Cape Cod

While Cape Cod isn't particularly well known for its shopping, there are a number of ways to keep your charge card busy. Many of the Cape's most interesting shops are conveniently located along a 30-mile stretch of Route 6A that passes through Sandwich, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster, and Orleans. Designated the Old King's Highway Historic District, this route offers some of the Cape's prettiest scenery, making it ideal for a day trip. The main commercial drags of Chatham and Provincetown are also home to a nice selection of shops, and there are other worthwhile stops throughout the Cape. In Falmouth, Maxwell & Co.'s selection of casual and semicasual men's and women's fashions from European and American designers is a nice—albeit pricey—departure from the ubiquitous whale belts and sundresses (200 Main St., Falmouth Village; 508-540-8752). The 90 stores at Mashpee Commons, an outdoor shopping center designed to look like a Cape Cod village, includes some upscale chains as well as independent retailers of clothing, jewelry, art, crafts, and home furnishings (routes 151 and 28; 508-477-5400; mashpeecommons.com). If you're in the Wellfleet area on the weekend, you can join in the Cape Cod shopping tradition of hunting for deals on Cape memorabilia, collectibles, and new merchandise at the Wellfleet Flea Market (51 Rte. 6, South Wellfleet; 508-349-0541; wellfleetdrivein.com/flea_market.htm). If you don't come away with a find, try the nearby Blue Heron Gallery, which offers a spellbinding selection of contemporary American art (20 Bank St., Wellfleet; 508-349-1714). And fans of the mail-order Atlantic Spice Company might fancy a stop at the outlet in Truro, which sells gourmet ingredients and kitchen gadgets (2 Shore Rd., Truro; 800-316-7965; atlanticspice.com). If you can't leave home without them—or want to avoid them—note that typical shopping-mall chains and box stores clog Route 132 in Hyannis.