Walks

 

Don and the Harwich Conservation Trust  are once again bringing his history/nature walks -- The Outermost House,  Rescues, Shipwrecks, & Storms, and one for Cape Cod & The Portland Gale -- to Cape Cod National Seashore this year. Pre-registration through HCT is required. Registration links will be provided as they become available from HCT. Sponsored by Harwich Conservation Trust & Eastham Conservation Foundation.

JUNE 10, 10 a.m.: THE OUTERMOST HOUSE: Join a walk exploring “the earth and outer sea” of Henry Beston’s “The Outermost House.” Beston’s book, a Cape Cod literary classic published 95 years ago, captured the essence of Cape Cod’s “Great Beach” and served as an inspiration for the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Local historian Don Wilding, author of “Henry Beston’s Cape Cod: How ‘The Outermost House’ Inspired a National Seashore” and three other Cape history books, tells the story of how and why Beston, an ambulance driver in World War I, came here, what he experienced during his “year on the beach,” and how “The Outermost House” became a National Literary Landmark before it was swept away by the sea in the “Blizzard of ’78.”

JULY 8, 10 a.m.: CAPE COD SHIPWRECKS AND STORMS: Join historian and author Don Wilding for an interpretive guided walk to explore the coastal storms, historic shipwrecks, and daring rescues along the Outer Beach of Cape Cod. Travel across more than three centuries to hear about historic shipwrecks and rescues, ranging from the wreck of the Sparrow Hawk on Nauset Beach in 1626 to the Eldia in 1984. Wilding, author of four books about Cape Cod history, including his newest release, “Cape Cod and The Portland Gale of 1898,” and 2021’s “Shipwrecks of Cape Cod: Stories of Tragedy & Triumph,” will also explore some of the dramatic weather events from the “Blizzard of ’78,” and “The Perfect Storm,” and their effects on the shifting sands of the Outer Beach.

AUGUST 5, 10 a.m.: THE OUTERMOST HOUSE: Join a walk exploring “the earth and outer sea” of Henry Beston’s “The Outermost House.” Beston’s book, a Cape Cod literary classic published 95 years ago, captured the essence of Cape Cod’s “Great Beach” and served as an inspiration for the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Local historian Don Wilding, author of “Henry Beston’s Cape Cod: How ‘The Outermost House’ Inspired a National Seashore” and three other Cape history books, tells the story of how and why Beston, an ambulance driver in World War I, came here, what he experienced during his “year on the beach,” and how “The Outermost House” became a National Literary Landmark before it was swept away by the sea in the “Blizzard of ’78.”

SEPTEMBER 23, 10 a.m.: THE OUTERMOST HOUSE: Join a walk exploring “the earth and outer sea” of Henry Beston’s “The Outermost House.” Beston’s book, a Cape Cod literary classic published 95 years ago, captured the essence of Cape Cod’s “Great Beach” and served as an inspiration for the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Local historian Don Wilding, author of “Henry Beston’s Cape Cod: How ‘The Outermost House’ Inspired a National Seashore” and three other Cape history books, tells the story of how and why Beston, an ambulance driver in World War I, came here, what he experienced during his “year on the beach,” and how “The Outermost House” became a National Literary Landmark before it was swept away by the sea in the “Blizzard of ’78.”

OCTOBER 20, 10 a.m.: CAPE COD SHIPWRECKS AND STORMS: Join historian and author Don Wilding for an interpretive guided walk to explore the coastal storms, historic shipwrecks, and daring rescues along the Outer Beach of Cape Cod. Travel across more than three centuries to hear about historic shipwrecks and rescues, ranging from the wreck of the Sparrow Hawk on Nauset Beach in 1626 to the Eldia in 1984. Wilding, author of four books about Cape Cod history, including his newest release, “Cape Cod and The Portland Gale of 1898,” and 2021’s “Shipwrecks of Cape Cod: Stories of Tragedy & Triumph,” will also explore some of the dramatic weather events from the “Blizzard of ’78,” and “The Perfect Storm,” and their effects on the shifting sands of the Outer Beach.

NOVEMBER 4, 10 a.m.: CAPE COD & THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: It was 125 years ago this month, on the night of November 26, 1898, with a killer storm of historic proportions approaching, that the steamer Portland set out from Boston. By the following night, the winter hurricane sent the vessel to the depths of Massachusetts Bay off Cape Cod, claiming nearly 200 lives. On the Cape, a few dozen victims of the Portland disaster washed ashore on the outer beaches, while ships piled up in harbors, high tides swept away railroad tracks in Truro and Sandwich, and the landscape and shorelines were changed forever. Several Cape Cod mariners went to sea and never returned, caught in the gale’s evil clutches. Don revisits this disaster and the heroic deeds of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the Cape’s citizenry in what came to be known as “The Portland Gale.”

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Talks / Book Signings

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JUNE 14, 2:30 p.m.

HENRY BESTON'S CAPE COD: Brewster Ladies Library, 1822 Main St., Rte. 6A, Brewster. Book signing and talk.

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JUNE 21, 11:30 a.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Eastham Senior Center, 1405 Nauset Road, Eastham. Book signing and talk.

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JUNE 26, 7 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Tales of Cape Cod, 3046 Main St. (Rte. 6A), Barnstable. Book signing and talk.

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JUNE 27, 6:30 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Brewster Book Store ​Garden Gathering and Author Talk series with Sally Cabot Gunning, 2648 Main St., Brewster. Details TBA.

 

JULY 13, 7 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Eastham Historical Society's 1869 Schoolhouse Museum, 25 Schoolhouse Road, Eastham. Book signing and talk.

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JULY 27, 6:30 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Mansfield Public Library, 255 Hope St., Mansfield. Book signing and talk.

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AUGUST 3, 1:30 p.m.

SHIPWRECKS OF CAPE COD: Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 869 Main St., Rte. 6A, Brewster. Book signing and talk.

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AUGUST 8, noon to 3 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Falmouth Art Market at the Falmouth Marine Park, 180 Scranton Ave. (near the Flying Bridge), book signing.

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AUGUST 10, 7 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: South Yarmouth Library, 312 Old South Main St., South Yarmouth.

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AUGUST 24, 6 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Dennis Public Library, 5 Hall St., Dennis Port.

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SEPPTEMBER 8, 1 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Centerville Public Library, 585 Main St., Centterville.

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SEPTEMBER 11, 6:30 p.m.

HENRY BESTON'S CAPE COD: Orleans Conservation Trust, location TBA.

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OCTOBER 17, 5 p.m.

CAPE COD LORE: Chatham Historical Society, Atwood Museum, 347 Stage Harbor Road, Chatham. Book signing and talk.

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OCTOBER 21, 1 p.m.

CAPE COD LORE: Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 869 Main St., Rte. 6A, Brewster. Book signing and talk.

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NOVEMBER 28, 7 p.m.

CAPE COD AND THE PORTLAND GALE OF 1898: Foxborough Historical Society, Boyden Library, 10 Bird St., Foxboro. Book signing and talk.

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