Cape Pedaling

Easy, scenic riding on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.

Great view of the Atlantic Ocean at trail's end.

We were fortunate to get a break in the rainy weather long enough to ride the magnificent Cape Cod Rail Trail. The trail is fully paved and runs for 22-miles from Dennis to Wellfleet. If you curl your left arm  like you are making a muscle, your arm would be in approximately the same shape as the Cape. Dennis would be about where you bicep is and Wellfleet would be halfway up your forearm. Like most rail trails, the Cape Cod Rail Trail has a fairly level grade, making for an easy ride. And, it passes through several historic towns and along picturesque ponds, cranberry bogs, and marshes. Highly recommend if you are on the Cape and have access to a bike.

I Landed in Provincetown and All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt

This plaque commemorates the spot where the Pilgrims landed near Provincetown.

This shop might have been where the Pilgrims purchased their souvenirs.

If the Pilgrims had sailed into Provincetown in 2012 instead of 1620, that might be have been a popular seller among the crowd on the Mayflower looking for a place to practice religious freedom. They spent a short time in P-town before moving on to Plymouth. Now, we were very impressed with the number of high-quality artist studios and interesting restaurants located in the main tourist areas near the waterfront, but, like most similar seaside destinations, P-town has its share of tacky t-shirt and fudge shops. We rode our bikes from the Cape Cod National Seashore visitor center into town to avoid having to navigate around the narrow streets in my dually. That was a tip suggested by a ranger at the park and it was a great recommendation. The 5-mile paved bike trail traverses the dune landscape of the park and ends just a short ride from downtown P-town. It's a great place to stroll on a sunny afternoon. We also were fortunate to see a pod of humpback whales splashing just off the coast from the park visitor center observation deck.

JFK's Summer White House

The JFK Museum in downtown Hyannis, MA.

The museum features many items from the 1960 Presidential campaign.

Keeping with our visits to historic sites related to US Presidents, we drove over to Hyannis to the JFK Museum, which commemorates John F. Kennedy's ties to the area and the role the Kennedy compound played during his 1960 campaign and through his presidency. The museum houses more than 80 photos, mostly candid shots of JFK with family and friends, spanning his years there between 1934 and 1963. A video, narrated by Walter Cronkite, includes some rare footage of JFK during the time the Hyannis property served as his campaign headquarters and, after his election, as a popular setting for hosting visiting foreign dignitaries or for getting away from the pressures of the office. Since the Kennedy compound is not open to the public, this is a good way to learn about the ties the 35th President has to Cape Cod.

My Visit to Big Pink

Big Pink, a rock-n-roll landmark.

Hidden down a one-lane dirt road in West Saugerties, NY, is a split-level, pink-shingled house that has the most famous basement in Rock-n-Roll. This is the house where Bob Dylan lived in 1967,with members of The Band. Dylan and The Band recorded The Basement Tapes in the basement on a 2-track recorder back in 1967 but the album wasn't released until 1975 as a double album. The Band, (Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm) would eventually live there and rent out the house.The Band recorded the legendary Music From Big Pink album, one of my all-time favorite albums, there in 1968, along with the follow-up The Band (the "brown" album) in1969. Bob Dylan also recorded his John Wesley Harding album there. Also other well established artists such as Eric Clapton and George Harrison would frequent Big Pink around this time, and even write and rehearse songs there. The house looks much the same as it did on the back of the Music From Big Pink album cover more than 40 years ago. As I stood there alone in the quiet of a late afternoon, I could swear I heard Dylan and the boys down there in the basement.

Olana

Olana, the Persian/Moorish-inspired home of Frederic Edwin Church.

Standing on a hill with wide views of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains is Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, NY. Olana was the home, studio, and estate of Frederic Edwin Church, one of the major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape painters in the 19th Century. Church first sketched on what was then a working farm in 1845 and purchased the property in 1860. Over the next 30 years, he continuously improved the 250-acre property, adding scenic carriage roads, gardens, orchards, a man-made lake, and more than 30,000 trees. The mansion itself is done in a Persian and Moorish style which Church designed based on his travels to the Middle East. Most of the furnishings are original and were collected by Church from his travels.

Cruising the Walkill Valley

Riding through the apple orchards along the Walkill Valley Rail Trail.

The restored railroad bridge over the Walkill River.

If you followed this blog last year, you know that we like to discover rail trails in the vicinity of the campgrounds where we stay. There are several options in the Hudson Valley, one of which is the Walkill Valley Rail Trail, which runs for about 16 miles from Rosendale, through New Paltz, and south past Gardiner. This is a relatively new trail that is still being developed, and takes riders past apple orchards, over a restored bridge spanning the Walkill River, and through miles of dense forest. One of the benefits of traveling in the spring is seeing all the wildflowers blooming this time of year and the Walkill rail trail did not disappoint.

The Gigantic Kaleiedoscope

The World's Largest Kaleidoscope is located in an old grain silo.

Like, far out, man.

Since we were just down the road from Woodstock, NY, we just couldn't pass up the chance to visit a psychedelic roadside attraction. Billed as the World's Largest Kaleidoscope (and recognized by The Guinness Book of World Records), the Kaatskill Kaleidoscope in Mt. Tremper is housed in a 60-foot tall former grain silo. The $250,000 kaleidoscope was designed in the 1960s  by artist Isaac Abrams and his son Raphael and was completed in 1996. About 20 people can fit into the silo at a time. Visitors must lean back against sloping padded boards with sliding neck supports, allowing an easy view up through the kaleidoscope in the silo. The day we visited, Paula and I were the only ones there, so the attendant let us lay on the floor. There are three different shows, all accompanied by music written by a local composer, that last about 10 minutes. I must say, laying on the floor listening to psychedelic music and looking up at the show in the kaleidoscope really was a groovy way to spend an afternoon. Peace.