We left Sturbridge, Massachusetts and headed to our campground at Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.  We knew it was the Friday of a long holiday weekend so we left Sturbridge early to beat the traffic.  All was good until we were about two miles from the Sagamore Bridge from the mainland onto the Cape.  It took us an hour in stop and go traffic to get across the bridge.  We were glad to arrive at our campground in Sandwich and get set up.
Sandwich was incorpo-rated in 1638 and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. While in Sandwich we visited the Cape Cod Canal Visitors Center.  The canal is an artificial waterway connecting Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay and is part of the Atlantic Intra-coastal Waterway.  The seven mile long canal moves along the narrow neck of land joining Cape Cod to the mainland.  It is approximately 480 feet wide and 32 feet deep, cutting off 65-166 miles of coastal travel around the tip of the Cape.  Another benefit of the canal was no longer having to sail around the treacherous outer shores of Cape Cod.  At the height of the commercial shipping era from 1880 to 1900 there was nearly one shipwreck every week.   Approximately 14,000 people use the canal yearly.
It was interesting to learn that in1623, Miles Standish of the Plymouth Colony scouted the land for a potential canal route but the idea was too much for the settlers to consider.  Then in 1697 the General Court of Massachusetts considered the first formal proposal to build a canal but no action was taken.  More energetic planning with surveys took place in 1776 with George Washington but none of these actions was completed.
Commercial construction began in 1909, it was first open to vessel traffic in 1914, and has been operated by the Army Corps of Engineers since 1928.  It is designed to be a sea level waterway and is operated 24 hours a day, toll free.  There are no locks even though it connects two bays with very different tidal cycles and ranges.  Two highway bridges and one railway bridge cross the canal from the mainland to the Cape.  During World War I the canal was used to move shipments when German sub-marines were off the coast of Cape Cod. We enjoyed touring the Visitors Center with their friendly volunteer, movie about the building of the Canal, and numerous exhibits. As a side note, Bill met and talked with some people later in the day who grew up and live on the Cape and they think the canal is too expensive to maintain and keep running and it should be filled in.

On our trip to Europe a couple months ago we met Bob and Sue, a couple who live near Cape Cod.  When they learned we would be visiting their area this summer, they invited us to stop by and visit.  On Sunday we were invited to a cookout at their home.  We had a great time meeting Sue’s mom and step-father, some of their friends and neighbors and of course their adorable bulldog Stella.  Thanks Bob and Sue!!

Another day we drove 34 miles along beautiful, scenic Route 6A (Old King’s Highway), passing through quaint towns and villages. Centuries ago the Route was a Native American Trail and then as Colonial settlements grew, this route became an extension of the Plymouth Colony and later a major route for Cape Cod. Route 6A ranks among the top scenic byways in the country. One thing that struck us was how patriotic all of Cape Cod looked for the Fourth of July holiday with so many homes and businesses displaying red, white and blue buntings and flags. Back in the days of the early settlers the wealthy merchants and sea captains did not covet waterfront property like people do today, so most of the older homes are along this highway rather than the shoreline. Needless to say the area has strict town codes and many efforts have been made to preserve these old homes. It is the newer homes you see along the waterfront.
Cape Cod is divided into fifteen towns, and within those towns are villages. For example Hyannis is a village in the town of Barnstable.
We stopped in the village of Hyannis to visit the JFK Hyannis Museum. This is not the Kennedy Presidential Library but a small museum focusing on the Kennedy family and their time on Cape Cod.
We stopped by the JFK Memorial at Veteran’s Beach. While there we looked for a geocache at the nearby Korean Memorial. We quickly discovered a young couple from Germany were also hunting for the same geocache so we had fun finding it together!
We took pictures in picturesque Wychmere Harbor, one of the most photographed places on the Cape.
The town of Yarmouth is the Cape’s second oldest town with more than 600 buildings of historic architectural significance. At one time more than fifty sea captains had homes in Yarmouth and a one mile stretch of road was known as Captain’s Row. In South Yarmouth we found an eight sided windmill. The windmill was built in 1791 in North Dennis on Cape Cod by Judah Baker to grind corn. In 1886 it was moved to South Yarmouth. Since 1953 the town of Yarmouth has been responsible for the windmill. It has undergone extensive restoration but still contains the original mechanical equipment. It is located in a beautiful setting near the Bass River adjacent to Nantucket Sound.

Our next blog posting will be about our day on Martha’s Vineyard.

Salt Lake City

We made the short drive to a private campground located in North Salt Lake City, about six miles from downtown Salt Lake City which we could see in the distance.   What a difference these private campgrounds are from the state, national and forest campgrounds.  We had to get used to the narrow campsites with close proximity to neighbors that are found in most private campgrounds as well as traffic noise from the nearby freeway.

We settled in and then drove to the nearby Honda dealership to have maintenance done on the Honda.  We were very impressed with the people there.  Even though we were not local, just passing through the area and only having required maintenance done, we could not have been treated nicer.

Our first evening in the area we had a terrible storm with heavy rain and high wind.  Even though the forecast also called for severe lightning and hail, we didn’t experience any of that to our relief.

