Sandwich and Falmouth

Though it has nothing to do with the famous lunch item, Sandwich was named after the same earl who invented it. Founded just 17 years after the Pilgrims landed, the village was a haven for Quakers and others who disagreed with the powers-that-be in Plymouth [1]. Later, it became one of the first tourist communities for hunters and beachgoers from Boston [2]. Both qualities are retained in a village that is one of the most quaint in Massachusetts [3].

Despite its location below where the Cape’s proverbial arm attaches to the body, Falmouth is anything but the armpit of the Cape. Its downtown is pure Americana—befitting the town where Katherine Lee Bates first penned “America the Beautiful”—and its coastline is spotted with nature preserves and forested beaches.

At the far end of Falmouth, Woods Hole [4] has been a center of science since 1927, when the eponymous oceanographic center was founded. The town is now a delightful confluence of scientists, fishermen, and tourists passing through to the Vineyard [5].