Lower Cape Cod has some of the most beautiful beaches and shore lines in the eastern United States. I made two day tripping adventures there recently!

The town of Chatham is located at the ‘elbow’ of the Cape. It is also the beginning of The Cape Cod National Seashore region. It encompasses the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. The shore extends for about 40 miles. That is where I began my first journey. One of the region’s outstanding landmark’s is the Chatham Light lighthouse. It overlooks a wonderful sandy beach. I relaxed on that fabulous beach for a while, taking in the magnificent views.

In the Chatham area, there is a great little shop called ‘The Corner Store”(The Corner Store) which serves a large variety of burrito options. They offer many options for vegans. The conscientious staff even replace their cooking gloves when preparing burritos for vegan customers. This cafe is the best breakfast(or lunch) option for vegans in the area. Since there does not appear to be any restaurants in the lower Cape offering vegan tofu scrambles or muffins, the burrito here can be a vegan’s breakfast burrito. I selected their whole wheat tortilla filled with pinto beans, rice, avocado, onions, eggplant, corn, field greens, and salsa. It was filling and incredibly good! My beverage was a bottled mango orange juice from their fridge. It was also satisfying. This is a great, inexpensive way to have a quick breakfast or lunch on the Cape’s elbow region.

Nickerson State Park, located in Brewster, is one of the region’s best camping,biking, and hiking areas. I enjoyed walking the hiking trails and even enjoyed a stop at the Flax Beach pond. For outdoor enthusiasts, a couple of biking trails take the riders through the vast forest.

I stopped in the town of Orleans to enjoy an absolutely gorgeous beach. Nauset Beach is a wide and lengthy white sand beach. The water is fairly warmer and the view is fantastic! This is indeed one of the most attractive and larger beaches on The Cape!

My stop in the town of Eastham brought me to the famous tourist attraction of the Nauset Light lighthouse. This was a grand photo opportunity. I strolled along its lengthy, picturesque beach for a while also.

My final destination towards the tip of the Cape was Wellfleet.
The Audubon Society maintains a wooded park area where visitors can view birds and wildlife.

Another famous attraction in the town is Marconi Station and Beach. Marconi was an Italian inventor who performed the first transatlantic wireless communication between the United States and England back in 1903 from this point in Wellfleet. Marconi Beach is a white sand beach popular with tourists. I visited both the station overlook and spent some time on the beach. This is worth a trip to see this historic landmark and to spend some time soaking up the rays on the adjacent lovely beach.

For a lunch time meal on the lower Cape, The Juice restaurant(The Juice Restaurant) in Wellfleet is a great choice! I lunched on their veggie taco salad including large taco slices, field greens, and garden veggies in a balsamic vineagrette with cilantro and salsa. It was spicy and delicious! For my entree, I selected the veggie stir fry of leeks, squash, carrots, cucumbers, chard, and red peppers over jasmine rice. It was scrumptious! They also have a variety of fresh juices and smoothies on their menu. My beverage of choice was the ‘Maui Wowee’ which was a smoothie combo of pineapple, coconut juice, and banana. It was refreshingly delightful! Their veggie burgers are vegan. However, the bread is not vegan. The waitstaff will graciously replace the bun with salad.

When I reached my final destination on the tip of The Cape, my next vegan-friendly meal venue came into sight. Terra Luna(104 Shore Road, Truro) is an upscale Italian restaurant in the town of Truro which offers a couple of vegan-friendly options on its dinner menu. The menu boasts of grilled polenta with mushrooms and an olive mix platter as veggie appetizers. For the main entree, vegans can select among the angel hair pasta dish or the a veggie platter. I chose the vegetable scarfata. It consisted of fava beans, escarole, artichoke hearts, spring veggies, with quinoa fritters. This was yet another gourmet meal as its best! I appreciated the medley of amazing vegetables cooked to perfection with tasty fritters. As I already ate dinner, I took a bite to sample the taste and flavors, then packaged the remainder to take home with me.

On my way back home, I made one final stop back in Orleans. The town is home to “Beacon Room Restaurant”(Beacon Room Restaurant) which offers a vegan entree for dinner. I dined on the vegetable saute consisting of summer squash, zucchini, carrots, green beans, chard, and onions sauteed with a ginger soy sauce over jasmine rice. It was absolutely fabulous! This was a wonderful gourmet meal in a flavorful sauce! Again, I sampled some of the meal and packaged the remained to take home with me.

UPDATE: As of summer 2015, the Ice Cream Cafe(Ice Cream Cafe) is offering vegan sundaes! I enjoyed an absolutely delicious hot fudge sundae with vegan salted caramel ice cream and toasted coconut ice cream scoops, hot fudge, strawberry sauce, and nuts.

Another vegan-friendly dining option in Orleans is “Abba Restaurant”(Abba Restaurant). Their menu offers an organic tofu Pad Thai entree.

UPDATE July 2015: I recently dined at the elegant Van Rensselaer’s Restaurant (Van Renssalaers ) in Wellfleet. What a welcome sight to see the phrase “Vegan Options” proudly displayed on the huge sign outside of the restaurant, facing the highway!

Their vegan options were quite eclectic, not boring or bland whatsoever! I opted for the Becky’s Vegan Bowl of fresh veggies sautéed in coconut oil, with tofu “ricotta”, sweet pea & walnut pesto, and brown rice. My dinner entree was really flavorful! I enjoyed every succulent bite.

The restaurant goes above and beyond for vegans, as they also offer a vegan dessert. My vegan brownie topped with fresh summer strawberries and blueberries was wonderfully delicious!

I really enjoyed my visits to the lower Cape. This region of Cape Cod is home to several spectacular beaches, historic landmarks, and several great options for vegan dining!