Prior to their arrival in Plymouth, and after having first stopped in Provincetown, the Pilgrims sent a hunting party from the Mayflower to what is now Eastham, to look for food. Located on the arm of lower Cape Cod, Eastham is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Cape Cod Bay. There, on "First Encounter Beach", the Pilgrims met people from the local Nauset tribe. It was not until 24 years later (1644) that the Europeans began to settle here, on lands that would would eventually include the towns of Truro, Wellfleet, Orleans, part of Chatham, and, of course, Eastham. The town was officially incorporated in 1651.. In those early days, fishing and farming were the main industries. Born in Eastham in 1820, Freeman Hatch would set a world record, in 1853, for a single-hull wooden sailing vessel from San Francisco, around Cape Horn, and on up to Boston, in his clipper ship "Northern Light." Just a short 7 miles from Eastham is the site of Gugliamo Marconi's wireless radio station from which he made the first radio transmission between the U.S. and Europe. I had the fantastic opportunity to participate in the 100th anniversary of this event at the Coast Guard Beach National Seashore Center in Eastham during January of 2003. This special event resulted in over 13,000 radio contacts around the world, which also included talking with the International Space Station. As an Amateur Radio Operator, this was one of the highlights of my volunteer career, which was topped by meeting Marconi's daughter, Princess Elettra. Eastham is a delightful place to visit, especially since a little over ten percent of the town includes part of the National Seashore. Eastham, Massachusetts is on the arm of lower Cape Cod (just beyond what has been described as the "elbow" ). Eastham Town Hall. One of the many lighthouses on Cape Cod is this Nauset Light (named after the Native American tribe that had lived here for centuries). Another set of lighthouses, these in North Eastham, are known as the "Three Sisters." Old postcard of First Encounter Beach, depicting the monument commemorating the Pilgrims first encounter with the Nauset Native Americans in Eastham. Somewhat surprisingly, we've came across several windmills on Cape Cod. This one in Eastham is said to be the oldest on the Cape (circa 1680). In January of 2003, Amateur Radio Operators ("Hams") gathered at the Coast Guard Beach Center in Eastham to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marconi's first wireless radio transmission between the U.S. And Europe. Some of the operating radio crew for this special event (that same vest has traveled around the world with me). Here I am working one of the many radio stations set up for this event. At one point, I stayed up for 48 straight hours during this event ("Sleep is overrated!). One of the highlights of this event was meeting Marconi's daughter, Princess Elettra . She is standing with the event coordinator, Bob Doherty.
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Carl and Lorraine Aveni are two retirees planning on traveling through Europe for at least one year.
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