Look what’s peeping through Cape Cod’s clouds

July 31, 2011|By Diane Speare Triant, Globe Correspondent

Cape Cod vacation life at its best delivers idyllic days, when the breeze ruffles your hair and the sunlight sparkles on the sea. Inevitably, though, drizzly days follow, drenching the skies and dampening the spirits. If you can’t curl your toes in the sand, you can explore some of the curious and quirky spots that give the Cape its unique character:

Cape Cinema Art House Going to the movies is commonplace on a rainy day, but the Cape Cinema in Dennis is far from typical. Reminiscent of a New England village church, the interior features a vintage red-velvet curtain that sweeps back for the feature presentation. The film is often an acclaimed foreign or indie production, such as the locally shot “Chatham,’’ which gained Cape cult status a few summers ago. The theater’s wide seats draped in white slipcovers offer a good vantage point for a spectacular mural painted on the arched ceiling. In a splashy rainbow palette, 1930s artist Rockwell Kent has created a collection of swirling figures, unicorns, and celestial bodies in an Art Deco masterwork - itself worth the $8.50 admission. 35 Hope Lane, www.capecinema.com

Scargo Tower A curious cobblestone tower rises 30 feet on Dennis’s highest hilltop, above Scargo Lake. Dating from 1901, it features a 37-step spiral staircase to an outdoor observation deck, with views of Provincetown and the mainland spread below. Children enjoy the legend of Princess Scargo, the Indian maiden who shed abundant tears for her treasured pet fish who lay dying in a summer drought. Her tears are said to have formed the lake, reviving two of the fish and spawning their silvery descendants today. Scargo Hill Road

Cape Cod Canal Visitors Center Learn about the Big Dig of the 1930s that accomplished the remarkable feat of removing 30 million cubic yards of earth to construct the canal. The local wonder is 7.5 miles long, 500 feet wide, and 32 feet deep. At the intimate tourist center in Sandwich on the banks of the canal, a vintage film presents the story in all of its intrigue and detail. You can also watch real-time radar of the parade of vessels entering the canal, and then stroll out to rocking chairs on the covered front porch to see the actual yacht, tanker, or tug glide by. May-October, free. 60 Ed Moffitt Drive

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