Scargo Lake and Tower, Cape Cod National Seashore, Provincetown, MA

Today was exercise day with a Lobster incentive. We started off with a short jaunt to the Scargo Tower above the Scargo Lake. I have included the legend to go with the pictures. It sounds a little fishy, but it adds to the ambiance.

"Once, the beautiful Princess Scargo, lived along the Dennis shores. She was part of the Bobuset tribe, lead by her father Sagem. One day, a brave young runner from a faraway tribe happened to espy the Princess. At once, the two fell madly in love.

To show his devotion, the brave gave the Princess a beautifully carved pumpkin, which he had hollowed out and filled with water. Four small silvery fish were inside. He promised to return to the Princess before the fish had fully grown.

The Princess adored her gift. She hollowed out a small pond in a clearing and returned every day. As the fish grew, the time apart from her beloved diminished. My Princess ->

The summer was long and dry, though. One morning, when she arrived at the pond, she found it dry. Three of the fish were dead. As she wept uncontrollably, her tears kept the one remaining fish alive.

Her grief greatly distressed her father. Sagem called a meeting at which it was decided a lake was needed for Princesses' fish. The strongest and most skilled brave was instructed to shoot an arrow. When it fell, the spot was marked. The brave shot 3 more arrows to mark the remaining boundaries for the lake. Then, squaws, using clam shells as shovels, dug a hole within the boundaries, which was then filled by fall rains.

The fish thrived in the lake and Princess Scargo resumed her wait for her lover. As promised, he returned before the fish had matured, and they were married soon after. They continued to live along the shore of Scargo Lake, where the descendants of the silvery fish-a token of love-still swim."

We walked the thirty some steps to the top of the tower and had a great view. Getting our exercise for the day, we felt much better and headed north towards Provincetown (at the tip of Cape Cod.

We found a secondary highway and traveled through a number of small towns. Our next stop was at the Cape Cod National Seashore. We bought a Season Pass, and try not to miss any of the National Parks. The park included several trails that you could hike including a 1.3 mile salt marsh pond. Apparently we turned left instead of right and treated ourselves to a little longer hike, but a very pretty view of the marshes , and the Ocean. Close to the finish of the trail was a shorter trail set up for visually impaired visitors that had a post and rope rail with a wooden stopper on the rope at a number of exhibits. The placards had braille encouraging the hikers to stop, listen, and touch a display. This was a unique project that I had never seen before in a park. We ended up walking 2 to 3 miles, but it was basically flat, and very pretty and we got some more exercise.

We continued up the coast arriving at Provincetown at 1pm. In town there was a huge Pilgrim memorial tower. The pilgrims on the Mayflower first landed at Provincetown BEFORE they travel to Plymouth Rock. It was not a planned stop, but one that was the result of the winds and a storm. They looked for a place to settle, and stayed for a short time before finishing their journey. They did encounter native americans and had a brief skirmish where they traded gunshots and arrows, but there were no recorded injuries as the marksmen and archers missed each other. The settlers eventually settled away from the camps, and later left the "island" because of weather. The first constitution was written at Provincetown in 1620 (called the Mayflower Compact).

In 1910 the community built a memorial and a tower to commemorate the first landing of the pilgrims in Provincetown. The tower is 252 feet high, and has 116 steps and 60 ramps in the interior that allows visitors a 360 degree view of Provincetown and the adjacent communities (including Boston some 45 miles across the bay). Advertised as an easy 10 minute hike we decided that we would hike up to the top. The view was worth our third hike in the same day. Returning down in to the main part of town Sue received her reward (bribe) of a lobster wrap at the wharf. The exercise didn't stop the stroll through the quaint downtown for people with every taste, and in some cases with no taste at all.

We finished our trip with a stop at a live lobster and fish market picking up one last lobster to go. They steamed it, and Steve cracked it at home. We will have a treat sometime today on our way out of Boston and headed west towards Niagara. Our legs feel better this morning.