A Forgotten Story From A Favorite Place

It’s amazing, as you get older, the number of memories that grow fuzzier or get lost to time altogether. It’s a big reason why I have chosen over the years to write various journals as well as blogs like this. I want to hold on to as many stories from my life, even if they end up being only in written or typed form.

That is the setup for this story here. It is one that I had totally forgotten about for many years. I wish I could tell you what brought it back to mind, but I can’t. It’s like one minute there was a dark room, and suddenly the light switch turned on and revealed the full contents therein.

This is a story where I was hailed as a hero. Despite that, I don’t think I talked about it much at the time. Bear with me, as even though I remember the majority of this story, there are still details that remain locked away in the past.



Bass Hole, or Gray’s Beach as it’s known to those not familiar with Cape Cod, has been my favorite place for a long time. My visits there number in the several hundreds over my life. It is a small beach in the town of Yarmouth Port.

For those wondering why it is called ‘Bass Hole’ by the locals, I will open the pages of my copy of the book Names of the Land. It was written by Eugene Green and William Sachse in 1983. Actually, it was my Nana’s book, but that’s beside the point. In the early 17th century, the Colonists marveled at the number of striped bass that were drawn to the deep creek mouth, aka the ‘hole.’

The Bass Hole grounds include a grassy area with a pavilion, grills, and a playground. Nature trails lead you to overlooks of a marsh and nearby Chapin Beach in the town of Dennis.

The major attraction at Bass Hole is a several-hundred-foot-long boardwalk that extends out over the marsh. It is the type of place where people flock to in the hopes of capturing the perfect sunset photo.

I visited regularly growing up. Once I was in high school and able to go out on my own with friends, it became a haven for most of our activities. John and Barry, two of my oldest and dearest friends, were my partners in crime.

We were never into doing things like underage drinking and all-night partying. We enjoyed grabbing some snacks and hanging out in the parking lot at Bass Hole after dark. Either we’d get tired, or we’d start seeing police cars on patrol, and that would cause us to call it a night. Those wacky chats, either in the dark or under the dome light of a car, are some of my favorite memories of growing up.

The pavilion and playground at Bass Hole.

After we all graduated from high school, John and Barry left for college and moved away to start the next chapters of their lives. When they returned, we would make it a point to visit Bass Hole together for old times' sake.

Still living on Cape Cod, I frequented my favorite spot for a sense of normalcy as I began delving into what I learned was a Quarter-Life Crisis in my early 20s.

I went by myself and sat in the parking lot. Typically, I’d bring lunch or dinner, something fast food to pair with my super healthy lifestyle at the time. Then I’d wander the grounds as if I were searching for a part of me that I’d never find again. Bass Hole was my happy place, whether alone or with others.

For this particular story, I believe we go back to 2003. I was living with my family in a small place in Dennis Port. It was early fall, probably October. I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt that was more like thermal underwear. I know that’s hard to picture. I got it from Old Navy. It was off-white. I am describing it in depth because it’s important to the story.

It was later in the afternoon on this day that I visited Bass Hole. I had something for dinner. Because it was 2003, I’d guess McDonald’s. When I finished, I threw my trash away and went for a walk.

When I am there, I typically don’t pay much attention to the goings-on in the parking lot. It’s a public place and a beloved place, but for me, the fewer cars, the better. For this October afternoon, there might have been a handful of other vehicles there at most, and I hadn’t noticed any other people.

The walks I’d take tended to last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. For as many nice things as there are to see at Bass Hole, it is, in general, a small area. I walked the nature trails and got lost in thought for a spell.

Upon returning from the woods, I crossed the grassy area, passed the playground, and stepped onto the asphalt parking lot. My car was straight ahead, and my mind probably drifted to what mundane tasks I’d be having to do at work the next morning. Then I heard it.

The eastern side of the square parking lot is bordered by reeds, thorns, and various other bushes. From among them, I heard a weak voice.

“Help!”

I stopped and looked over but didn’t see anything. Was it in my mind?

“Please help me!”

