Journal for Thursday, July 26

Thursday morning was my journey back in time on Cape Cod.  Our trio of buses wound its way counter-clockwise from Plymouth at a 9-o'clock angle, across the canal at 7 o'clock, through Barnstable at 6 o'clock, and on to Eastham at 4 o'clock.  We finished near Provincetown at 12 o'clock and faced north toward the sea.

 Albert, the Doane College mascot, poses on the bus with a 17th Century Plymouth house behind him.

The day began with a comfortable ride in the charter bus next to Derek Done, my friend, who has led the Deacon John Done History Committee for the last few years and done invaluable research in England. We drove past the pine forest south of Plymouth and approached the Cape Cod Canal, which truly made the Cape an island.

I had gone back in my time travel machine, until I rounded the hook, the tip of the peninsula, and saw those beaches which the Pilgrims first spied when they looked at a bewildering New England.

Near Provincetown, Cape Cod

 A presentation made by _____________ at the Sea Rescue Museum on the Cape.

 The Chatham Rescue Station which was relocated to the tip of Cape Cod as a museum.

Our coach tour continued by retracing our steps to Eastham, to the Old Cove Burying Ground.  Here James (our fearless historical tour guide) was giving some information about who was buried here.  My ancestors Deacon John Doane, and John Doane, Jr., were all buried here.

(as well as another ancestor, Giles Hopkins, Mayflower passenger)

John Doane Jr.'s son Samuel Doane was buried at Bridge Road Cemetery, Eastham, Mass.

 This is my beloved Doane Rock, which used to lie within the boundaries of the Deacon's homestead. It is now part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, and has its own Wikipedia page. As a Doane recently said, "Plymouth Rock? What's up with that? Now Doane Rock, that's a Rock."

 Jane Andersen giving a talk at the Doane Homestead plot. It was great to be standing where his home used to be.  The old stone marker you see was set up in the 1860's by a Doane descendant to mark the corner of the cellar where you could still see an impression in the ground.

After taking some pictures of Doane Rock, we headed back into the buses and rode back to Orleans for a meal and a quick look at the grave of Thomas Doane, who helped build the railroad across Nebraska and founded Doane College there.  Then we piled into the buses back to Plymouth.  It was a long day, but so worthwhile.