Old Cape Cod

“OLD CAPE COD”
August 24 – August 30

DAY ONE AUGUST 24 Monday
With great anticipation we board our deluxe motorcoach and depart the grain fields of Indiana, then traverse our neighboring state of Ohio and roll across the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania. Making appropriate stretch and food stops, we complete our first day of travel and settle in at a comfy Hampton Inn in Mechanicsburg PA.

DAY TWO AUGUST 25 Tuesday
After an early deluxe continental breakfast, we once again head East on our way to Connecticut, the third smallest state in the Union, and the gateway to New England. We cross the lightly wooded coastal plain to follow the coastline, broken by many small bays, inlets and post-card pretty villages with a lunch stop en route. However, we must travel on for our destination today is exclusive Newport, Rhode Island, a famous resort area where the “good life” has been in style for over a century. We check into our overnight lodging and then set off to tour “The Breakers Mansion,” a 70-room Victorian estate built by Cornelius Vanderbilt and acknowledged as the most elaborate of all the Newport mansions. We then will go for an evening at Bowen’s Wharf where the seaside shops, restaurants and market area will provide an enjoyable evening on our own at the waterfront.

DAY THREE AUGUST 26 Wednesday
A nice continental breakfast will begin our day, then a local step-on-guide will entertain us with stories of the early wealth and cultural interests of those who made Newport legendary. Founded in 1639 as a major seaport, it became in the 1800's a playground for the industrial millionaires. Our tour takes us over the “10-Mile Ocean Drive,” as our guides narrates the history of “Millionaires Row,” with many of the mansions patterned after French palaces. Another place of interest is “Hammersmith Farm,” the scene of the wedding of “Jackie” and JFK. The Farm overlooks Narragansett Bay and is rich in history, functioning as the summer White House in the early ‘60's. Leaving the rich and famous, we will visit the first American landmark, Plymouth Rock, a granite boulder near the sea at Plymouth. The date carved into the rock, and into history as well, is 1620---- the legendary year the Pilgrims came ashore to settle in the New World. We board the Mayflower ll, a replica of the original Mayflower, to hear costumed maritime artisans relate stories of the tedium, the uncertainty and the danger of crossing on the original voyage. We must move on to experience the sea gulls and salt-air of old Cape Cod. We will spend the afternoon in Sandwich, Massachusetts at the Heritage Plantation, a diverse museum of Americana dedicated to the presentation and preservation of the collections assembled by our own Indianapolis Lilly family. The Plantation also maintains more than a thousand varieties of trees, shrubs and flowers on the grounds which also include the internationally recognized Dexter rhododendrons. Having experienced Sandwich we will travel to Hyannis, home of the Kennedy Compound, the Kennedy Memorial and St.Francis Xavier Church, before departing for the Four Points Hotel in Eastham, MA, our home for the next three nights. At our hotel we’ll enjoy dinner for the evening.

DAY FOUR AUGUST 27 Thursday
A satisfying breakfast buffet initiates our morning, then we board our coach to follow the winding road past lighthouses and through picturesque villages as we travel to the Eastham Windmill. Followed by a drive along the shore (weather permitting) you will have the opportunity to view one of the most photographed lighthouses in the U.S. as well as Highland Light. Our tour continues up the “arm” to the very tip of the Cape with our destination being colorful Provincetown. Known for its Artist Colony, but better known as the spot where Pilgrims first set foot ashore on this continent, we create our own artistic pictures at the Pilgrim Memorial Monument. Unless they choose to play hide-and-seek, we will also be enjoying the view of the frolicking whales as we embark on our whale watching excursion departing from Provincetown. Time permitting, we will spend a short time shopping in this quaint artistic town before heading back to the Four Points Hotel. We will have time to refresh ourselves before our included traditional Cape Cod Lobster Dinner (steak an alternate selection) before turning in for the night.

DAY FIVE AUGUST 28 Friday
A country breakfast buffet begins a beautiful day, for today’s highlight will be a relaxing ferry ride to enchanting Martha’s Vineyard. Enjoy a guided tour of this “storybook island” featuring the Gingerbread Houses of Oak Bluffs and the Clay Cliffs of Gay Head, with time to shop and eat in quaint Edgartown, a fashionable harbor side village of narrow streets fringed by stately old homes. Long sweeps of beaches, salt sea marshes and picturesque yacht harbors all add to the history and charm of the island. We catch a return ferry to the mainland and enjoy our included dinner at a local restaurant on the way back to the hotel.

DAY SIX AUGUST 29 Saturday
As we awake to our final morning of smelling the salt breeze, we realize that our little frolic is winding down. We’ll partake of our hearty breakfast buffet, bid this beautiful part of the country good-by and head westward where we
start our journey inland and end up in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, where we will be lodging overnight. You will have many late evening choices: you may want to experience the Falls, enjoy Casino Niagara, visit the famous Skylon Tower-Niagara’s highest landmark, or just lay back and feel the mist in the air, realizing how majestic this creation truly is.

DAY SEVEN AUGUST 30 Sunday
After breakfast on your own, our faithful driver heads our coach homeward. Appropriate stops to stretch and satisfy our appetites will be made as we enjoy the final day of fellowship with friends and new acquaintances. Returning to the Midwest, we appreciate the familiar sights of our “heartland home,” but hold many pleasant memories of the scenic sights we’ve witnessed. For recalling scenes of our nation’s courageous history, as well as an earlier opulent era,----- and remembering the quaint New England villages with rose-trellised cottages, the unbroken beaches and the boundless sea, will ever remind us that we, too, have fallen “in love with old Cape Cod.”

$1,350.00 Per Person at Double Occupancy
Single $1593 Triple $1270 Quad $1195
Trip Includes: Seven Days Motorcoach Travel*Six Nights Lodging*
Eight Meals (1 DCB, 1 CB, 3BB, 3 D) Including All Taxes & Gratuities*All Attractions As Described Above*
Step On Guide In Newport, Cape Cod & Martha’s Vineyard*Luggage Handling*
Tips for Hotel Maids, Driver, and Escort Are At Your Discretion

To cross the border, you are required to have BOTH a currently valid government issued photo ID (Driver’s License) and a certified (raised seal) Birth Certificate. If you already have a valid passport, it is able to take the place of these two requirements.