Things To Do in Brewster
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Brewster Attractions
Miles of placid Cape Cod Bay beaches and acres of state park land make Brewster an attractive place for families. Nickerson State Park, Route 6A and Crosby Lane (tel. 508/896-3491), is the legacy of a vast self-sustaining private estate that once generated its own electricity (with a horse-powered plant) and had its own golf course and game preserve; notable guests included President Grover Cleveland. Today it’s a 1,955-acre nature preserve encompassing eight kettle ponds (stocked year-round with trout), 8 miles of bicycle paths, and 420 campsites (reservations pour in a year in advance to Reserve America at tel. 877/422-6762, which charges $35 for Massachusetts residents, $55 for out-of-staters).
Kid Stuff
For an educational experience that's also fun, take the kids to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and the Stony Brook Grist Mill. Both have walking trails, and the museum has extensive exhibits geared toward children, including a number of interactive exhibits.
- Library/University
Brewster Ladies' Library
So inviting is the buttercup-yellow facade of this Victorian library, built in 1868, that curiosity will undoubtedly draw you inside. The two young ladies who started up this enterprise in 1852 with a shelf full of books had the right idea. The original pair of reading rooms remains… - Museum/Park/Garden/View
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
One of the top attractions on the Cape, this museum and nature education center is an ideal place to bring the kids, rain or shine. Extensive trails on this 80-acre property make learning about the natural world as easy as taking a walk. Varied habitats include a salt marsh, a… - Historic Site
Harris-Black House and Higgins Farm Windmill
Most Cape towns can still boast a windmill or two, and a few of them still function. This model is inactive but especially handsome. Built in 1795 in the "smock" style that can be traced back to Colonial days, it has an unusual cap shaped like a boat's hull. A few steps away is a… - Museum/Historic Site
Stony Brook Grist Mill and Museum
There is perhaps no sight so welcome during a Cape Cod spring as that of the herring making their way up rivers to spawn in freshwater ponds. Watching the fish flip-flopping their way against the tide is nothing if not an analogy for the gumption needed to overcome life’s trials.…
Brewster Shopping
Antiques/Collectibles
Brewster's stretch of Route 6A offers the best antiquing on the entire Cape. Die-hards would do well to stop at every intriguing shop; you never know what you might find. There are several reliable standouts.
Deborah Rita, proprietor of Countryside Antiques, 2052 Main St./Rte. 6A (tel. 508/896-1444), roams the world in search of stylish furnishings, mostly old, though age -- and price -- are evidently no object.
Arts & Crafts
Clayton Calderwood's Clayworks, 3820 Main St./Rte. 6A, East Brewster (tel. 508/255-4937; http://www.claytonclayworks.com), is always worth a stop, if only to marvel at the famous mammoth urns. There's also a world of functional ware here such as bowls, pots, and lamps, in porcelain, stoneware, and terra cotta.
At The Spectrum, 369 Rte. 6A, about 1 mile east of the Dennis border (tel. 800/221-2472 or 508/385-3322; www.spectrumamerica.com), you'll find the kind of crafts that gave crafts a good name: fun stuff, with a certain irony to it, but unmistakably chic. In 1966 two young RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) grads opened shop in a rural schoolhouse. Bob Libby and Addison Pratt now oversee six stores: three on the Cape and islands (the other branches are in Hyannis and on Nantucket), and one each in Newport, Troy (Mich.), and Palm Beach. Their taste is top-of-the-line, as you'll see in a quick tour of this split-level, country-modern shop.
Collectors from around the world converge at Sydenstricker Glass, 490 Main St., Brewster (tel. 508/385-3272; www.sydenstricker.com), in which a kiln-fired process developed in the mid-1960s that uses concepts from the art of enameling yields unique glassware, especially dishes and stemware.
Gifts/Home Decor
Though quite a bit spiffier than a "real" general store, the Brewster Store, 1935 Main St./Rte. 6A, in the center of town (tel. 508/896-3744; www.brewsterstore.com), an 1866 survivor that was fashioned from an 1852 Universalist church, is a fun place to shop for sundries and catch up on local gossip. The wares are mostly tourist-oriented these days but include some handy kitchen gear (cobalt glassware, for example) and beach paraphernalia. Give the kids a couple of dimes to feed the Nickelodeon piano machine, and relax on a sunny church pew out front as you pore over the local paper.
You don't have to be a foodie -- though it helps -- to go gaga over the exhaustive collection of culinary paraphernalia, from esoteric instruments to foodstuffs, at the Cook Shop, 1091 Rte. 6A, about 1 1/2 miles west of the town center (tel. 508/896-7698; www.cookshopcapecod.com). If you're stuck cooking up a practical yet unusual house gift, look no further.
Seafood
Breakwater Fish and Lobster Market, at 235 Underpass Rd., in Brewster (tel. 508/896-7080), stocks the freshest fish in town as well as smoked fish.
An Herb Shop
Stop at Great Cape Herbs, 2624 Main St./Rte. 6A (about 2 miles east of town center), in Brewster (tel. 508/896-5900; www.greatcape.com), to pick up all manner of herbs, vegetarian takeout, or an espresso. The store is open daily in summer.
Brewster Nightlife
Performances at the Cape Cod Repertory Theatre, 3299 Rte. 6A, Brewster, about 2 1/2 miles east of Brewster center (tel. 866/811-4111 or 508/896-1888; www.caperep.org or www.theatermania.com), are given Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm from early July to early September. In summer this shoestring troupe tackles the Bard, as well as serious contemporary fare, at an indoor theater as well as an outdoor theater on the old Crosby estate (now state-owned and undergoing restoration). Tickets for performances are $30 to $35. Children's theatrical performances, including puppet shows, cost $8 to $10. In season they also put on a Broadway musical-dinner revue Sunday and Monday nights at the Old Sea Pines Inn ($55 four-course fixed-price meal).
Hot local bands take the tiny stage seasonally at the Woodshed, at the Brewster Inn & Chowder House, 1993 Rte. 6A (tel. 508/896-7771), a far cry from the glitzy discos on the southern shore. If your tastes run more to Raitt and Buffett than techno, you'll feel right at home in this dark, friendly dive. Cover charge $5.
