Sven and I went walking in Truro this morning. We drove to Head of the Meadow Beach, in the National Seashore, hoping to see seals at low tide. Instead, all we got to admire was the savage landscape.
The Truro artist’s palette in late autumn must include burgundy, beige, green, silver, white, and blue to capture the beauty of the windswept hills. As we headed off towards the dunes, clouds rolled over the sun. Truro feels wilder than Wellfleet, and should really be seen by tourists visiting the Outer Cape since it is so very different. 
The Pilgrims stopped here in 1620 but decided the land was not suitable for a colony. Europeans settled Truro in 1700, as a satellite community beyond Wellfleet in what was still called Eastham. Truro was incorporated in 1709. The first census in 1754 counted 954 souls. The year-round population now is 2000, but that figure jumps to 20,000 in summer. Early industries were fishing, whaling and shipbuilding. To quote Wikipedia, “Today Truro is one of the more exclusive towns on the Cape, noted for its affluent residences and the rolling hills and dunes along the coast.” These photos show some of those rolling hills, interspersed with abandoned cranberry bogs. 
Edward Hopper lived on the bayside (see October 11, 2008 blog for photo). Near Ballston Beach sits a great international youth hostel, dating from the 1970s. Truro shines through its art community, associated with Castle Hill. 
Real estate prices have become even more outrageous than in Wellfleet. Summer residents include Ben Affleck and Sebastien Junger. I was surprised in reading the New York Review of Books Classifieds last week to note that two ads mentioned the town: An “uncommon woman” looking for an “uncommon man” boasts of having a garden in Truro, and a “beautiful Boston intellectual” admits addiction to the dunes of Truro near her beachfront home … 
