The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum was right in the middle of downtown Hyannis. The museum itself, which was made up of mostly photographs, a very interesting family tree and video, was a little underwhelming but the ticket taker threw in the Cape Cod Baseball Museum (downstairs in the building) for free, so essentially we got an $8 value for $5 (the cost of just the JFK Museum). Colleen wouldn't have wanted to pay separately for the Baseball Museum, but there were quite a few "names" who had played summer college ball in the league.In the visitors center (also in the same building) we were given a coupon for $2 off the 1 hour harbor cruise. (The woman there said it was the only way you could see the Kennedy compound - that they put up a huge wall after JFK Jr. died.) On our way to go do that, we saw the oddest sight we've ever seen. Two girls, one, holding a laptop, the other, singing to a karaoke program. ("At first I was afraid, I was petrified...") There was a sign that they'd accept money, but considering a laptop was among their tools, Colleen felt like they must not be THAT hard up for cash.
When we got to the boat, a sign said that views would be obstructed, so we elected not to spring for it (again, the coupon didn't have an end date.)
The cartoon map we picked up in the visitors center indicated the JFK Memorial was not too far away so started walking to that. After we'd been walking for a while, a guy, who clearly pegged us for tourists (the cameras may have given it away), warned us we had a long way to go. (Colleen took him to say "beyond that car - 10 feet." Jon took him to say "10 more minutes.") Shortly thereafter, the free trolley pulled up and the driver asked us if we wanted a lift. We were on it for about 30 seconds before we got there, so we think his math was off.
It was a little clearer looking out this way, but still pretty foggy.
The Memorial consisted of a wall featuring a silhouette and presidential seal on the other side, with a fountain in front. There was also a Korean War Memorial right next to it, with a vet who seemed disappointed we'd only be exploring for the day.On the walk back we stopped for ice cream at one of what we soon would discover of DOZENS of ice cream shops. Then it was back to the car to drive to what we THOUGHT would be a lighthouse (on the AAA map but not on the individual maps we had) that turned out to be a windmill.
We were glad that the light house in Chatham (they had a visitors center with maps out front
which helped us find it) was far prettier than the AAA book made it out to be (the picture looked more like a cell tower than a lighthouse).We stopped in Eastham to see their windmill
and then went to Nauset, where we came across an unbilled sea captain's home. (Colleen wishes the weather had been warmer so we could have gone on the walking trails to an alleged fort; looking in the house we could see some things on easels but it was unclear if the house is open at any point.) On our way to the Nauset lighthouse we spotted some "stubby things" as Jon called them when we drove by, which we later learned were former lighthouses (now not working) that had been moved inland as they were when they were on the water -- all in a row. 
Supposedly they look like women in white dresses in black hats. We'll let you be the judge. You could barely see the Nauset Light 
in all the fog so we wonder how effective it can be; Colleen would like to go back when the weather's better on a day they offer tours. We have more lighthouses to see too, on on the northern and southwestern ends of the Cape.On the way to dinner we found John Tesh on a Cape station. It was then that we learned he has 15 researchers churning out his useless information. So THAT's how it does it!
The AAA book had a listing for an old tavern in Sandwich, MA, the Bee Hive, which turned out to be several miles off the main road, in the fog, and which didn't seem like an old tavern (like the one in Charlottesville, VA) to Colleen. Still, the meal was pretty good. And we had John Tesh to take us home.
John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum: B
Cape Cod Baseball Museum: B-
Kennedy Memorial: B-
Ice Cream: A
Lighthouses: B-
The Bee Hive: B+
--POSTED BY COLLEEN
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