This was not my imagination. I might have been thirty feet from the end of the asphalt. Slowly, I walked toward where the frail voice had been coming from. Only when I got within a few feet did I find the source.

Lying on her side, three or four feet back from the pavement, was a woman. She had to have been in her early to mid 70s. Apparently, she had crossed into the overgrowth looking for something. I can’t remember exactly now, but I thought she had said something about berries.

The various branches and thorns had gotten hold of her legs and tripped her up. Once down among them, she struggled to escape, but in the process, she was tangled up even worse.

My only experience with that particular section of Bass Hole had come years earlier. John, Barry, and I had purchased a cheap kite. I believe it was some sort of bird emblazoned on it; we called it our ‘falcon kite.’

We likely had a kite similar to one of these

As we flew it poorly, it ended up crashing into those reeds and thorns. We knew it was more trouble than it was worth to try to maneuver through even a few feet of heavy overgrowth to retrieve a kite that cost us a few dollars. We left it in there. Who knows how long it took until it had disintegrated? Now, there was a person stuck in those same thorns and brush.

I didn’t think twice. I stepped into the thorns, trying to push the branches down with my sneakers, and grabbed hold of her. I lifted her gently but with enough force to detach the thorns from around her legs. I felt some of them release their grip on her, and on me as well. Once I had her up on her feet, I saw how badly things had been.

Her hands and arms were sliced up and bleeding pretty badly. It looked like she had been struggling for at least a few minutes. That long-sleeved shirt I was wearing was now covered in her blood. It was all surreal.

I guided her out of the brush and onto the pavement. By this time, a few people had rushed over. The woman was grateful but visibly shaking. I believe she had fallen in the brush within minutes of my walking off to the nature trails.

The people who came over only did so because they saw the two of us walking out of the brush with me holding the woman up. It could have been possible that if I hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have been seen or heard for a while. She could have possibly even been there into the night.

The woman thanked me profusely. One of the people who came over to help called me a hero. I guess I was a little shaken, and maybe a little oblivious to the seriousness of the situation. It was that same person who painted the picture of what could have happened to the woman if I hadn’t been there. Then it sank in.

In what must have seemed like a scene out of a superhero movie, I waited until I knew that rescue had been called for the woman and then quietly took my leave. It was a true Irish goodbye.

I find it interesting that when presented with the chance to soak in the adulation of people for saving a helpless woman, I chose to slip away. Nobody there ever got my name, not even the woman I helped. I was gone so quickly out of the parking lot that I didn’t even pass the ambulance that had been called.

Sunset was closing in as I got home. I parked in the driveway and sat in my cranberry red Saturn. Ironically, my white shirt now matched my car’s paint job.

I looked down at the dried blood and still couldn’t fathom what had happened on what was just another visit to Bass Hole. I had helped someone in need, a total stranger, without thinking twice. I knew that was the right thing to do.

I walked inside. My mother was in the kitchen with her back to me. I remember walking up to her, and when she turned around, the absolute shock and horror at what she saw.

Imagine the scene of your son walking into the house covered in someone else’s blood. It’s like the beginning of so many true crime dramas that you see on television. Lucky for me, I was never a troublemaker, so my explanation was believed.

It made me so glad that John and Barry and I had been (relatively) good kids growing up. If I had been a problem child, it would have been different. Do you think my mother would have believed the story that you just read? Especially considering that I chose anonymity? Nobody had my name, so where would the proof have been? She’d have probably sneaked into her bedroom and called 911.

Although I liked that shirt, I didn’t even bother trying to wash it. It was wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown into the trash. Boy, that makes it sound even more like I was covering up a murder. I did, however, buy a replacement for it.

Me wearing the replacement shirt, fittingly at Bass Hole in 2004.

Looking back, I wish I had gotten the name of the woman I helped. Or at least maybe stuck around until rescue got there. I had done the most important part, though, by helping her. I didn’t need the pat on the back.

What’s interesting is that this was in the days before social media. I think I had only recently gotten a cell phone at the time. If I had social media, would I have shared my experience? Probably.

