Junior Girl Scouts and Studio 2b Packages.
Bring your Girl Scout troop to Cape Cod and experience the fun and excitement of our specially designed courses and programs. Our programs are specifically tailored to the needs and interest of your group, and we can help your group earn different patches such as Paddle, Pole and Roll, From Shore to Sea and our very own Discover the World patch.
As well as kayaking, surfing, and beach walks, bicycling on Cape Cod is enormously popular, especially since the development of the Cape Cod Rail Trail. The MidCape hostel sits barely one-half mile from the trail, and you can go south on a fairly flat, mostly under shady trees, slightly bumpy trail to South Dennis - or head the other way toward Wellfleet on a newer section, also flat and mostly in the sunshine.
Add to that the trails at the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham and you have an unequaled opportunity for sightseeing and getting exercise. The Cape's famous Nauset Beach is only a 5 mile pedal from the hostel.
Scouting and hostelling have a long history of mutual support. They are similar in their mission to foster experiential learning and exploration of the world, leading to personal growth and ultimately to a more informed citizenry. All our Programs are available as packages or a-la-carte.
Other Patches, Badges, Interest Project Awards
and Studio 2B charms that can be earned at the hostel include:
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Our Rights, Our Responsibilities Patch For Junior Girl Scouts Celebrating People Learn about cultural diversity and the Wampanoag Indians of Cape Cod. Lighthouse Interest Project Award Lots of lighthouses on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard! Makin' Waves Discover the wonders of the ocean. Not a man's world anymore! On the Go Instill the travel bug in your girls - Check out what travel does to a person! Parks Matter Cape Cod National Seashore comprises 43,604 acres - Learn why they matter! |
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Hit The Water on a Kayak!!!Pleasant Bay, a 9,000-acre area of extraordinary natural resources and beauty, represents one of the most biological diverse and productive marine habitats on the East Coast of the United States. Known affectionately as "The Bay", her history is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, she's protected by a barrier beach, and flows with gentle tidal waters that make it a paradise for kayakers of any experience level. We offer interpretive 4-hour morning tours, sunrise and full moon guided tours to remote areas of Pleasant Bay by kayak. All trips cover the basic paddling strokes and fundamentals of kayak safety. See wildlife, learn about the geology and history of the Cape. Paddle where the native Americans used to paddle....and have fun! NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. Earn the Paddle, Pole and Roll, and/or the From Shore to Sea Patches. |
Discover the World
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Go Surfing USA!Cape Cod, Massachusetts and its miles of white sand beaches. Learn confidence and respect for our oceans while participating in the fastest growing water sport. Taught by the Cape's oldest Surf School (14 years!), your instructors are kind, patient and courteous. No more than 4 girls to one instructor. Board and wet suits are included. A typical first lesson starts with wet suit fitting. Next is a short talk on the beach covering surf etiquette, wave dynamics and paddling techniques. We then go through some land exercises that simulate moves on the water. Once in the water your instructor will get you in a balanced position on your board. We will then teach you wave selection and push you into waves until you get your timing down. Depending on your ability and wave size, we will then work on the next progression.  |
Lighthouse Interest Project AwardThe five lighthouses on the Island of Martha's Vineyard represent the most diverse group in a small, contained area in the country, according to lighthouse buffs. All of the lighthouses are on the north side of the Island: they look out over Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound, and over the entrance to Edgartown Harbor and Cape Poge. The Cape Poge Lighthouse is by far the Island's most remote, built in 1801. The original lighthouse was made of wood and had a small caretaker's cottage. By 1838, the building was destroyed by the ravaging sea and rebuilt farther inland. It lasted only 50 years before the sea again claimed it and it was rebuilt, with a change from reflector lamps to red and white revolving prisms. The sea would not be denied, and reclaimed the lighthouse in 1892. It was rebuilt as a 33-foot-tall tower that lasted only another 35 years. The present white wooden structure was built in 1922, 55 feet high with a light visible for a distance of 12 miles. In 1985 it gained the distinction of being the first entire lighthouse to be moved by helicopter; in 1997 the lantern was again moved by helicopter for repairs. The lighthouse's present site is 300 feet from the ever-hungry sea. All of the Island's lighthouses, except the Cape Poge Lighthouse, are easily accessible by road....fortunately, the Trustees of Reservation offers an Oversand Lighthouse Tour that is well worth it! |
More Fun Things to Do!
The FARM Institute
Take a field trip to the FARM Institute and experience life on a working farm on Martha's Vineyard.
