First Encounter Beach, Eastham

The Pilgrims made their first contact with the Nauset people here on December 8, 1620, before crossing Cape Cod Bay to settle at Plymouth. It was an armed encounter. A bronze marker embedded in a stone at the parking lot's edge commemorates what happened. Today the beach faces west across the bay, and the tide goes out nearly a mile. Come at low tide or at sunset — both earn the trip.