Cape Cod Maritime Museum

Nestled beside the Hyannis waterfront, Cape Cod Maritime Museum preserves five centuries of the region's seafaring history. Its primary exhibit, Making Waves: Maritime Ventures on Cape Cod, comprises 400 years of artifacts, ranging from a mariner's chart to fishing tools used by the Wampanoag people. In addition to authentic pieces of history, the museum helpfully recreates other aspects of the past with model ships and a 28-foot boat that kids can climb on. Besides its main exhibit, Cape Cod Maritime Museum hosts rotating exhibits on subjects such as how rum-runners bypassed Prohibition and which vessels whales like to use as back-scratchers. The museum also welcomes adults and youngsters alike to year-round, hands-on events and programs that focus on maritime skills such as building a traditional wooden rowing skiff.