Summer in Wellfleet is idyllic, but so, too, are these early days of fall, when the air is still warm, but the crowds have disappeared from the beaches and restaurants. Soon, though, the tourists will return again, this time for a weekend to pay homage to the humble oyster.
This year’s Wellfleet OysterFest (www.wellfleetoysterfest.org), with seafood cook-offs and shucking contests and oyster jewelry-making for children, takes place Oct. 15 and Oct. 16. So take your pick: a quiet weekend away or a festive autumnal celebration of the sea.
STAY Nearby Provincetown has more lodging choices that stay open year-round, but most of Wellfleet’s inns and motels close for the winter. One that doesn’t take a hiatus is Oyster Cove B&B (20 Partridge Way, 508-349-2994, www.oystercove.com, rooms from $295/night) rents one studio room and a suite with three bedrooms in a sprawling house overlooking Wellfleet Harbor. Chez Sven B&B (2118 Old King’s Highway, 508-349-6823, www.chezsven.com, rooms from $150/night) rents two rooms in the main house and a cozy, private cottage on a dirt road in Wellfleet - and a short walk to Dyer Pond - until mid-December and reopens in February. Even’tide Resort Motel and Cottages (650 Route 6, 508-349-3410, www.eventidemotel.com, rooms from $89/night), a perennial favorite, stays open through mid-October. Surfside Cottages (LeCount Hollow Road, 508-349-3959, www.surfsidecottages.com, cottages from $125/night) rents privately owned cottages, a short walk from the top of the dunes at Maguire’s Landing at LeCount Hollow beach, through the end of October, and opens up again in early April.
