs in a sweet-tart barbecue sauce; chopped and dried and mixed into granola; and, of course, transformed into that familiar Thanksgiving staple, cranberry sauce. But perhaps no cranberry creation is more beloved than the breezy cocktail that pairs cranberry juice with vodka, plus a splash of lime juice. Ocean Spray initially introduced the drink as the Red Devil, but the sessionable cocktail soon became known by a new, more genteel name: the Cape Codder.

The recipe for a Cape Codder varies depending who you ask, with barkeeps arguing technicalities (the proper vodka-cran ratio, the quantity of lime juice needed, the necessity of club soda, and the like). We’ll admit that we’re biased, but we love Annie Copps’ spin on the drink, which includes a generous pour of club soda and a garnish of fresh mint leaves. In any case, no matter which recipe you follow, the spirit of the drink never changes. It’s sweet-tart and refreshing: the perfect toast to the coast.

5. Whale Watching

Perhaps you’re partial to the giant, graceful humpback, known for its dramatic leaps out of the water. Or maybe, you’re a fan of pilot whales, extroverted creatures that prefer to travel in packs, and will sometimes dive down up to 1,000 feet to feed. Or you might have a soft spot for the rare, elusive right whale, an animal so endangered, there are fewer than 300 left on earth. Regardless of which whale you’re partial to, chances are, you might spot it in the waters off of Cape Cod.

From April to October, the cape becomes a magnet for all kinds of migratory whales, as they flock to the surrounding waters to feed. In particular, the massive mammals gravitate to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, just off the tip of Provincetown—an 842 square-mile protected area teeming with marine life—and Nantucket Bay, where, in the spring of 2020, researchers spotted 171 right whales...accounting for nearly 65% of the species’ entire population. For the best chance of seeing these majestic animals up (relatively) close, register for a whale watching trip out of Provincetown or Barnstable Harbor. (To find environmentally responsible operators, look for companies that are enrolled in the Whale SENSE program.)

6. Clams and Clam Chowder

When you’re on the cape, gazing over the water, it’s not uncommon to spot people walking slowly through the shallows, hip waders on, periodically dipping into the water to pick something up, then straightening up and plopping a small object into a floating container. Those waders-with-a-purpose? They’re searching for shellfish. The waters around Cape Cod are teeming with quahogs, mussels, soft-shell clams, and other creatures, which beckon commercial fishermen and hobbyists alike. In 2019, the professionals landed a whopping 37 million oysters and 2.8 million quahogs on the cape and the surrounding islands.

Chefs and home cooks find all kinds of ways to prepare these fresh bivalves: mixing mussels with garlic and linguiça sausage; stuffing quahogs with parsley and Parmesan; and, of course, making that most New England of dishes: thick, comforting clam chowder. Want to harvest some clams yourself? Head to the local sticker office to buy a recreational shellfishing permit, get equipped with basic tools (a clam rake, a clam gauge, gloves, and floating peck), find the approved fishing locations in your area, and start digging!

For more reasons to love Cape Cod, check out A Little Taste of Cape Cod, available on Indiebound and wherever books are sold.