I could have seen myself sitting in my car explaining what had happened. Of course, if I were wearing my blood-soaked shirt, the video would have been pulled, and the authorities would have probably been called on me. So all things considered, it was probably for the best that Facebook and Myspace didn’t exist then.

That’s the story of probably my most interesting trip to Bass Hole. The time that I happened to be there to help someone in their time of need. It was pure luck and nothing I sought out. It did make me feel good about myself as a person, though.

It makes me think of how many situations happen or don’t happen due to a matter of seconds and inches. If I had gone to Bass Hole a little earlier, what would have happened to that lady? I’d like to think somebody else would have heard her cries for help, but you never know.

I have been in situations where I could use a hand. It’s never been as bad as being trapped among thorns and bleeding heavily, though. I’d like to think that if I were in need, there would be a good Samaritan there to help me out. I will never lose that faith in humanity.

I have returned to Bass Hole countless times in the years since. There has never been such an event again. I will say I did get to see some incredible Aurora Borealis there in 2024, which was very fitting.

Aurora Borealis at Bass Hole

I hope that the woman I helped never lost her sense of wonder and adventure that caused her to climb in among the thorns, trying to find whatever she was looking for. I never saw her again and probably wouldn’t have recognized her if I had.

She and I were in each other's lives for all of 15 minutes, but I’d like to think that we each left a positive mark on the other. I gave her a helping hand, and she revealed a part of me that I am proud of.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: #54 - Earthquakes, Fluffy Cows, Old Menus, etc.

1. It’s a shock to the system when you realize that what used to work no longer works. No cryptic post here this refers to fitness. Now in my late 40s, I am struggling with weight loss. My brain remembers running loads of miles as the way I dropped over 40 pounds. However, this was also now over 13 years ago. My body can’t handle that sort of load. Also, my metabolism is naturally slowing. This is a bad combo when I add that I constantly crave bad foods. That means that if I want to get back close to my peak physical condition I am going to have to try new things like, ugh, eating way more healthy.

2. We had a rare occurrence this week. We felt an earthquake on Cape Cod. The epicenter was just off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It registered at a 3.8. Typically we get small shakes roughly every 5 years. Those usually average about 3.0. This was a good deal more intense. For me where I was I thought a large truck was going by. I was sitting by a window and could see that in the time surrounding the rumbling that no vehicles were in the area. It didn’t register until I started seeing people posting about the quake a few minutes later. Pretty wild.

3. My new phone has something called an ‘action button.’ It is a side button you can program to do a specific task with one click. For example, you can have it where it automatically takes a photo or video. I did something wrong and it ended up getting stuck while the camera was open. What did this mean? Well, I was trying to shoot a very specific slow-motion video. By the time I got the thing shut off, I had about 40 different 2 or 3-second video clips many of which were me getting increasingly angry at what was happening. Thankfully it is all set now, and even more thankfully I deleted all of those foolish videos.

4. It was a chilly sunset at Taylor-Bray Farm. There is a very cute Scottish Highland Cow named Spaghetti there. He is shaggy with pretty good-sized horns. I got him to come over near the fence as I filmed him. Granted he was more interested in the employee that was getting ready to feed him but that’s beside the point. I ended up in total with nearly 3 minutes of video of this cow and the only time I paused recording was the one time he mooed. Otherwise, he just stared like he was on something. Dang it cow, I just wanted cute moo sounds. Fine, at least the donkeys yelled.

A typical Scottish Highland Cow

5. I saw 2 of the strangest cars within seconds of each other in the same parking lot. One was parked next to me at the gym. It was strange because it was as filled with stuff as you could get in a normal-sized sedan. I don’t know if the person who owned it was living in their car, moving, or just was a hoarder who had a new haul. I don’t even know how they fit in the driver’s seat or drove without being pulled over because there is no way they could see out the back window. The other one from a distance looked like a cow dressed up as a car. When I got closer it was just that the white paint had been stripped away in lots of round patches exposing black underneath. The owner should just finish it off and get some bull horns, or a stuffed cow head for his hood ornament.

