Finding the Dam & Herring Run

Many years ago when I was in high school, Liz & I took their little sailboat around Upper Shawme Pond one beautiful summer day.  She maneuvered the boat into this little cove to show me the little dam and waterfall between the upper and lower ponds.  I never forgot that day, because it wasn't a place that was really accessible to most people.  I never got to see it again.

A few years ago the town spent about a million dollars to rebuild the whole thing, putting a large dam, walkway and herring run between the two ponds.  I finally found the access road off Grove Street, although you can also use a trail that runs behind Quail Hollow out near the elementary school.

You can't see the waterfall anymore although you can hear it under the bridge.  That's the new herring run, or fish ladder, going into the lower pond.

Wildflower seeds were scattered all over the hillsides.  It looks amazing in person.

Dock in the upper pond.

Never knew it was called the Cook Farm Dam or that it was built in 1812.

I headed down the path into the woods a little way and went down to the upper pond's edge.  We got married on the other side last August.

Totally worth the detour off the main road to see this!

Wing's Spire

I really thought that I'd pretty much shot every picture of everything possible in my hometown of Sandwich.  But I was wrong.  Decided to head out on a nice day to try and find the new dam and herring run between Upper and Lower Shawme Ponds.  I had a general idea where it was so I drove down the road and pulled over where I saw a path into the woods. 

Instead of coming out at the dam, I was surprised to find an art installation in the middle of a meadow.

This is called Wing's Spire and is a memorial for the textures of New England Farms.  I did not know that this was the original Wing property (big name in Sandwich; we all went to H.T. Wing Elementary School)

It was some kind of fuzzy fibre.  You could sit inside but I didn't go in.

This one invites people to sit for a bit.

I was curious about the yellow blocks with the knobs so I lifted one to see what was under it.

As I wandered around I realized that I was on the backside of Heritage Gardens & Museums.  I didn't even know their land went down this far, and I wonder how many people know this is back there.

Loved how this fence looked along the road.

Now off to find the dam!

Poor Old Barn

This is the barn on my parents' property.  It was there when they bought the place in 1952, although my dad added the doors.  It was full of hay when they moved in.  We believe the right side was added on at some point long before my folks arrived.  The house was built in 1889, so for all I know the barn is at least turn of the century, maybe 1920s or 30s.

Unfortunately it took a beating this past winter.  The roof had started to go over the past 10 years, but the weight of the snow has pretty much sealed it's fate.  These are the split beams on the right side.

It's now a very, very dangerous situation.  There is still a lot of stuff that needs to be moved out before any work is done, and it's a scary thought, having to walk under those beams that will let go at any time.

 We had rain at the end of May that forced the beams apart even more.

This is inside the left side, which I believe was an original stand-alone building, because of the window in the side.

This side has a huge hole in the back.  It was open to the sky until a pest control man put some plywood up there to keep any more raccoons from getting in (he was there to remove a raccoon family).

Big old wasps nest, which I'm hoping is old and empty.

Not too sure what will be done.  The options are to tear the whole thing down, take down just the right side and fix the left, or fix the entire thing.  None of those ideas thrill me at all, but the decision is going to be made for us the next time we have heavy rain, and it certainly won't withstand another winter.  I'd sure hate to see it torn down; I can't imagine that property without the barn on it.  On the other hand, it could cost in excess of $10,000 to fix it too.  

Churches and the Delightfully Retro Drive In

While Marsha & Susan browsed some of the shops on Main Street, I walked up the hill real quick to shoot pics of the churches.  This is the United Methodist Church.

Across the street from the church

First Congregational Church.  This is the cool steeple that can be seen from Commercial Street.

Dadgum wires reeeeeeeeeeally bum me out.

This was taken on the way back to Susan's in Eastham.  I don't think I've ever seen low tide last so long...it was about Noon when I took this and it was 10 when we were at Uncle Tim's bridge and it was dead low then too.

She swung into the Wellfleet Drive In because it's a real throw back.  I forgot that it was still in operation, showing movies on weekends.  I only thought they were doing the seasonal flea market.

Gorgeous wisteria

I admit I was really surprised to see all the old speaker poles!

They don't work anymore, but the owners wanted to leave them up, which I think is a brilliant touch.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Wellfleet.  Another town checked off the Local Bucket List!