Mashpee, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Traveling to Cape Cod? Consider making your rental accommodations in the town of Mashpee. Vacation rentals of Mashpee come in various forms: villas, cottages, and private homes. Renting a Mashpee vacation villa for a week might cost between $800 and $2,850; the same length of time for a home here runs between $950 and $4,000; and a vacation cottage for a week ranges from $1,000 to over $1,500. Remember when battling over these prices, that you gain privacy, additional space, freedom to make a few meals on your own (saving a quite a few bucks) and the ability to not run into someone in the hallway you don't know. Unless you're into inviting strangers into your Cape Cod vacation rental. It is not a suggested practice, even though the people here are very inviting themselves. Mashpee's history is firmly planted in its Native American background. In 1660, a seemingly civic-minded citizen, Richard Bourne, (he also founded the town of, you guessed it, Bourne, on Cape Cod) bought a tract of land and promptly set it aside for Native Americans. Known as the Mashpee Plantation, this was the first Reservation in the United States. It was Bourne's intent that this land be set aside for Native Americans to be their home "forever". The settlers decided that forever ended after 200 years when they felt the Native Americans needed to learn about their god and become "civilized". On May 28, 1870, Mashpee was founded as a town. Over the past few years, it has experienced steady but sustainable growth.

As a vacationer you will appreciate the variety of activities there are to do in and around Mashpee. Definitely make plans to spend some time at the Popponesset Marketplace, and possibly a picnic lunch and quiet afternoon at one of the several parks and wildlife sanctuaries. An evening at the Boch Center for the Performing Arts will bring a little culture to your trip. (Not that you need any, just a suggestion.) Other points of interest include the Lowell Holly Reservation, the Wampanoag Indian Museum and Indian Meetinghouse, New Seabury, and the famous Nantucket Sound. If you are need of little more exercise, check out the Mashpee River Woodlands trails, or stroll the Vineyard and Nantucket Sound beaches, or South Cape Beach & State Park. You can even get your fresh water fix at Attaquin Park at Mashpee/Wakeby Pond. Apparently the "in" thing is to have a beach named after you, no matter how many other titles or how long it becomes. Make Mashpee your home base for a great Cape Cod vacation. You will be in the midst of some interesting American history while enjoying a great Mashpee vacation rental plus all Cape Cod has to offer.