🌊 Barnstable Villages Day Trip: Osterville, Cotuit, and Centerville Adventure 🌴
From Art to Ice Cream: A Perfect Cape Cod Escape
Embark on a delightful day trip with me through the charming villages of Osterville, Cotuit, and Centerville in Barnstable, where old money tradition meets nostalgic seaside joy. Follow this scenic route along Route 28, blending culture, history, and relaxation for a perfect family escape. Here’s your Google map link to follow along.
🌊 Barnstable Villages Day Trip: Osterville, Cotuit, and Centerville Adventure 🌴
Discover Coastal Charm with Every Step and Scoop
I’m diving into a day trip through the charming villages of Osterville, Cotuit, and Centerville in Barnstable, where the salty breeze and maritime heritage pull me into a the Gatsby-esque. Join me as I explore art, beaches, and sweet memories along this Route 28 journey!
Morning: Art and History Pull Me In at Cahoon Museum 🎨🏛️
I step into the Cahoon Museum of American Art (4676 Falmouth Rd, Cotuit, MA), where the new director’s vision breathes life into this old-school space. The fresh, ever-evolving collection grabs my attention, with contemporary outdoor exhibits and a nod to the past showcasing the whimsical art of Ralph and Martha Cahoon, as well. Their story adds depth to every brushstroke I admire. ( Look for the free bonus article below.)
Midday: We Wander Through Osterville’s Historic Streets 🚗🛍️
Cruising down Route 28, turning toward Osterville at S. County Road where historic homes line the roads, and a sign for Aime Bakery stops me in my tracks, a welcoming reprieve to gas up with an iced coffee to-go. I can’t resist their flakey signature almond croissant placed loving on a box to savor as a late-night treat. On Main Street, I’m drawn into white shingle stores, shopkeepers greeting me us as we step inside. Take a table for a lovely lunch at Crisp Pizza (641 Main St, Osterville, MA) or pick up picnic supplies at Fancy’s Market (62 Main St, Osterville, MA) as you move along towards the beach.
Afternoon: Sinking Our Toes into Craigville Beach 🏖️🌊
Craigville Beach (997 Craigville Beach Rd, Centerville, MA), as the air cools and the salty air fills my lungs, I approach the waving parking attendant, pay the reasonable $25 parking fee, and unpack my beach chair. The search for colorful beach glass keeps me hooked, the sand warm between my toes, the laughter of children running into the warm water. I could stay forever, but the day pulls me onward.
Evening: I Savor Sweetness at Four Seas in Centerville 🍦🎠
Just 2 minutes up the road, I roll into Centerville, the neon sign shouts Four Seas Ice Cream (360 S Main St, Centerville, MA), a Cape Cod classic since 1934. At the counter, I hesitate, my mind racing through flavors—until a kind woman suggests their classic Penuche Pecan, a brown-sugar ice cream with praline pecans, her pride shining through. The first spoonful hits, creamy and perfect, and I settle with the other families joyfully recalling their day’s adventures, making it a memory to cherish. I could opt for a lobster roll or hotdog, but this moment is pure bliss. Next, I wander to the 1856 Country Store (513 Main St, Centerville, MA) for penny candy that lights up the kids’ faces and see a cherry-pit removing gadget that catch my eye-who knows what one will find in a vintage general store! I pick a bench on the porch—Republicans on the right, Democrats on the left!
Pro tip- If your kids still buzz with energy, hit the brand-new Centerville Playground (near 524 Main St, Centerville, MA), designed for all abilities and ages to get them tuckered out.
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🌅 Highlights
This Barnstable villages trip blends culture, history, and seaside joy. I bring my camera and comfy shoes, and you should too! 📸👟
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Share your adventure in the comments or tag us on X! What’s your favorite stop? 💬
Bonus Read- For those who want to know about the Cahoons Artists’ Legacy.
Cahoon Artists’ Legacy: The Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit unveils a rich tapestry through the lives and works of Ralph Eugene Cahoon Jr. (1910–1982) and Martha Farham Cahoon (1905–1999), whose folk art embodies Cape Cod’s maritime spirit. Ralph, a Chatham native with a whaling heritage, honed his artistic skills through a brief stint at Boston’s School of Practical Art before the Depression intervened. His life intersected with Martha’s in 1932, when her expertise in furniture decoration—learned from her Swedish immigrant father Axel—sparked their partnership. They married that year, establishing a business in Osterville where they adorned antiques with a fusion of Swedish, Pennsylvania-German, and American folk designs.
Their creative journey evolved in 1945 with a move to the historic 1782 Crocker homestead in Cotuit, now the museum’s home, where they transformed the space into a studio and gallery. The shift to easel painting came in 1953, spurred by art patron Joan Whitney Payson, who encouraged them to frame their designs for her Long Island gallery. Their 1954 debut show sold out, launching their fame. Ralph’s canvases teemed with imaginative scenes, featuring sailors and mermaids that collectors cherished for their playful, non-vulgar charm—works like “Topless - Swimsuits Forbidden” (1965) showcase his whimsical take, with mermaids in artistic poses that avoided crudeness.
His hot air balloons, a recurring motif floating above seaside vistas, added a buoyant, dreamlike quality to most of his pieces, symbolizing freedom and adventure against lighthouses and clipper ships. Martha, raised in Harwich, complemented his style with muted landscapes, shorebirds, and floral patterns, her technique rooted in her father’s rosemaling and years of balancing art with family life after their son Franz’s birth in 1935.
Their furniture work, initially their livelihood, featured hand-painted designs on tables, chairs, and cabinets, often echoing nautical themes with mermaids, ships, and floral borders. These pieces, including sailor’s valentines—intricate shellwork art Ralph admired—became sought-after collector’s items, blending utility with artistry. The 1960s and ‘70s brought national recognition, with collectors like Marjorie Merriweather Post and Lily Pulitzer acquiring their works. The Kennedy connection added a memorable chapter in 1961, when a sleek black limousine pulled up to the Cotuit studio door, startling Ralph, who emerged in grass-stained gardening clothes, mower still humming in the background. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her sister-in-law Jean Kennedy Smith, visiting from the Summer White House in Hyannis Port, purchased two paintings each—a moment Martha later recalled with a chuckle. After Ralph’s death in 1982, Martha persisted, creating crayon drawings until her passing in 1999, leaving a legacy preserved by collector Rosemary Rapp
Ralph E. Cahoon, Jr. (1910–1982), Summer Visitors at Hyannisport (President John F. Kennedy and Family), oil on board, circa 1961, 15 ½ by 22 in., signed R. CAHOON lower right. Commissioned by the Boston Globe, April 1962; sold at Northeast Auctions, Hampton, NH, August 7-8, 1993, lot 825. Exhibited at Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, MA, Chasing the Mermaids, July 27 - September 19, 2010. This painting, inspired by the Kennedys’ 1961 studio visit, depicts a dark-haired father (John F. Kennedy) dozing with a Washington Post tied to his toe, a mermaid (Jacqueline Kennedy) adorned with pearl necklaces, and their children, John-John and Caroline, as mer-children playing with a PT-109 toy and a doll. The family yacht with an American flag anchors the scene.