Discover 8 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Wellfleet (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Whydah Gally, Wellfleet Drive-In Theater, and Blue Heron Gallery. Also, be sure to include Harmon Gallery in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Wellfleet (Massachusetts).
Table of Contents
Whydah Gally
Whydah Gally was a fully rigged galley ship that was originally built as a passenger, cargo, and slave ship. On the return leg of her maiden voyage of the triangle trade, Whydah Gally was captured by the pirate Captain Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy, beginning a new role in the Golden Age of Piracy.
Bellamy sailed Whydah Gally up the coast of colonial America, capturing other ships as he went along. On 26 April 1717, Whydah Gally was caught in a violent storm and wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Only two of Whydah Gally's crew survived, along with seven others who were on a sloop captured by Bellamy earlier that day. Six of the nine survivors were hanged, two who had been forced into piracy were freed, and one Indian crewman was sold into slavery.
Whydah Gally and her treasure of captured pirate gold eluded discovery for over 260 years until 1984, when the wreck was found off the coast of Cape Cod, buried under 10 ft (3 m) to 50 ft (15 m) feet of sand, in depths ranging from 16 ft (5 m) to 30 ft (9 m) feet deep, spread for four miles, parallel to the Cape's easternmost coast. With the discovery of the ship's bell in 1985 and a small brass placard in 2013, both inscribed with the ship's name and maiden voyage date, Whydah Gally is the only fully authenticated Golden Age pirate shipwreck ever discovered.[1]
Wellfleet Drive-In Theater
The Wellfleet Drive-In Theater, the only drive-in theater on Cape Cod, located in Wellfleet, Massachusetts along U.S. Route 6, near the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The complex offers first-run double features in season, with other attractions such as indoor cinemas, a flea market, a miniature golf course, and restaurants.
The Drive-In is one of the venues for the annual Provincetown International Film Festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Frommer's lists the Drive-In as one of the "500 Places to See Before They Disappear" and Travel and Leisure selected it as a Top Ten Retro Escape.[2]
Address: 51 Grand Army Of Republic Highway, Wellfleet (Outer Cape)
Blue Heron Gallery
Art gallery, Shopping, Museum
Address: 20 Bank St, 02667 Wellfleet (Outer Cape)
Harmon Gallery
Art gallery, Shopping, Museum
Address: 95 Commercial St, 02667-7447 Wellfleet (Outer Cape)
The Frying Pan Gallery
Art gallery, Shopping, Museum
Address: 250 Commercial St, 02667-7446 Wellfleet (Outer Cape)
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
Civic center
Address: 335 Main St, 02667-7432 Wellfleet (Outer Cape)
Left Bank Gallery
Art gallery, Museum
Address: 25 Commercial St, 02667 Wellfleet (Outer Cape)
Wellfleet Center Historic District
The Wellfleet Center Historic District is a historic district in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. It encompasses resources that exemplify the development of the community, beginning in the late 18th century, as a thriving commercial maritime center, and then its rise as a summer resort community in the late 19th century. Buildings in the district include Cape-style houses from the mid-18th century, 19th century commercial and institutional buildings in the town center, and the 1880s summer estate of Lorenzo Dow Baker. The district is roughly bounded by Cross St. Holbrook Ave. Main, E. Main and School Streets, and Duck Creek, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[3]