NEWS AND REVIEWS
2008 AAA HORIZONS MAGAZINE
Audio Tours Offer an Insider’s Guide to Cape Cod Hot Spots
By Karen White
capetrek
One Cape Trek tour guides you around downtown Chatham.

Ever drive down Cape and wish there was an Uncle Gus in the backseat, some old-time insider who could chat about fun things to do, highlight points of interest, and tell you which left turn leads to the beach?
Cape Treks is just like that – only better, because you don’t have to buy this uncle any lunch. Available on CD or via download, the audio tours are like a GPS that tells you not only where you’re going, but also what you’re seeing.
Each tour’s narration leads driver and passengers through some of the Cape’s most popular areas – Chatham, Route 6A, Provincetown/Truro, Wellfleet/Eastham and the National Seashore. Directions are interspersed with bits of history, science and Cape trivia (did you know that Provincetown, little more than a sand deposit, constitutes some of the youngest land on Earth?) You’ll even learn where to find an old-fashioned ice cream soda.
Occasionally, the narrator will advise drivers to park and walk around – to visit a museum or explore a sandy beach. Two tours – Provincetown center and Nantucket – are strictly designed for listeners on foot.
Cape Treks was created by 20-year Chatham resident Bonnie Raine, her husband Tony, and daughter Chelsea. The idea for this “virtual tourguide” arose one summer when Bonnie, working at the Chatham Chamber of Commerce info booth, joked how she had to dispense the same information over and over as visitors all asked the same questions.
“I said to my family, ‘What if we made a tape that you could play in your car, and you could drive around and the tape would point things out?’” she said. “I thought it would be easy, so I got in my car, drove around Chatham, and talked into a little microphone.”
But getting the tour ready for public consumption was much more work. Ms. Raine ended up doing indepth research of Chatham. She spent plenty of time in her car, making sure landmarks at turns – whether it’s a right at the street sign or a left “just past the old graveyard” – would be clear to unfamiliar drivers. While the Chatham tour mirrors the actual time it would take to drive (summer traffic notwithstanding), later versions are set up with a “stop and start” system.
“We tried to make it user-friendly,” she said. “This way, people can stop and have something to eat and turn the narrative back on when they return to the car.”
In writing the narratives, Bonnie was careful to avoid “sounding like a high-school history class.” That’s why the narrator points out good spots for clamming, notes that the Cape’s marvelous marshes also breed pesky flies, and admits that summertime drivers are on their own when it comes to finding a parking spot in Provincetown.
Each tape includes side jaunts that the casual or first-time visitors might not know about. There’s Doane Rock in the National Seashore – a huge boulder behind by the last glacier. The 6A tape whispers of a back road past gorgeous houses. Windmills, lighthouses, woodland walking trails, Marconi’s wireless station, even the spot where the pirate ship the Whydah was found are highlighted.
“We really do talk about things most people don’t know about,” Ms. Raine said. “Doing these, I even learned so much myself.”
Cape Treks is available at Borders in Hyannis, and CDs and downloads are sold at www.capetreks.com. The site includes a free download, “Walking Hyannis.” orb

ON CAPE MAGAZINE, JULY 2006

Ditch your tour guide
By SARA CUNNINGHAM
STAFF WRITER
CHATHAM - The average native Cape Codder may not be able to tell you what ''the breakthrough'' was, how Stage Harbor got its name or why trash can be found at the bottom of kettle ponds.
But I can. And I've been here just a few weeks.

Chatham Light is one of the first stops in the Chatham audio tour available on CD.
(Staff photo by Vince DeWitt)
The best part is, I didn't have to suffer through an expensive day-long tour to learn these quirky tidbits.

I set out for Chatham in my own car armed with nothing but a CD.

Cape Treks, produced by the group behind Cape Cod Internet Radio, offer travelers a new way to explore the area through audio driving tours.

''We thought if we could take the best of what the locals know and also give people more control in terms of pace, we really might have something,'' said Tom Tracy, one of the producers who narrates the trips for listeners.

So far, there is a the tour of Chatham and one of Wellfleet and Eastham available but Tracy said there are others in production. Tours on the way include traveling Route 6A, whale watching and walking in Provincetown.

The Chatham tour runs about 45 minutes but travelers can stop the narration and get out of their car to look around at particular points.

One of the first stops is Chatham Light and the beach area right in front of it where a northeaster ripped through in December 1986. The place where the water broke over and split the sand is known as ''the break-through.''

On the way to the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, the narrator described where you might see people looking for clams. We were lucky enough to find someone who was doing just that as we passed by.

Other favorites were Stage Harbor, named for the wooden stages used to dry fish and Monomoy Theatre, where students from Ohio University come each summer to put on productions.

People used to put all of their garbage on frozen kettle ponds - which were formed by retreating glaciers - and then wait for it to sink as the water thawed in the spring.

The tour producers also added information about where people could stop and if they wanted to explore more extensively.

One thing travelers should be careful of is the potential traffic problems that could result from drivers taking the ''to the left'' and ''to the right'' instructions a little too seriously.

Tracy said in making the CDs they had thought about that but so far hadn't heard of any problems. Hopefully listeners will be courteous to other drivers, he said.

To avoid traffic snarls, I recommend choosing a day and a time when you think traffic might not be as heavy. Also, listening to part of the narrative before you leave could help if you're the driver.

I actually went on the tour in parts over a couple days, fitting it in when I could. It was nice to have more control over my time.

The local flavor wasn't lost at all in the individualized format. In addition to all of the information, a local musician provides the background music.

Whether you are looking for an overview of Chatham or a starting point for ideas on what to do there, the Cape Trek driving tour might be a good choice.

I got out of the car knowing a lot more about the place than many of the people I've met from the Cape.