Cape Cod Canal

Construction of the Cape Cod Canal began in June 1909. The idea was discussed by Washington in the late 18Th century. At 480 feet wide and 32 feet deep, it is the widest sea level canal in the world. It is a free waterway. The canal is spanned by a railroad bridge and two highway bridges. The Bourne and the Sagamore. Below is a picture of the Sagamore Bridge in the distance and a view of the canal. My first grandchild was born when my daughter lived on the Cape. I can remember a 20 mile backup one summer Sunday afternoon when I was trying to get off Cape. The Canal was to facilitate commercial and pleasure boats trips towards the Ports in New York and beyond. The Cape juts well out into the Atlantic and there are dangerous shoals off the Cape Cod coast.



There is a magnificent walking / bicycle path on either side of the canal. I wanted to show Carol the Cape Cod Canal and on the way we picked up my daughter Jill and her daughters, Lil the oldest and Sylvie the youngest. I am happy to report that Jill moved off Cape several years ago.
As you can imagine there was a nice breeze which help to ease the muggy heat.

The Canal is used by pleasure boats and commercial traffic. We saw many sailboats and several ocean going yachts. The boat below was flying an Australian Flag.

The barge was being pushed by a tug. They were preceded and followed by Pilot boats. The barge lay well into the water and it was pushing water. The picture does not do justice to the amount of water that was being displaced.

We walked along the canal for some distance and then retraced our steps back to where the van was parked. They all sat on a bench overlooking the canal. I asked them if they would all look at me and give me their best smile. So much for that! However this is probably a more accurate picture of everyone doing their own thing.

We stopped and had a nice lunch somewhere near Buzzards Bay and then went back to Jill's home. Carol had expressed interest in Jill's spinning of lamb's wool. Jill showed us how her spinning wheel worked and then showed Carol how to do the spinning using a hand spinner.

It was a very nice way to spent a summer day and to show my Florida gal more of New England.