6. I ordered myself a new pair of running shoes online. Instead of getting the Brooks Ghost, which I’ve been wearing pretty faithfully since 2012, I switched to the Brooks Adrenaline. This wasn’t a random switch though. The original shoe I ran in was the Adrenaline. They are a stability shoe, typically for those with flatter feet. I did a foot scan a few years ago and my arches are far flatter after thousands of miles of running. I finally decided to try the stability shoes again to see if maybe they’d help me get back to running. Wrong. I mostly walked and even that had my feet hurting as much as they used to when I was marathon training. So I ended up returning them and getting a new pair of my usual Ghosts. At least I tried right?

7. Sometimes timing is everything. It was a very rainy day. I just happened to be heading down to the basement to put my laundry in the dryer. It was on my way past a window that I spotted an Amazon truck with its sliding side door wide open in front of the house. I waited for a driver to bring whatever package they had to the front door. Instead, I spotted the guy walking across the front yard coming from the side of the house. Rather than placing the package on the front step, the guy put it on the back deck. On one hand, it was out of sight of potential thieves which was good. On the other hand, if I hadn’t seen him the package would have sat out in the rain for hours at least. So I’m conflicted, but it all ended up being fine only because of my good timing.

8. An amazing gift arrived this week. It was a 91-year-old menu from a former Cape Cod restaurant known as The Bellows. It existed in Falmouth and was owned by a woman named Thekla Hedlund. I had written an article about it many years ago. It’s an amazing gift if you’re a lover of history. A woman saw the article recently because the website that I wrote for paid me once and then recycles my work with a fresh date on it. Yeah, they suck. Anyway, she sent me the menu that her grandmother had kept. This menu is a fascinating look into the popular foods and the prices from the Great Depression. I was very grateful and sent the woman a copy of my Hotels and Motels book as it has a chapter on The Bellows inside of it.

A really cool gift.

9. I am trying to do some more creative work in terms of photography in 2025. I have a new phone with a bunch of fun features for the camera. I also have some props like crystals, a selfie stick, a gimbal, and a battery-powered spinning colorful ball. All of these things would certainly make for unique photos and videos. The only trouble is that it can take time and effort to set up these unique shots. I don’t mind it, unless it is cold and windy which it has been since it’s winter. I still want to work on it, but it might be more of a spring project.

10. Cuteness Alert: I walked out on the Bass Hole boardwalk in Yarmouth Port. I was shooting a video and getting a couple of photos. I was all the way at the end packing up my gear since it was cold. A mother was coming down the boardwalk with her 2 kids. 1 was probably 6 or 7 and the other was probably 2. She was the cuteness. As I was walking back she was talking and she suddenly noticed me. She yelled to her mom ‘oh no there’s a person coming!.’ It was so adorable but I only said ‘hi’ as I walked by when I actually wanted to tell her how adorable she was. 

The Bass Hole Boardwalk

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: #39 - Night Stalker, Greedy Supermarkets, Comet Fun, etc.

1. A bit of a follow-up to a post in the last blog. After the incredible Northern Lights experience my friend Steve and I took a chance that the next night might have some lingering Aurora Borealis effects. We drove along the Outer Cape(Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro) as we figured it’s further north and darker there giving us the best chance to see any colors. We ended up as far north as Highland Lighthouse in Truro. No luck with the lights but I decided to hike out to the lighthouse in the dark to get a few long exposure photos. Steve decided to stay in his truck. I’m walking out several hundred yards and I can hear a couple coyotes which immediately put me on edge. Nothing could prepare me for what came next. I got to the lighthouse and was sizing up a great photo of the lighthouse and the moon when I saw a shadowy man standing a few feet behind me. He says ‘Hey what’s up,’ in this hushed extra creepy voice. I immediately realized it wasn’t Steve and my blood ran cold. He asks about the Northern Lights and goes to look over the ocean. As I am taking long exposure photos I could hear him coming back and I was expecting to get jumped but he said ‘have a nice night,’ and I breathed a sigh of relief. That is until I heard too much rustling to my left and decided I had enough fun and hurried back to the truck.

"Do you think we'll see the Northern Lights?"

