Cape Cod

Explore New England's Salty Charm

By Maria T. Olia

There are funky seafood joints, charming "old Yankee-style" restaurants and a vintage ice cream parlor in every village. Cape Cod restaurants are famous for their native fish and seafood dishes. Must-try specialties include fried whole-belly clams, clam chowder and lobster rolls. (Tip: Cape Cod menus often feature "scrod," either baked, broiled or fried. In Massachusetts, cod and scrod are often used interchangeably. Scrod is not a fish, but an acronym for "small cod received on dock." So if you order scrod, know that you are eating cod!)

Cobies is a roadside New England clam shack where you order your fried clams and French fries at the counter and eat outside at picnic tables – a great option for families with restless kids.

Cooke's Seafood is an inexpensive place to let your kids wrestle with that "lobstah." Cooke's fried and broiled fish is cooked to perfection and their hand-cut fried onion rings are fantastic.

The Hearth n' Kettle is a Cape Cod chain of restaurants that feature traditional New England fare like chicken pot pie and fried haddock in a casual, family-friendly atmosphere. For breakfast, their apple walnut pancakes are legendary.

The Sundae School is a local ice cream parlor (locations in Harwichport, Dennisport and Orleans) that makes its own small batches of homemade ice cream. Their hot fudge sundae is "wicked good"!

Families return year after year to Cape Cod because it offers a wonderfully relaxing, low-key vacation – a perfect combination of days spent playing in the waves and building sandcastles, enjoying stunning natural scenery and fun, wholesome family activities.

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