Roam the history, art and culture of Cape Cod along the Museum Trail

By Glenn Ritt.

Cape Cod is living history, from the Pilgrim’s arrival and beyond to centuries of Native American culture. It is breathtaking nature on land and water. It is maritime tradition, from whaling and sea captains to pirate treasure and shipwrecks. It is art celebrating life from sunrise to sunset. It is science and technology’s past and present from Marconi’s discoveries to Woods Hole’s underwater explorations.

Now, you can discover all this along the Cape Cod Museum Trail, a world populated by nearly 60 museums from Falmouth to Provincetown. At www.capecodmuseumtrail.com, you will find hundreds of events, exhibits, activities and classes year round to plan your Cape Cod Experience, along with an interactive map and always interesting stories.

At the web site, you can sign up for the Cape Cod Museum Trail newsletter which highlights all the events and activities happening each month. In the busy summer, the newsletter is published weekly.

And you always can visit the Cape Cod Museum Trail on Facebook and Twitter to become part of its ever-expanding community. Every spring, the Museum Trail celebrates with its Festival of Museums.

“This is a one-stop location for anyone who loves history, art, culture and science,” says Peter Muise, CEO of First Citizens Federal Credit Union which sponsors the Museum Trail. “It connects museums, big and small, across all 15 towns of the Cape. When you actually see them all in one place, you are astounded by their scope and diversity.”

In a single afternoon, you can go back in time and roam the homes of Colonial settlers and Dennis’ first minister to the native Wampanoag, or climb the Pilgrim Monument and the Highland Light House, with each historic step leading to spectacular 360-degree vistas of the Cape.

“The Cape Cod Museum Trail is an invaluable resource to help visitors, fulltime residents and second homeowners in a fun and time-saving way,” Muise explained.

You can access it on your computer, phone or tablet at any time. Each museum has its own site along the trail for easy access – from contact information to hours of operation to photo galleries and directions.

Events, classes and exhibits can be searched by day, week and month. “That’s particularly valuable in the summer when there can be more than 400 listings at any one time,” noted Muise.

It may surprise many that museums on the Cape often host some of the most compelling entertainment events, from classic movies to chamber music to concerts ranging from country to rock. And many offer continuing education ranging from cooking and dance to pottery and foreign languages.

They also take you beyond traditional museum walls to walking trails and mudflats, from windmills to bird blinds.
“The Cape Cod Museum Trail is designed as an intimate experience because our mission is to connect each museum directly to their public,” said Muise. “We are much more than a digital world. We work with all the museums all the time, individually and together in a collaborative fashion. ”

As a result, the Cape Cod Museum Trail is evolving every day. Visitors are encouraged to communicate with their recommendations and experiences at the bottom of every story and at Facebook.

“The Cape itself is a giant, living museum. You see that so clearly when you visit the Museum Trail,” observes Muise. Enjoy hundreds of pieces of art from Provincetown to Dennis while watching Osprey feed their babies or a kingfisher dive for breakfast on a kettle pond. Now it’s all in one place.”

Plan to join us on May 6 for the Festival of Museums at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center from 10 am to 4 pm. It’s free for the entire family.

Brought to you by First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union who is proud to introduce the Cape Cod Museum Trail – built to connect museums all over the Cape.

 

Cape Cod Museum Trail

Website:capecodmuseumtrail.org
Facebook: facebook.com/capecodmuseumtrail/
EMail: info@capecodmuseumtrail.org

 

First Citizen’s Credit Union

200 Mill Road, Suite 100
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Phone: (800) 642-7515
Website:firstcitizens.org/
Facebook: facebook.com/FirstCitizensFCU/
EMail: info@firstcitizens.org