2. I think my brain is close to the point of being full. Like I need to upload some memories to the cloud. I went to Cape Cod Community College to do some writing in the library. It’s a great place to get my creative juices flowing. The thing is I was a student there 25 years ago and got an AA degree from there. I have very few vivid memories of my time there. It’s weird how you could spend so much time somewhere but only have a general overview in terms of memories of it. Maybe my brain is filled with so much random nostalgia for my podcast that it’s pushing out other memories.

3. As I get older there are things about becoming elderly that I think about. One is the large number of seniors that I see walking around with their mouths wide open like they’re in a constant state of surprise. Is this due to needing more oxygen? Or losing control of facial muscles? Because everyone gets old so if there’s something I can do to prevent this maybe I should get on it. I already hate flies I don’t want to give them a large opening to fly into.

4. I can see both sides of this argument. Supermarkets charging money for paper bags. On one hand, these multi-billion dollar grocery chains overcharge on the vast majority of their products as it is. Do they really need to gouge people more by charging them for paper bags? Then again on the other hand it’s 10 cents each. You can usually find it on the floor near the self-checkout registers. Also, I have seen people refusing to pay the dime and walking out of a grocery store with armloads of items, dropping something along the way, and getting more and more angry. Me? I have more than a dozen recyclable bags I’ve been using for close to 5 years so it’s not an issue for me either way.

5. Even as the fall weather begins to take hold I enjoy spending time at the beach. I will sit in the parking lot in my car listening to music or a podcast and watching the people and the ocean in general. This time of year it is much less crowded at Cape Cod beaches. Or so I thought. This weekend I was at the beach in the late afternoon awaiting the sunset. The parking lot was maybe ¼ full. Then it was ½. Then it was ¾. What was going on? It was like summer jumped out of the bushes like Jason Voorhees. The parking lot was overflowing full. Finally, I checked online to see if there was some sort of event at the beach. Yup. They were having a bonfire and hundreds of people were showing up for it. No worries though, I drove to another beach and it was all quiet on the Western Front again for me.

Summer in October be like...

6. Another thing that I find myself saying or thinking every year is this. It’s funny how different 50 degrees feels in October compared to February. 50 in October is like oh boy fall has taken hold, soon it will be winter. 50 in February is wow it’s so nice, early spring this year. Every single year.

7. With my last name being Setterlund which is Swedish I am used to people mispronouncing it and misspelling it. I guess I am a bit hyper-sensitive when it comes to places and names I know are being mispronounced. The latest example is an ad I get repeatedly on my Pandora app. On Cape Cod our one Whole Foods in Hyannis is moving down the street into a new shopping plaza called The Landing at Hyannis. On Pandora, they advertise this. However when the woman reading the copy says the name of the street, oh boy is she off. The street is Iyannough Road, named after a Wampanoag chief. It is pronounced Eye-yan-oh. She pronounces is Eee-yin-awe. It was so bad that I stopped what I was doing the first time I heard it in shock. Although she did pronounce Hyannis right which I have heard people call Hay-nis before so I guess there’s that.

8. Fitting that a week after photographing the Aurora Borealis at Bass Hole (Gray’s Beach) in Yarmouth Port I went back there to get photos of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime viewing event so I had to see it before it got too high in the sky and eventually fades away as it gets further from Earth. It is possible to see it once it gets fully dark. I stood on a dock with my phone on a tripod waiting. It got cold, down into the upper 40s while I stood there. There weren’t as many people as with the Northern Lights but still probably 50-60. What was the most fun, besides getting some cool photos of the comet of course, was people watching, or in this case people listening. Someone complained about it being too cold naturally. Several people complained that they couldn’t see the comet and had to be reminded it had to be fully dark. This meant a little over an hour after sunset. A man complained that the comet wouldn’t be where they thought it was to which their wife/girlfriend yelled at him to be quiet and just enjoy the moment. It was a fun time all around but I was glad to get back into my warm car.

