Ottawa to Cape Cod
From Ottawa to Cape Cod Massachusetts is not just a day trip from Ottawa. It will take pretty much all day to drive one-way from Ottawa to Cape Cod.
This trip to Cape Cod really does not have a lot to do with this Ottawa site, except that we did it; visiting Cape Cod from the Ottawa area, and we had a marvelous time. Maybe it’s time you considered it too?
We had never been to Cape Cod, and it’s been over thirty years since Sue visited, so essentially it was a new adventure for us. If you have not been, here’s a bit of information for you.
Cape Cod juts eastward out into the Atlantic Ocean about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Boston Massachusetts. Once you cross onto the Cape, highway #6 is the main route from beginning to the very northern end at Provincetown, along about 50 miles (80 kilometers) of dunes, water views, salt flats and ocean.
As I mentioned we’d never been to Cape Cod together, and since our knowledge of the area was limited, and since we know that it is a major tourist areas in Massachusetts, we determined that our best bet would be to find lodging in Cape Cod via the internet before we left the Ottawa area.
We also decided that we would like to stay right at the northern tip, and that meant looking for a motel, hotel or guesthouse in or around world-famous Provincetown, MA. An internet search turned up dozens of places that we might stay at. Not knowing anything about the area it meant that we really had to take “pot luck” in our selection and pick the one that we thought best filled our needs.
Sometimes rooms in Cape Cod are difficult to find
The first three places we selected and called were booked for the whole period during which we wanted to visit. Our fourth phone call was answered by Ken, who is a partner in a wonderful guest house. (Update – Ken and his partner are retiring and have sold their guest house to folks that are turning the Amepersand into a private home. It is now closed as a guest house.) A few moments later our room was booked, we now had a definite destination to plan our drive around, and we were ready to head out to Cape Cod a couple of days hence.
It is a full day’s drive to Cape Cod from Ottawa
From the Ottawa area, Cape Cod is a very full day’s drive.
We enjoyed marvelous, early-summer weather all the way which made the driving very pleasant, and managed the total distance (over 900 kilometers or 600+ miles) in just under 12 hours, averaging over 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour all the way.
From the border crossing from Canada into the U.S. at the 1000 Islands the trip was entirely interstate and turnpike driving. Not the best for seeing the country, but certainly the best for making speed.
You drive south-bound down I-81 to I-90 at Syracuse NY, and then east on I-90 through New York state onto the Massachusetts Turnpike and then on to Cape Cod. There are tolls as you drive east and west on I-90 and the Mass Pike, currently running about $8.00 for a trip each way. For what it’s worth, it seems to me that the New York State freeways are in much better driving shape than are the toll roads. Makes me wonder where the toll money goes?
Beautiful P-Town
Known locally as P-Town, Provincetown MA isn’t a typical tourist destination. Here’s a bit of information about the culture, rather than just the history of P-Town.
For those that don’t know, and that included us, Provincetown MA is a former fishing village with a strong Portuguese history. Now P-Town is also an outstanding visual-and-other-arts oriented community that welcomes, respects the uniqueness of, and offers dignity towards those that practice both mainstream and alternate personal lifestyles.
If gay persons offend you, P-Town is not your destination of choice. Same-sex and heterosexual couples wander the streets and tourist sites of Provincetown often holding hands or with arms entwined as they stroll along.
Much to see and do in Provincetown
We stayed on Cottage Street in a wonderful B&B.
As you drive into Provincetown the main east – west artery is Bradford Street but it’s Commercial Street, a one-way artery a couple of blocks towards the inner harbor, that houses the heart of Provincetown. Commercial Street stretches about 3.5 miles (6 kilometers) or so just up from and along the beach on Cape Cod Bay.
Almost anywhere you stay in Provincetown then, is but a few minutes walk from the City Hall and the myriad of attractions that Provincetown offers the visitor. For two very full days we wandered P-Town’s Commercial Street, many of the offshoot lanes and alleys, and made inroads towards visiting, what seemed like, hundreds of points of interest. But there’s still many left to see.
We could not do all of P-Town in two days, so we sure could not see all of Cape Cod in three, which was the length of our stay this trip. Oh yes, we are going back.
B&B’s in Provincetown
When we decided to visit Cape Cod, we also wanted to stay at the farthest reaches of it, so we selected Provincetown as our destination, and the Ampersand Guest House (which is now closed) as our lodging for this trip.
Here is a picture of Cape Cod Harbor from the roof-top terrace of the B & B we stayed in there. Sorry, but my picture doesn’t do justice to the view. The Harbor is lovely, and you get to see some authentic Cape Cod homes in every direction you look.
