Anniversary Adventures

Celebration ice cream in Cape Cod

As you may have noticed we have them quite often. So when people ask what us what are you doing special for your anniversary? Our reply is that every day is a celebration — why not?

Today is our 24th wedding anniversary. 

We're celebrating with dinner at home including a glass (or two) of wine. As has become our tradition when traveling, we celebrated with ice cream on this past weekend's getaway to Cape Cod, near the same area visited in July to celebrate Grenville's 🎂.

Rather than a sightseeing trip, this excursion was a ham radio event that Grenville and his friend, Randall, participated in called Lighthouses on the Air. This annual event was held last Saturday and Sunday (August 19-20). It main goal is to establish ham radio contact with other operators especially those operating from other lighthouse sites and also to promote awareness of ham radio which would remain operational in emergency situations.

Grenville and his equipment setup

Grenville and Randall spent most of Saturday at the Nauset Light. The basic format is that ham radio operators will set up either in or near a lighthouse and operate part of the whole weekend. Visitors can watch the operators as they make contacts and learn more about ham radio while they come to see the lighthouse, which unfortunately wasn't open for public tours on Saturday. 

Nauset Light is quite possibly the most well-known and photographed lighthouse on Cape Cod and is located within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore. 

The Nauset Light is the logo for Cape Cod Chips and on MA license plates

Even if you never visit this lighthouse, you may have seen it in store snack aisles. That's because it was used as the logo for Cape Cod Potato Chips. The popular kettle chip company is headquartered in Hyannis, MA, and was started there in July 1980 by two small business owners. It also appears on a "Cape Cod & Islands" special license plate introduced in 1996. 

Nauset Light is a restored lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore near Eastham, MA, erected in 1923 using a 1877 tower that was moved here from the Chatham Light. The tower is a cast-iron plate shell lined with brick and stands 48 feet high. Fully automated, the beacon is a private aid to navigation. The tower is located adjacent to Nauset Light Beach.

The tower that eventually became Nauset Light was constructed in 1877 as one of two towers in Chatham. They were known as the Twin Lights and the Chatham one remains there today. The color of Nauset Light was originally all white, however, in the 1940s, the top section of the tower was painted red, as a daytime indicator and creating the iconic appearance seen today. It's particularly striking when shot against a clear blue sky.

This lighthouse was moved to Eastham in 1923 to replace the Three Sisters of Nauset, three small wood lighthouses that had been decommissioned. 

Vintage postcard showing the Three Sisters Lighthouses

A brief history of these lighthouses: in 1836, Eastham residents petitioned the Boston Marine Society to recommend to the U.S. Congress the construction of the Nauset Lights, because of many shipwrecks occurring off shore. The Congress granted funds to build suitable lighthouses to provide a light halfway along the eastern coast of Cape Cod and three 15-foot high masonry towers were built, in a straight line along the crest of the cliffs, painted white with black lantern decks. 

The relocated Three Sisters Lighthouses

They were nicknamed The Three Sisters as from sea they looked like women in white dresses with black hats. For some 55 years, these lights helped avoid shipwrecks. As years passed, the lights were getting too close to the cliff’s edge. Moving them intact was not possible and they were replaced. Three new and slightly larger wooden lighthouses, shaped to resemble the prototypes were raised 30 feet west of the original sites bearing identical markings and using the lenses from the originals. They were reunited in 1989 and are on Cable Road in Eastham, MA.

Steps ascending to the lighthouse and descending view

The Nauset Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as Nauset Beach Light. By the early 1990s, coastal erosion caused the light to be less than 50 feet from the edge of the 70-foot cliff on which it stood. In 1993, the Coast Guard proposed decommissioning the light. The non-profit Nauset Light Preservation Society (NLPS) was formed and in 1995, it leased the lighthouse from the Coast Guard. 

View from inside

The Society arranged for both the tower and a nearby brick oil house to be relocated to a location 336 feet west of its original position in November 1996. By that time, it was perilously close to the cliff's edge, about 37 feet. 

The light was lit again in May 1997. The Coast Guard then transferred lighthouse ownership to the National Park Service. In May 2004, the NLPS signed a partnership agreement with the National Park Service (NPS) of  the Cape Cod National Seashore. 

The NPS operates the light as a private aid to navigation. The NLPS covers expenses related to the site through memberships and donations. Tours of the tower are available in summer from the NLPS which operates and maintains and the site. Myself and the wife of Grenville's radio buddy were treated to a private inside tour by one of its members.

Great together - Chatham Band Concert & Lobstah Roll

Friday was both a delicious and entertaining day as we enjoyed two quintessential New England traditions — our first lobstah 🦞 roll of the summer and an outdoor band concert. 

The 8 pm concert was in Kate Gould Park on Main Street in Chatham, MA, performed by the 37-member Chatham Band. These free concerts have been held here since the late 1940s. While it is said that it never rains on a Summer Friday night concert, it can be cancelled due to bad weather. The weather looked iffy after some torrential downpours Friday, but by late afternoon skies had cleared and the concert went on. It was a wonderful event that harkened back to summer concerts of days gone by, Nice to see that this tradition continues in Chatham.

Speaking of traditions, long-time NJ friends sent us this card. We immediately smiled on seeing it, not only for the front penguins illustration and the good wishes it contained, but we'd seen it before. They've unknowingly sent this same card for the past 3 years knowing that we liked penguins. The first one received in 2021 was framed and hangs in our bedroom. When the second one came in 2022, it produced a laugh. When this same card arrived in 2023 we shared the coincidence with them. No, they didn't stockpile this card. Amazingly, it was bought separately each year.

This post detailed how we spent our pre-anniversary celebration. But, we're not done since in a couple of weeks comes a really big getaway; we're going to Amalfi, Italy. It's an overdue anniversary replacement trip for the planned Rocky Mountaineer railway trip that was canceled 3 years ago due to you-know-what. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty in obtaining a refund from RM, we've decided to not consider a future trip with that company.

Thanks to everyone for the Anniversary well wishes 💐.  All were appreciated.