9. A bonus story from the night of the comet was the story of a dog. It was low tide at Bass Hole and near the boardwalk is the dock I stood on. The dock stretches out into the water 100 feet or so and has a few small boats tied to it. On this day I noticed something in the shallow water next to the dock. It was an older golden retriever with a white face. It was in the water standing there and every now and then splashing like it was trying to catch something. Everyone out there thought the dog belonged to someone else. We all agreed we’d like to call the dog but didn’t want to get wet and/or muddy. Eventually, we did see the dog’s owner as he toweled the dog off thoroughly before it could get into his car.

10. This week I got my annual pumpkin. What I get is a smaller pie pumpkin a little bigger than a softball. I scribble some kind of spooky face on it and drag it around with me for photo shoots. The biggest surprise to me is how long these pumpkins last. The one I bought in 2023 lasted from mid-October all the way through early June. By then it still wasn’t rotting I just figured it was about time it went to pumpkin heaven.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: #38 - Vanilla Ice, Cricket Whisperer, Northern Lights, etc.

1. It’s the time of year when people start pulling their boats out of the water. This past week one guy was pulling his 30-foot boat out at a ramp at a local beach. It was a weird dichotomy as it was definitely a cool boat, but he decided to blast Ice Ice Baby while hooking it up. I think within a few months of that song coming out in August 1990 I was embarrassed to play it and I was 13. Granted I didn’t see the guy super up close so maybe he was Vanilla Ice. That would be the only person on Earth I could see proudly blasting that song in 2024.

2. This week marked 15 years since my infamous Caught In A Rising Tide video. It was one of my first YouTube videos and was a funny experience of me walking out to Wing Island in Brewster to get some photos only to return an hour later with the tide coming in. I ended up walking through nearly 2’ of water, soaking my shoes and pants. People asked why I didn’t take my shoes/socks off and I figured I’d end up with splinters from the boards I was walking on which would lead to infections and then maybe losing a foot. Soaked shoes made more sense. I went back to Wing Island and shot a sequel video. No, I wasn’t stuck in a rising tide but it was a fun and fitting follow-up video.

3. I decided to treat myself to a pizza from Domino’s. Now I know that some people don’t like Domino’s but they do have over 20,000 locations worldwide so they’re doing something right. Anyway, I ordered a 3 topping medium pizza from them and went to pick it up. They were super busy inside so what happened next was understandable. They handed me my pizza and I immediately noticed it was a large. I checked the receipt and it said medium so I got an upgrade for free. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. In addition to the pizza being a large, it had additional toppings including mushrooms which I am not a fan of. I will say that picking mushrooms off a pizza was a fair trade for getting a free upgrade to a large.

4. I am approaching 47 years old and yet every year I am still amazed at how quickly the sunset times roll back in the fall. It’s like one minute you blink and the sunset is 8pm and then you blink again and you’re walking out of work at 6pm at dusk with an owl in the trees near you scaring all of the little creatures below. The way I found out it was an owl was not that I saw it, I didn’t stick around. No, my co-worker saw it do some swooping over the parking lot in search of dinner.

5. I was pretty zoned out at work trying to get caught up on some paperwork. I was so focused on my computer screen that I didn’t notice the encroaching intruder. A small spider was slowly descending from the ceiling on its web. I was so into my work that I didn’t see it until it was quite literally an inch from my face right between my eyes. Only then did I let out a yell in surprise. Don’t worry though the spider was not smashed. I grabbed its web up above and coasted it to the floor behind my desk.

6. In other insect news we have had a stowaway cricket inside my work for weeks. Sometimes it’s quiet, other times it chirps so loudly that it seems to echo off of the walls. Today its chirping was loud enough that I actually tracked it down. I grabbed a paper cup and a tissue and went to work trying to coax it into the cup. To my surprise, after I asked it nicely to get in, and promised I wasn’t going to just crush it, the cricket crawled into the cup. Then he got smashed. Just kidding, I brought it outside and let it go in the grass.

Am I the cricket whisperer? 

