Despite Great Press, Tourists Shun Cape Cod This Fall

Wellfleet was surprisingly empty yesterday evening as Sven and I drove through on the way to the library. After last month's crowds, the emptiness feels jarring. My proclamations of what the off-season is are being proved erroneous this year. September bookings are down, especially since I missed a double week-long booking mid-September from some folks in Germany due to a computer malfunction. People are not traveling as much, at least Americans aren't. We still have couples from England and Canada staying with us this week. Guests who went to The Juice on Tuesday found it closed. This was as distressing for them as for me. The weather is beautiful. The empty beaches are pristine. The back roads are easily navigated, except for Commercial Street, still blocked off due to construction. All the travel magazines tout September as the best time to visit Cape Cod. There is even an article about Cape Cod in Endless Vacation, which did not report correct rates for that other inn in Wellfleet, by the way, a mystery I have not yet figured out. So, where are the tourists? Not in the Baltimore/Annapolis area, according to a Twitter communication from The Wayside Inn. Their bookings are down, too. Here at Chez Sven, we were hoping for ecotourists, after an August write-up in the Ecobookers Newsletter, but apparently ecotourists are staying home this fall as well. What a shame! Wellfleet is amazing in September. Check out the many activities possible in nearby Dyer Pond: swimming, making sand castles, boating, dreaming, chatting, in sum, enjoying life ...