Location: Chatham in USA
Nearest Airport:
Boston/Providence RI Airports at 100
Miles
Nearest Beach:
beach at 0.5
Miles
Car: recommended
Sticking out like a sore elbow (and out of the way of much of the Cape's tourist flow), Chatham was one of the first spots to attract early explorers. Samuel de Champlain stopped by in 1606 but got into a tussle with the prior occupants over some copper cooking pots; he ended up leaving in a hurry. The first colonist to stick around was William Nickerson of Yarmouth, who befriended a local sachem (tribal leader) and built a house beside his wigwam in 1656. One prospered; the other -- for obvious reasons -- didn't. To this day, listings for Nickersons still occupy a half-page in the Cape Cod phone book.