Things To Do in Bourne

Most visitors to the Cape know Bourne only as the home of the famous (or infamous, if you’re stuck in traffic on a summer weekend) Bourne Bridge and Sagamore Bridge, which span the Cape Cod Canal that divides the Cape from mainland Massachusetts. Two of its villages, Buzzards Bay and Sagamore Beach, are actually on the other side of the canal. 

Kid Stuff

Stuck with a gray day? Pack the family off to Cartwheels 2 Family Fun Center, at 340 Macarthur Blvd./Rte. 28, about 2 miles south of the Bourne Bridge (tel. 508/743-9930). As far as entertaining kids goes, this place is probably the best bargain on the Cape. Older kids will like the go-cart track (the largest on the Cape) and Wiffle-ball cages. Little kids have a moonwalk, bumper boats, and minigolf. It's $6 per ride, but you'll definitely want to buy a 2-hour unlimited-rides pass for $21 to save money. Open daily 10am to 9pm.

OceanQuest

No visit to the Cape would be complete without some type of seafaring excursion on the Atlantic. If you're not a sailor or if you don't have the time or budget for an all-day boat trip, consider a unique, hands-on discovery cruise with OceanQuest, Water Street (in the center of town), Woods Hole (tel. 800/376-2326 or 508/385-7656). Departing from Woods Hole, these 1 1/2-hour harbor cruises are perfect for families, as real marine research is conducted with passengers serving as bona fide data collectors.

Here's how it works. Participants are split into two teams. Up in the bow, company founder Kathy Mullin, or a scientist borrowed from one of the revered local institutes, trains the new crew in the niceties of reading water temperature, assessing turbidity, and taking other key measurements. In the stern, passengers get to examine the specimens hauled up by the dredger. Midway into the trip, the teams switch stations, so that everyone gets to contemplate topics such as the sex life of a spider crab or why the water looks a particular shade of blue or green. Kids get a real kick out of being addressed as "Doctor," and even adults who think they know it all will probably come away much better informed.

The 90-minute cruise costs $22 for adults, $17 for children 4 to 12, $5 for children 3 and under; boats shove off four times a day Monday through Friday from mid-June to early September. Trips depart at 10am, noon, 2pm, and 4pm. Reservations are strongly recommended.

Cruising the Cape Cod Canal
You have three ways to get a gander at the wonder that is the Cape Cod Canal: Take a quick look around for the 10 seconds you are driving over the Bourne or Sagamore Bridge; bike along the Cape Cod Canal; or take a canal cruise. Most visitors only take Option #1, but Options #2 and #3 are highly recommended.

The gateway to Cape Cod, the 17.5-mile Cape Cod Canal has a fascinating history. The conversation about constructing a canal to serve as a shortcut between Boston and New York is said to have begun as soon as the Pilgrims landed in 1620. (The first known Cape Cod Canal feasibility study, if you will, was commissioned by none other than George Washington.) The project was finally undertaken in the early 20th century by a wealthy industrialist, August Belmont II, who paid for it himself through his Boston, Cape Cod and New York Canal Company, and opened it in 1914 as a private toll waterway. In 1927, he sold the Cape Cod Canal to the US government for what was at the time a whopping price, $11.5 million. To improve navigation, the canal was later widened to 480 feet and deepened to 32 feet.

From the Onset Bay Town Pier (on the northern side of the canal, about 2 miles west of the Bourne Bridge), 2- or 3-hour narrated cruises are operated by Hy-Line (tel. 508/295-3883), the same company that runs ferries to and from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Tickets cost $15 to $20 adults, half-price or free for children 12 and under. From mid-June to September, there are three or four cruises a day (only two on Sundays); there are no cruises from mid-October through April. (Call for off-season schedules.)

If you want to learn more, the Army Corps of Engineers operates the free Cape Cod Canal Visitors Center (tel. 978/318-8816) May through October from 10am to 5pm at the Sandwich Marina, on 60 Moffitt Dr. in Sandwich. It displays exhibits about the canal, and rangers lead walks in the area. Note: No swimming is allowed within the Cape Cod Canal because the currents are much too swift and dangerous.

The Corps also maintains a flat, 14-mile loop along the Cape Cod Canal, equally suited to bicyclists, skaters, runners, and strollers. The most convenient place to park (free) is at the Bourne Recreation Area, north of the Bourne Bridge, on the Cape side. You can also park at the Sandcatcher Recreation Area at the end of Freezer Road in Sandwich. As you ride, look for the Railroad Bridge, an unusual vertical lift structure that is used summer weekends for the Cape Flyer train between Hyannis and Boston, as well as a daily train between 5 and 6pm carrying garbage to a landfill off-Cape.