7. There are 2 days each week when I have to be at work early, typically around 6:40am. My body is now used to waking up around 4:45am. However, getting to bed the night before is still a harrowing task. The routine I have now that is working relatively well consists of popping 2 melatonin at 7:30pm followed by a 3^rd at 8:30. This usually results in me being knocked out by 9pm. It was easier in the summer to wake up so early. Now with sunrise being close to 7am when my eyes open at 4:45, it’s easy for my brain to try to trick me into thinking it can’t be time to wake up yet. Each time I get up on time is still a minor miracle.

8. Nothing better than being awakened from a deep sleep at 3:30am by thunder so loud that I could feel it shaking the house. I spent a half hour trying to go back to sleep for a little longer but the thunder and lightning were so severe I just gave up and got out of bed at 4:30. Despite being tired I would much rather deal with a few severe thunderstorms than the once a century Hurricane Milton that is wrecking Central Florida.

9. A fun memory that popped up on Facebook this week dates back to 2016. My sister Ashley and I were at Longnook Beach in Truro, MA which is very remote with little to no cell service. We spotted a middle-aged man with a bicycle walking up the 50-60’ sand pathway to the parking lot. Out of nowhere one of his bike tires popped. The weather was a bit misty and feeling bad we offered to pack him and the bike in my car and drive him home. Luckily he wasn’t far but it was another remote section of little Truro. Then things got weirder. We helped him get his bike inside his house and he offered us tea. We politely declined as it was a little odd. He was insistent on giving us something as a thank you. This ended up being in the form of a random CD. It looked like a mix of tracks by some unknown artist. Maybe it was him, but who knows since once we got back in the car I was already looking for a trash can to throw it in.

Longnook Beach in Truro, MA

10. A first for me happened this week as I got to see and photograph the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights. They are rarely visible this far south, typically being seen in Canada or maybe at best Northern New England. I took the long way home from my mother’s house and stopped at Gray’s Beach, aka Bass Hole, in Yarmouth Port. It was not even 7:30pm and I could see the pinks and greens in the sky. It was beyond words. I was mad that I didn’t have my regular camera, or my tripod for my phone, but still what I got ended up being some of my best photos ever. The atmosphere was like a rock concert. A chilly Thursday night at the beach on Cape Cod and there must have been 200 people there. The parking lot was overflowing. It was an experience I won’t soon forget.

Aurora Borealis at Bass Hole in Yarmouth Port, MA

Photo Friday: Sunset at Bass Hole

Welcome to Photo Friday!

Today features a colorful sunset at the boardwalk of Bass Hole in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts.

This photo is for sale at Smug Mug here: Cape Cod Sunsets and Sunrises

I also have a Cape Cod Sunsets 2020 Calendar available at Zazzle here: Cape Cod Sunsets 2020

View my previous blog posts: In Their Footsteps: Cape Cod History - Angelo's Supermarket

In Their Footsteps: Cape Cod History - Jane Toppan's Poisoning Murders
                                             

Be sure to check out my website: Christopher Setterlund.com

My 5th book, Cape Cod Nights, is on sale at Amazon.com and through Arcadia Publishing

In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Bass Hole

My first book, In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide, is available at SchifferBooks.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com, and stores everywhere!  Follow me on Twitter and YouTube for more on In My Footsteps.



Come and see me at Sandwich Heritage Day June 14th



East Bridgewater Library June 16th



and Books By the Sea, Osterville July 5th



Read the review for my book in The Boston Globe

Yarmouth Port on Dwellable

In My Footsteps: Trip 9: Yarmouth Port, Mass.

In My Footsteps

Christopher Setterlund

Trip 9: Yarmouth Port, Mass.

January 23, 2010

Being the most historic roadway on Cape Cod Route 6A is chock full of places to see. So many in fact that all of the places in this article sit within a mile or so of one another, on a warmer day they would make up a tremendous walk.

Our trip begins at Gray’s Beach, known to most locals as Bass Hole. Located off of 6A on Center Street, Bass Hole is a free public beach nestled up against a narrow cove overlooking Cape Cod Bay Bass Hole. Any trip here would have to start with the 800-foot long boardwalk(right) that stretches its way out into the neighboring marsh and gives a wonderful view of the bay as well as Chapin Beach which acts as a barrier for Bass Hole from the harsh ocean waves. The beach area is great for swimming as it is calm; there are visible sandbars at low tide. There is a large open filed and a newly revamped playground area in addition to a covered picnic area which can be reserved for large parties if so desired.