The Whales are here!
A whale watch excursion is a uniquely fun and educational experience that links learning with adventure in a very special protected national marine environment known as the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, just off the coast of Provincetown's Cape Cod Bay. Stellwagen Bank welcomes a wide variety of marine creatures, but its key mammal species include the endangered northern right whale, the humpback whale, the finback whale, and the Atlantic white-sided dolphin. We have a shuttle bus service to take you to Provincetown.
National Seashore's Salt Pond Visitors Center
Located a few miles up the road (easy to get to on the bike trail!) is Cape Cod's main Visitors Center. It houses a small, free, museum exhibit about the nature and culture represented on Cape Cod. A small, also free, movie theater shows 10 minute movies on the geological formation of Cape Cod, maritime history including whaling and sea rescues, Marconi's first wireless message transmitted from Europe to the US, and Henry David Thoreau's discovery and writings of Cape Cod. There are also two popular nature walks starting from the Visitors Center with awesome views.
And of Course there are the Beaches!!!
The Hostel is located about 1/4 mile from Boat Meadow beach on the Bay, and 5 miles from Nauset Beach on the ocean. Also on the Bay side are Skaket and First Encounter beaches, both great beaches for kids. The water is warm and very calm and has lots of shallow bits. At low tide, the water goes out for miles leaving tide pools and all sorts of critters, including seals sometimes. Sunsets on the bay side are the best on the Cape.
Nauset Beach and Coast Guard Beach are the most popular ocean beaches Mid Cape. Bring the boogie boards, suntan lotion, volleyball and get ready for some serious beach fun!
What Groups are Saying....
August (MidCape)
Thank you so much for your hospitality, helpfulness and warmth during our stay at the Hostel in June. Everything about the experience surpassed my personal expectations and I feel the same is true for the scouts as well as my co-leaders. Thanks especially for all the hand holding during prep time - it really made our trip fabulous. I can't wait to visit again, perhaps w/o the scouts next time so I can meet more travelers and have more free time. Sincerely, Marianne
June (MidCape)
Thank you so much, I had an awesome time. Kate Thank you so much for making my stay at the hostel such a great time. Sydnie.
August (MidCape)
I cannot say enough good things about this Girl Scout program! Martha and Crystal were great. Dick did a fantastic job with the girls kayaking and completing the interest patch requirements. Do to an injury I could not kayak with them and was a little nervous because of how windy it was. Dick was encouraging, positive and patient with the girls as they struggled in the wind. He definitely has found his calling. The adults that went thanked me for letting them come they had such a great experience. Paul & Jerry were also terrific, to be on the beach at sunset, with a bonfire, seals swimming right off shore and our own personal entertainment how incredible is that. Our lobster was good and certainly an experience for some of the girls. Martha and Crystal were very helpful with information we needed to get around and very accommodating to our needs. We also visited the visitor's center hiked the Buttonbush and Nauset Marsh Trails, biked a little bit on the CCRT, spent an afternoon at Coast Guard Beach and did some Letterboxing. Definitely a positive experience for the girls first hosteling trip, some are already looking into were we can hostel next year. And what a great way for us to experience an area in our own back yards that we were not familiar with. Thank you so much for all your help in planning this trip, a successful trip starts with good planning and you helped to make it very easy. Ellen
June (Martha's Vineyard)
I wanted to extend my thanks and that of the members of my group who stayed at the Martha's Vineyard hostel over the weekend for the welcome extended to our group. We had a fabulous weekend. I particularly want to thank Sophie for your co-operation with holding our complicated reservation for so long and for maintaining a sense of humour throughout the slew of amendments we made as time passed. With all best wishes Debra
May (MidCape)
I just want to thank you for all your help and information you provided for our weekend at the Cape. Our girls had a great time and the weather was beautiful. Dick (kayaking) was a wealth of information and even the adults learned something! Tonia was also very nice and helpful. It couldn't have worked out better and I will pass your name onto any other Girl Scout troops that may enjoy something like this. This was our first trip to a hostel and was a new experience for the girls. We really didn't know what to expect. If we stay at one in the future, I'm going to try to work in some time for the girls to do a service project (cleaning, planting, etc...) to help out. This time we were way too busy to be able to help out. Thanks again! Carol
May (Martha's Vineyard)
I would like to thank you and all the staff for making this years senior trip to Martha's Vineyard such a great success. We had a great time at the hostel. The staff was wonderful to work with. I will be recommending the hostel to other groups at our school. Thank You, Ella