The Most Interesting Roads - Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Continuing on with our series about the world's most interesting roads, today's episode: Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Half of my family is from back East, as they say, Massachusetts to be precise, so I've spent my fair share of time driving around the roads of The Bay State. Now, granted, I've only driven on them in the spring and summer months, so maybe my perspective is a bit skewed, but certain stretches of road are quite nice.

For starters, you've got all that charming New England stuff. Quaint little churches and rolling hills and scenes from Currier & Ives prints, the whole lot. It's no different if you head out to "the cape" as the locals refer to Cape Cod – only there's much more nautical stuff around.

In addition to the quaint little churches and rolling hills and scenes from Currier & Ives prints you also get fishing villages with old boats and captains homes that have seen centuries of harsh New England winters. Cape Cod, especially in the summer, is like something from a movie set, and since this is Massachusetts, it's just about s big.

Massachusetts is a small state, and most of the residents are not inclined to travel very far. Going from Boston to New York City is considered a great journey on par with traveling form Venice to China. My mom has a cousin that has never, in her entire life, left Massachusetts.

Something else the locals are inclined to do is drive like utter maniacs. I'm not sure exactly why this is. You can sort of explain it away in places like Italy or Paris or Quebec, but Massachusetts drivers are, by and large, not a bunch to be trifled with. I remember hearing a radio show about "aggressive driving", and when they were describing what counts as aggressive, my first thought was, "They've never driven across town in Boston".

Turn signals are a nice idea, but don't feel like you have to use them. Same goes for individual lanes. Driving on the shoulder? Sure, go right ahead. The use of your horn flashing your lights and wild gesticulations are just part of your everyday commute. My brother, who's lived in Boston since he went to college there has a saying: "Use your blockers". Other drivers doing crazy things can actually shield you from oncoming traffic, it's a handy tip to remember.

Sure, out on The Cape it's a little less crazy, the tourists have a tendency to dampen things down a bit. But I've also seen locals just completely blow their stack at someone driving in a car with Pennsylvania plates for not getting out of the way fast enough.

If you can deal with this sort of thing, and as car guys, most of us can, then Cape Cod is a wonderful driving destination. It's not too far from Boston (by normal standards) so it's easy enough to rent a car if your in Bean Town for business, and spend an extra day or two exploring The Cape in all its quaintness.

Source: National Geographic. Photos from Flickr users Pink Sherbet Photography, Sgeulachdan, yeowatzup and PhillipC.