Local town bands perform beloved showstoppers and timeless classics that stir up a sense of nostalgia, warmth, and old-fashioned charm in the summer air.

Some of you may recall the summer of the American Bicentennial, 1976. It’s hard not to feel nostalgic for that summer, and for the excitement leading up to July 4th celebrations. For the Cape, the bicentennial meant an extra-lively summer tourist season. People from all over the country flocked to New England, eager to enjoy the holiday in the place where it all began.

If you were lucky enough to spend that summer—or even a part of it—here on the Cape, you probably spent time on the beach and enjoyed local seafood and ice cream. If it was a rainy day, you might have gone to the movies; Rocky, Silver Streak, and All the President’s Men were some of your options.

You can still do all of those things today, but the parents planning vacations then might be shocked by some of the changes they would encounter now. In 1976, vacationers were paying sixty-one cents per gallon for the gas they used to drive over the bridge. The ice cream cones they ordered at Four Seas cost them seventy-five cents, and their lobster rolls cost $5.00. Entertainment costs were lower, too; movie tickets were $2.00 ($1.00 at afternoon matinees), and you could go to a show at the Melody Tent for less than $10.00. And whether you spent your time on the beach, at a restaurant, or in a theater, you had less competition for that space—it was a busy season, but the year-round population of the Cape was...