Dispatches from Outer Cape Cod

Nine days on the hooked peninsula exploring quaint New England sea towns and reading The Provincetown Independent.

My boyfriend and I both have east coast origins (he is from New York City, and I grew up outside of Philadelphia), and while we’ve lived in New Orleans and now Denver, both of our families remain out east. The pandemic rendered travel largely unsafe before the vaccine rollout, and with the addition of our dog Mochi, a 70-pound Great Pyrenese mix, to our family, we’ve accepted that the only way to spend meaningful time with our families is to meet them where they are by car.

Mochi enjoying an afternoon on his patio in Denver.

So drive we did. In three days and two nights, Ben, Mochi, and I traversed 2,064 miles of the continental United States in our 2017 Mazda CX-5 (which has accumulated 22,000 miles in the 14 months it has been in our possession) from Denver, CO to Truro, MA on Outer Cape Cod, where Ben’s parents have had a home for 15 years.

You could argue that I haven’t seen the Cape at its peak since my only experiences have occurred under the guise of the pandemic, and most of my time here has been spent during the offseason. Nevertheless, I’m struck by how at home I feel here.

Cape Cod clouds and late fall colors make me feel comforted.

Because I’m in a transient period in my life, I often wonder what my life would look like in places I travel to, and Outer Cape Cod, on or offseason, is no exception. What source is a better window into life in said places than the local paper? With the launch of NPR Fan Girl, I’m particularly attuned to local papers as the source of truth beyond my lived experiences.

On a stopover at Chequessett Chocolate, a delicious and delightful chocolate shop in North Truro that made Food & Wine Magazine’s best chocolate shops in America list, I found a basket filled with a stack of Provincetown Independent newspapers. Established in 2019, the Independent publishes weekly and is the Outer Cape’s only locally-owned newspaper, covering Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. Before the Independent formed, GateHouse Media (now Gannett) purchased rival papers in the area, which cut newsroom jobs and leaned on freelancers to cover local issues. With a full-time staff of locals, Independent journalists have cultivated relationships with officials and citizens to keep the community engaged, informed, and connected.

In this last week, the Independent informed me about the changing ownership of Provincetown Books, the debate over whether or not Truro is a rural town, and when turnips were king in Eastham. While these stories are of mere interest to me as a passerby and news nerd, it is evident by reading the paper how vital it is to the community. Reading the Independent has enriched my latest trip to Cape Cod beyond measure, and I look forward to reading more stories from the paper even when I’m off the Cape.

The view from behind Kohi Coffee Company on Commercial Street.

The Independent has a nonprofit arm called The Local Journalism Project. The next donation made by NPR Fan Girl will be to the project in mid-December. I hope you’ll continue to read and send NPR Fan Girl to your friends and family so that we can continue to help uplift local journalism and, in doing so, uplift communities.