America, One Moment at a Time — #9

~ MMC 2.0

Chatham Has More Than One Story

Chatham, on Cape Cod, seemed like one of those places made for postcards.

Beautiful buildings, colourful gardens, blue water and boats everywhere.

We passed the Chatham Bars Inn, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

But a little farther along, we saw another side of Chatham.

There were fishing boats moving around the harbour.

This wasn’t just a beautiful seaside town for visitors. It was also a working fishing community.

And then we noticed the seals.

There were quite a few of them lying together on the distant shore.

Some were simply relaxing on the sand. Others were swimming around the boats.

They seemed to be keeping a close eye on what was happening at the pier.

One of them even seemed to be looking straight at me.

Or perhaps I was the one being watched.

Either way, I decided not to ask too many questions. 😊

As we wandered around, we came across a small bandstand called Chatham Band.

Nearby was a memorial carved into a boulder.

And then there was the old Eldredge Public Library, which has been part of Chatham since 1896.

None of these things were on our minds when we arrived.

We were simply visiting Chatham.

But looking at them together, I began to feel that we had seen more than just a pretty seaside town.

There was the Chatham that visitors come to admire.

And then there was the Chatham where people work, remember, gather and live their everyday lives.

Perhaps that’s what makes a place interesting.

The postcard shows you what a place looks like.

You have to look a little longer to discover what it feels like.

And sometimes, all it takes is a fishing boat, an old library…

and a few seals who seem to know something you don’t. 😊

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Published by MMC 2.0

Mohan Mathew Chacko is a multi-disciplinary freelance writer and one who runs the WORDSOUPS blog as if it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened in the storytelling blogging world. From the time when he survived a near-death situation on a surgeon’s table, he considers this his second life and believes he is now a better version of his previous self. Nowadays he likes to be known as MMC 2.0 though no one else seems to care.

10 thoughts on “America, One Moment at a Time — #9”

  1. I’ve lived and worked in a few tourist towns. And there is always that contrast between what most tourists see and all that exists around it to support the tourist attractions and support the local’s lives as well.

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    1. Absolutely. I think that’s what makes places like Chatham so interesting. As visitors, we tend to notice the postcard version first, but behind it is a whole community of people, work, and everyday life that keeps the place going. It was nice to get a little glimpse of that side of Chatham. 😊

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    1. Thank you! 😊 I think that’s what makes travelling interesting. The first glance gives us the postcard, but looking a little closer often reveals the stories, people, and little details that make a place truly memorable. Sometimes the second look is the more interesting one. 😊

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    1. Thank you so much! 😊 It was indeed a lovely little adventure. Chatham had plenty to see, but I think it was the unexpected little details that made it memorable. And I’m glad you enjoyed the photos too! 😊

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    2. Yes that is not surprising to me, it is often the unexpected little details that make travel memorable. A Frenchman, actually he was Swiss, Nicolas Bouvier, wrote a travel book “The Use of the World” that became a cult classic in France and other places, and that is exactly what he said.

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    3. That’s a wonderful reference, and I can certainly see why the book became a cult classic. 😊 I think there is something very true in that idea. The places we remember most are often not the ones we carefully planned to see, but the little, unexpected things that caught our attention along the way.🙏🏻

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