Cape Cod Daycation Trivia Quiz

Answer: Patti Page

In 1957, Dinah Shore (whose singing style was very similar to Patti Page's) was busy hosting a live weekly variety show on NBC, sponsored by Chevrolet. The Four Freshmen were recording for Capitol Records and were riding the high of their huge 1956 hit song "Graduation Day". Bette Midler recorded "Old Cape Cod" in 1976, but she was not the first to do so. It was Patti Page who beckoned us with: "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there, you're sure to fall in love with Old Cape Cod."

Answer: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Originally dug to a width of only 100', the canal was undersized from the moment it was opened. As a result, larger ships were still required to risk the Nantucket Shoals on the outer Cape. The Canal was never able to turn a profit. Belmont applied persistent pressure on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the U.S. Government or anybody that would take the Canal off his hands and wipe out his debt.

In the 1930s, the U.S. Government widened the 17 mile canal to 480' making it the widest sea level canal in the world. Dug between the mouths of the former Scusset and Manomet Rivers, the seven mile land cut of the canal runs through the communities of Sandwich and Bourne.

Answer: False

Traffic entering the rotary must yield to traffic already in the rotary (approaching from the left, in America). It's simply amazing how many U.S. motorists can't grasp the simple physics of this. If the car on the right (the one entering the rotary) had priority, the circles would be at a perpetual standstill, instead of only seeming that way.

Answer: elevation

Cape Cod is shaped like a crooked arm, extending eastward into the Atlantic from Bourne and then in the Chatham/Orleans area, turning 90 degrees northward, ending at its tip in Provincetown. The Upper Cape and Lower Cape are designations that refer to the elevation above sea level at the western or mainland end of the peninsula (Upper), down to the eastern shore and northern tip (Lower). The Upper Cape is all of 306' above sea level at its highest point. The Lower Cape is mostly at sea level, with the occasional drumlin.

Answer: She wrote "America, the Beautiful".

Katherine Lee Bates was the daughter of a Congregational minister and a native of Falmouth. She penned the words to "America, the Beautiful" while hiking the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado. Katherine Lee Bates Road is near downtown Falmouth. "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" was a hit song for Kathy Mattea, who has performed at the Cape Cod Melody tent in Hyannis. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role in the Film "Misery", co-starring James Caan. Catherine Parr was Henry VIII's sixth wife, and most likely never had lobster stew, much less actually visited the Cape.

Answer: Take the Wood's Hole ferry to Martha's Vineyard.

The Nantucket ferry goes from Hyannis, the Martha's Vineyard ferry goes from Woods Hole. Woods Hole is also the home of WHOI, the Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute, one of the foremost environmental concerns in the world. Chappaquiddick became a footnote in American political history when, on July 18, 1969, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) drove his car off the Chappaquiddick Bridge on Martha's Vineyard.

He later gave conflicting and unlikely testimony to police regarding the accident that claimed the life of Mary Jo Kopechne, 28, the former secretary of the late Robert Kennedy.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an investigation citing the following facts: "This investigation was opened when an overturned car was found at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in the water and Ms. Kopechne's body was in the car. Ms. Kopechne was a former secretary to late Senator, Robert F. Kennedy.

It was determined the driver of the automobile was Senator Edward M. Kennedy. It was alleged he was on the wrong road and drove off Dike's[sic] Bridge, with the automobile overturning in the water. Senator Kennedy managed to get out of the car, but Ms. Kopechne did not make it out of the car and drowned." (Source: FBI)

Answer: Yes

While there is no actual town named Hyannis, the village of Hyannis is one of several locales also including Centerville, Osterville, Marstons Mills, Cotuit, Barnstable Village, West Barnstable, Craigville, Cummaquid, Hyannis Port, and West Hyannisport that comprise the Town of Barnstable. Writing speeding tickets to tourists is one of Barnstable's largest revenue sources.

Answer: Thompson's Clam Bar

Thompson's Clam Bar closed as a public restaurant in 1993, but is remembered by Cape Codders and visitors alike, especially in the famous jingle that went: "Hey, where you goin'? I'm going to Thompson's Clam Bar 'cuz that's where the tastiest clams are. Is the seafood good? The best - by far! Let's go...to Thompson's Clam Bar!" Customers waited in a half mile traffic jam down Snow Inn Rd. to the mouth of Wychmere Harbor to partake in the famous repast.

Answer: Brian Roberts, 2B

The 'A's in Chatham are for "Anglers", by the way. The other teams in the Cape Cod League are the Bourne Braves, Cotuit Kettleers (Chase Utley), Falmouth Commodores, Hyannis Mets, Wareham Gatemen (Carlos Pena), Brewster Whitecaps (Tony Gwynn, Jr.), Harwich Mariners, Orleans Firebirds (used to be the Cardinals) and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. The Cape Cod League is a "wood bat" league, offering professional scouts a chance to see prospective players in near professional playing conditions.

Answer: Portuguese

When the tourist crowds have vanished, the circus side show slides quietly away from places like Commercial Street in Provincetown as well. The vast majority of year round natives that inhabit Provincetown (and many other Cape towns) are descended from the Portuguese fishing people who settled on the Cape to ply their traditional trade. The Cape proved to be a hospitable place for fishing immigrants as, the dearth of falling water and deep draft harbors meant that the peninsula was left behind by the industrial revolution and proved to be a perfect replica of the old world for the Portuguese fishermen and their families. Stopping into one of the Cape's many fine family run Portuguese restaurants, one may sample a dish like Paella, a spicy seafood and rice medley.

To this day, staying to the "low road", there are many spots on this 'sandy spit' where one can revel in "The Evening Hymn" as described in 1902 by Cape Cod's 'Poet Laureate' Joseph Lincoln: "When the hot summer daylight is dyin', and the mist through the valley has rolled, and the soft velvet clouds ter the west'ard are purple with trimmings of gold,-- then, down in the medder-grass, dusky, the crickets chirp out from each nook, and the frogs with their voices so husky jine in from the marsh and the brook."