Across the field and playground there are trails to be walked that take you through the woods surrounding Bass Hole and across a marsh which, thanks to a recently built walking bridge, gives a great panoramic view of the area. The trails lead through the woods and across Center Street where they come out on the other side of the marsh.

Center Street can be taken back out to Route 6A; a right turn will take you to the next spot. About a half a mile down the road sits two historic spots in the same parking lot. Getting in is a tricky proposition as the road immediately follows the Post Office on the left. In summer this one is easy to miss. Park in the small lot and decide which way to go first.

Going straight back behind the Tufts Gatehouse along a rocky path you will find the Kelly Chapel(left). Built in 1873 by David Kelly this small church is secluded from the road, although it can be accessed via a path from the Old Yarmouth Inn restaurant next door. It is not routinely open but many weddings take place there; it is still a big part of life in this small village.

Located off to the left of the chapel are a set of trails which cover the nearly fifty acres of land the chapel stands watch over. More than a hundred years ago this area was Cape Cod’s first golf course built by the Thacher family in the 1890’s for private use. The trails lead through the natural beauty of the Cape and eventually will lead you to Miller’s Pond and Dennis Pond. Dennis Pond is located on Summer Street and is a recreation area; it is a very short drive from the chapel grounds.

From the small parking lot near the Tufts Gatehouse a left turn will take you up a sloping driveway to another piece of Cape Cod history. The Captain Bangs Hallet House(left) gives you a great view of life on the Cape more than 200 years ago. Built in 1840, and named for an illustrious 19th century fisherman, it is the only historic house that is regularly open to visitors. Tours of the house take place often during the summer and fall but the grounds are always able to be walked. Located behind the Bangs Hallet House is a natural wonder, a century-plus old English Weeping Beech tree. In the warmer months this giant’s limbs, covered in broad, flat leaves, reach to the ground. You may step inside this awesome piece of nature; it feels like being under an umbrella.

The last stop on the trip around Route 6A in Yarmouth Port starts with a left turn out of the Kelly Chapel parking lot. Less than a mile away, following a trip through the historic ‘center’ of Yarmouth Port on 6A you will come to Mill Lane on the right. It sits on a curve so approach slowly. The Keveney Lane Bridge crosses over Hallets Mill Pond(right) and the subsequent river that empties out into Cape Cod Bay. This bridge is unique in the fact that is a narrow one-lane bridge. There are very few spots to park on Mill Lane leading up to the bridge so a stop to walk might be out of the question in the warmer months. Still, taking a slow drive across the bridge might be enough to soak in the scenery.

When not stopping to take in these sights a trip through Yarmouth Port may take a few minutes, but you could easily spend all day visiting the places mentioned above. There are other spots nearby that have not been mentioned including the 140-year old First Congregational Church which stands up on a hill looking over the village. This is just a guide as there are many places maybe I have missed, but any of these places are well worth the drive or walk. Along 6A it seems that all you have to do is turn around and you are face to face with another piece of Cape Cod and American history. Have fun and happy traveling!

Directions: Bass Hole: From Mid-Cape Highway take Exit 8. Follow Union Street north until you reach Rt. 6A. Cross Rt. 6A to Old Church Street. Bear right onto Center Street and follow it to the beach.

Kelly Chapel & Captain Bangs Hallet House: Follow Center Street to Rt. 6A, turn right. Travel about ½ mi., the turn for the chapel is left immediately following the Post Office.

Dennis Pond: Leaving the chapel turn left on Rt. 6A; bear left onto Summer Street at curve. Dennis Pond is on right.

Keveney Lane Bridge: Exiting Summer Street turn left onto Rt. 6A. Mill Lane is a right turn on a curve diagonally across from Willow Street. Follow Mill Lane until you reach the bridge, there is a spot for one car on the right as you approach the bridge.

References: Yarmouth Historical Society

Yarmouth Port on Dwellable