Have you ever seen a road open up like the massive jaw of a great white, the asphalt, curb and yellow lines lifting together in one flat precarious mass, and reaching skywards as a lone sailboat passes on the water below? This spectacle happens every hour in Woods Hole in summer, as the Water Street drawbridge opens to let boats in and out of the protected marina called Eel Pond.
It’s quite a sight to see – a mast floating past steel girders, sunburnt boaters below waving up to the crowd, traffic halted with people on bikes, scooters, vintage cars gaping as the bridge creaks open like a tin can. Tourists jostle to the front to grab a photo, while locals glance at their watches impatiently and chuckle about the grafitti on the underside of the bridge: “Summer People, Summer Not.”
The drawbridge is essential to this small working harbor, conveniently located near both Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay. In summer, the drawbridge opens up every hour on the hour from 6 AM to 9 PM. At busy hours, there may be several boats circling near the mouth waiting for passage.
For further information about the drawbridge’s schedule check out Woods Hole Marine’s website: http://woodsholemarine.com/gettinghere.html
Eel Pond’s harbor, the section of water enclosed by the drawbridge.
So make plans now to come down to Woods Hole and see this unusual sight – a real working drawbridge in the middle of a busy Cape Cod town.
The drawbridge as it slowly rises – splitting Water Street in to two.
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