Road Trip round New England in the Spring, not the Fall! Day 14: PreMemorial Day, JFK, MiniGolf etc

[anji]

Day 14 – Pre-Memorial Day Hyannis, JFK, Mini Golf and exploring

We skipped breakfast at the hotel today in favour of our holiday must-do – IHOP! We’d spotted one on the way in and decided to go there this morning. It was about 10 minutes drive away near a small mall.
Being the Sunday before Memorial Day, everyone else had the same idea! We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table but didn’t mind. IHOP lived up to previous breakfast over-indulgences and we staggered out about half an hour later!

Outside they were preparing for the Memorial Day military remembrance/service experiences event. Everyone was dressed accordingly, even the pooches!

There were lots of stalls, motorbikes, cars, produce etc and rows of seats. There was a small stage, music and general excitement with over 1000 people there.

At noon they began by welcoming everyone and playing the National Anthem. This gets me every time I see and hear it played in America – such reverence and respect.

They were calling out military wars and campaigns and local soldiers would go up and briefly speak about who they were, where they lived and where they had served. Some of the ex-soldiers were very old, some really too young and each had a tale to tell, which was applauded loudly. We stayed for about an hour watching.

Across the street was the rest of the mall and The Christmas Tree Shop and Trader Joe’s. No Christmas trees but this was a huge shop like an Aladdin’s Cave of stuff you didn’t know you needed until you went in! And extremely cheap! People had huge trolleys full of stuff. We got a 4 dishes and pushed the boat out here at 2 for $1, an oven glove, a shopping bag, snacks, other things I can’t remember and could easily have filled a couple of suitcases! Best leave before we’re into the unpack of shame at the airport (again!).

From here we drove back to the hotel, left the car and then walked the short distance to the John F Kennedy Museum. This was an excellent museum and concentrated on his life on Cape Cod. We were there for about an hour. No photos allowed inside though.

From here we crossed the road to Kilwin’s Ice Creams. These are always good! My favourite shop is the one in St Augustine with the toy train going round up near the ceiling!

We took our ice creams and started o the JFK Legacy Trail. This a walk which takes you round Hyannis and marked points of interest regarding JFK.

We ended up at the JDK Memorial Park and beach area.

There were loads of Canada geese here. There was also a lot of Canada goose poo on the grass – and it’s big!

We spent a while on the beach and in the park before walking back to the town and having a drink in the Raw Bar by the harbour. We watched the ferries coming and going – very busy with being both Sunday and memorial weekend.

We stopped off at the hotel for a while before driving out for our customary holiday tournament of mini golf! This was at the Wild Animal Lagoon, about 10 minutes away. I started off really well but eventually succumbed to a 53 – 62 defeat – like I always do!

Back in Hyannis we walked to the main street again and had dinner in the Colombo Restaurant. We had cocktails and huge dinners, which neither of us could finish. I had sirloin tips – not small tips at all – and Will went for chicken Parmigiana. This was an extremely popular restaurant and obviously does well with the locals, always a good sign!

When home at the hotel we sorted out the cases and did a bit of repacking. Tomorrow we were off to Boston for the last days of our trip. We’d loved Cape Cod and will return one day.

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[Melbatb]

What a lovely last day on Cape Cod! It is such a lovely part of New England.

[Wismgari]

We went to that same Kilwins and walked the Kennedy trail as well! I could totally go for a Kilwins ice cream right now.. so good!