First Encounter Beach, Eastham, MA 

Just off Route 6 in Eastham, following Herringbrook Road to Samoset Road there is a lovely protected beach. The sun still baths the soft white sand as the gulls call overhead doing their aerial dance in the salt laden air. Tide, inexorable as time, move in and out from the shore line. Ageless, for an instant it can seem as if time has stood still in the warm afternoon light.

Out of all the stretches of sandy beaches along the bay side of the Cape, on December 12, 1620 this is where the Mayflower colonists first encountered Indians. Little did they know a year later, in 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

 

Thus named for that meeting, First Encounter should be on the list of places to visit and enjoy while on Cape Cod. It’s also the perfect place to have a walk after the turkey and fixings this coming holiday.