Family History Library

We drove into downtown Salt Lake City on two separate days so Bill could do some research at the Family History Library.  The library was founded in 1894 and is one of the world’s largest genealogical libraries.  The collection mainly focuses on the United States, Canada, the British Isles and Europe, including Scandinavia, however there are genealogy records from other areas of the world.  While we were there many people of different nationalities walked through the door seeking information.  All Family History Library original records are kept at the Granite Records Vault in the mountains near Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Fortunately today many of the records are computerized.  Anyone is welcome to use the library and it is all free!  The library is 145,000 square feet and has more than 300 computers.  They have birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, census returns, property, probate and cemetery records.  HOWEVER, the Library’s collection focuses on people who lived before 1930 so you will need some older information on your family to begin.  I noticed they also have helpers throughout the library who speak other languages to help non-English speaking guests.

When we arrived we were given a first timer name tag and saw a four minute orientation movie (also available in many languages) about the five story library.  We were then ushered into a room full of computers where we were each given our own personal helper to get us logged in and to show us the ropes.  Create your account at familysearch.org then you can do about 99% of the research from the comfort of your home. There are over 4,500 branches of the library located around the world if you want assistance and/or if you want to use their equipment.  After about an hour of family research I had had enough and I went back to the lobby to work on our blog and read.  “… genealogy is the second most popular hobby in the U.S. after gardening, according to ABC News …”. Genealogy is really more Bill’s passion than mine.

On May 15, 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery went into the woods

When he finished for the day we explored the downtown area some.  Salt Lake City was founded by the Mormons in 1847 and lies at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains.  It is a beautiful setting.  The Great Salt Lake lies to the northwest and the Great Salt Lake Desert to the west.  By the way, the name of the religion is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Mormon is just a nickname.  Joseph Smith, Jr. said an angel entrusted him with golden plates inscribed with symbols which Smith translated into the Book of Mormon.  Smith advocated polygamy.  Although no more than 4% of the Mormons practiced polygamy, advocacy of it led to problems with non-Mormons wherever they tried to settle.  In search of a place where they could practice their religion without prosecution, they tried settling in Missouri and Illinois.  Smith was arrested, jailed and eventually shot to death.

After Smith’s death the church split into two groups with the group opposed to polygamy forming a “Reorganized Church” and returning to Missouri.  A larger group followed Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormon Church to Utah in 1847, establishing Salt Lake City.  By 1869 more than 60,000 Mormons had immigrated to Utah by covered wagon or handcart.  Also in 1869 the transcontinental railroad was completed linking Utah to both coasts.  They applied for statehood in 1849 but their request was not granted until 1896 after the church abolished polygamy.  By the 1900’s there were over 400 cities in Utah.

The streets downtown are laid out in a grid pattern fanning out from Temple Square, the spiritual and historical headquarters of the Mormon Church.  The streets were designed to be “wide enough for a team of four oxen and a covered wagon to turn around”.  The streets are named for their directional distance from the Temple, such as West Temple, North Temple, South Temple and then Main Street.  So one street south of South Temple is 100 South, next street is 200 South, etc.

Utah State Capitol Building

With a population of 186,440, Salt Lake City is the state capital of Utah.  We stopped by the beautiful capitol building which sits high on a hill overlooking the city below. The Corinthian style building was completed in 1915 and resembles the National Capitol.

Temple Square is advertised as the number one tourist attraction in Utah.  Three of the buildings on the square were built by pioneers; the six-spired granite Salt Lake Temple which took 40 years to complete, the domed Tabernacle which is home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and organ, and the Assembly Hall.  Only church members may enter the Temple.  The Mormon Tabernacle Choir began with a small Choir in 1847, twenty-nine days after the first Latter-day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.  Today the choir has 360 members.  The Choir’s first radio broadcast took place in 1929.  Today their broadcast is the longest running continual network broadcast in the world.

Mormon Assembly Hall

Domed Tabernacle Choir Building

We also drove by a small park wedged between two apartment buildings where we found the Mormon Pioneer Memorial park where Brigham Young and several members of his family are buried.  We were surprised to find Young’s grave in such a plain, isolated park not far from the capitol building. Young died in 1877.

Eagle Gate

On the way to the capitol we passed under the 4,000 pound bronze eagle with a wingspan of 20 feet atop Eagle Gate.  The structure was erected in 1859 and at one time marked the entrance to Brigham Young’s farm.

Unfortunately Salt Lake City has the worst panhandling problem we have seen in our travels.  There are a large number of tourists in the Temple Square area and they are targets of the panhandlers.  While I was waiting for Bill in the lobby of the Family History Library, a lady came in complaining about a panhandler.  Security was called and from what I overheard, it is an ongoing problem with security called almost daily.  Bill and I were approached twice, once when leaving the library and in the parking lot two blocks from the library. Too bad Salt Lake City cannot solve this problem because it is such a turn-off for tourists in an otherwise beautiful city.

Like many cities, Salt Lake City does not have enough parking downtown and what they do have is pretty expensive.  One of the volunteers at the library gave us directions to a parking lot just a couple blocks from the library where the parking was only $1.00 an hour.  We were really glad to find that jewel!

Utah facts:

• Seven national parks, 45 state parks, 6 national monuments, 8 national forests, 14 ski resorts
• Population of 2,942,902
• Symbol is the beehive representing thrift and industry
• Origin of name is from the Native American Indian Tribe, the Utes