Jewels of the Atlantic

Two of my favorite places to visit are Cape Cod and the Florida Keys. Whether you cross the Bourne or Sagamore bridge and head east and north to the Cape or take U.S.1 onto the Overseas Highway south to the Keys, you are traveling a narrow band of earth surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and going north, Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound. Going south its the Gulf of Mexico and specifically Florida Bay. Both have evacuation route signs and animal crossing signs - crocodiles to the south and deer to the north.

Heading north to the Cape you'll see quaint town centers with Puritan Shops, Mark Fore and Strike and cutesy colonial buildings with white tablecloth restaurants. My favorite spots are Cuffys for shopping and the Chatham Squire for decent food in a fun place. Head south to the keys and a string of T-Shirt shops "5 T-shirts for $10.00" and ramshackle "All You Can Eat Peel On Shrimp" shacks. My favorites are World Wide Sportsman for shopping and Lazy Days for great fish dinners overlooking the ocean.

If these two vacation spots were siblings, Cape Cod would be the well behaved older child and the Keys the slutty younger sister.

Take neighborhoods - on the Cape you have well defined communities which are clearly identifiable as middle class, upper class, lower class and so on. In the Keys one community bleeds into the next and you are likely to see a multi-million dollar gated home across the street from the local guy with 3 beaters up on blocks.

Can we talk about beaches? Because of the magnificent coral reef, the Keys have no natural beaches on the ocean side - no waves to create sand. The scraggy shore is broken up by stands of highly protected mangrove forests and the mighty Atlantic is reduced to a shimmering, gentle giant, feeding the pelicans as well as the fishermen. The Cape abounds with majestic dunes and large waves and therefore long stretches of sandy beaches, many alive with harbor seals. The Cape oceanfront is a bit scary in its vastness and depth - and gulls rather than pelicans abound.

Even at their extremities they are so alike and so different. P-Town and Key West are both known as party central - but feel so different. P-Town acts almost embarrassed at its wildness and is more subdued than Key West, where the pandemonium is all out "in your face". Both have wading birds and feral cats - but Key West has the added madness of feral chickens.

They are both indeed jewels of nature. Cape Cod is the string of pearls worn at the Falmouth Yacht Club and the Chatham Bars Inn. The Keys are the ankle bracelets and bangle earrings that are more at home at Sloppy Joe's and Hog Heaven.