Mashpee

Things to do

When it comes to shopping destinations on the Cape, it’s hard to beat Mashpee Commons (www.mashpeecommons.com, 508-477-5400). With dozens of shops, restaurants, and businesses set in an open-air New England-style village, this is the place to window shop, dine, enjoy a cappuccino, or simply sit on a bench and watch passersby.

When you’re ready to get closer to nature, head to the Lowell Holly Reservation (www.thetrustees.org, 508-636-4693) off South Sandwich Road, where you can hike four miles of carriage roads and foot trails amid beech woodlands.

If you’re looking for a place to take the kids when it’s raining, visit the Cape Cod Children’s Museum (www.capecodchildrensmuseum.org, 508-539-8788), where toddlers can play in the puppet theatre and older children can explore a pirate ship.

Beach it

South Cape Beach State Park (508-457-0495) is home to a white-sands beach that runs for more than a mile on Nantucket Sound. The park includes several different coastal environments allowing for a variety of outdoor activities: Canoe in a kettle pond, hike around the salt marsh, or spend the day on the barrier beach and enjoy the view of the dunes. This public beach is a treasure and a rarity in Mashpee, where most of the shoreline is in the nearby New Seabury Resort.