Cape Cod Bay

Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring 604 square miles (1,560 km²) below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west. To the north of Cape Cod Bay lie Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Cod Bay is the southernmost extremity of the Gulf of Maine. Cape Cod Bay is one of the bays adjacent to Massachusetts that give it the name Bay State. The others are Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Massachusetts Bay.

History

In 1524 the great Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to discover Cape Cod Bay, his claim proved by a map of 1529 which clearly outlined Cape Cod. In 1620, the Pilgrims first sheltered in Provincetown Harbor where they signed the Mayflower Compact, the first democratic document signed in the New World.

Geology

Most of Cape Cod is composed of glacially derived rocks, sands, and gravels. The last glacial period ended about 12,000 years ago. During the end of the last glaciation, Cape Cod Bay was probably a large freshwater lake with drainages across Cape Cod in places like Bass River and Orleans Harbor. The Provincetown Spit, i.e., the land north of High Head in North Truro, was formed by marine deposits over the last 5,000-8,000 years. These deposits created Provincetown Harbor, a large, bowl-shaped section of Cape Cod Bay. Generally, currents in the Bay move in a counter-clockwise fashion, moving south from Boston, to Plymouth then east and then north to Provincetown.

Cape Cod

Cape Cod is a geographic cape/island and independent land mass separated from the mainland by the Cape Cod Canal that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean in the easternmost part of the state of Massachusetts in the Northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months.

Cape Cod stretches from Provincetown in the northeast to Woods Hole in the southwest. Cape Cod, as defined by the Cape Cod Commission's enabling legislation, comprises Barnstable County. The Cape Cod Canal cuts 17.5 miles (28.2 km) roughly across the base of the peninsula, though the western boundary of the cape extends to include small portions of the towns of Bourne and Sandwich which lie on the mainland side of the canal.

Two road bridges cross the Cape Cod Canal: the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge. In addition, the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge carries railway freight and limited passenger services onto the Cape. Cape territory is divided into fifteen towns with many villages.

Cape Cod (disambiguation)

Cape Cod is a peninsula in southeastern Massachusetts.

Cape Cod may also refer to:

See also

Cape Codder (cocktail)

The Cape Cod or Cape Codder is a type of cocktail made with only fruit juice and spirits. The name refers to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the eastern United States.

Ingredients

A Cape Cod is made with vodka and cranberry juice, and may be garnished with a lime wedge. Proportions vary, with sources giving a recommended vodka-to-juice ratio of 1/4, 1/3.7, 1/2 and 1/1.5, while other sources do not recommend precise proportions. Some sources recommend lime juice instead of a lime wedge garnish.

Related drinks

The Cape Cod is related to a number of other cocktails such as the Sea Breeze (which adds grapefruit juice), the Bay Breeze (which adds pineapple juice), Sex on the Beach (which adds orange juice and schnapps), the Cosmopolitan, which adds Curaçao triple sec and lime juice, and Rose Kennedy Cocktail which includes club soda.

Background

This drink was conceived in 1945 by the Ocean Spray cranberry grower's cooperative under the name "Red Devil". The "Cape Codder" name dates from the early 1960s.