What’s not to love about a simple, relatively quick yet comprehensive, self-guided fun tour…of a Potato Chip Factory offering delicious free sample bags? Over 250,000 visitors a year visit The Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory to learn the salty history and witness firsthand the step-by-step creation of these *Ridiculously Good Potato Chips!* The Chip Factory’s journey to potato chip fame and fortune had its humble beginnings back in 1980 when the dream of two small Cape Cod business owners turned into reality once they opened shop in a small storefront in Hyannis to sell the fantastic homestyle chips they’d cooked in their kitchen for years. The hearty crunch of the fabulous snacks cooked in small batches in real custom kettles soon became a mad crave amongst the locals and visitors alike-news spread like wildfire as tourists returned home with bags of the delightfully tasty and naturally noisy treats to share with family and friends. It wasn’t long before the chip business outgrew the cozy storefront, and a world-wide love affair with Cape Cod Potato Chips began! The Chip Factory Tour is now one of the area’s top attractions and details, from farm field to table, how these out of this world chips are made! Open Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, tours are FREE…and if complimentary sample bags aren’t enough, the gift shop and store offers visitors the opportunity to broadcast their chip love with tees, beach totes or chairs, mugs, fun buckets, coolers and tons of other must-have CCPC branded merchandise- as well as as many additional bags of chips as you can carry!

Accessible only by air or sea, this beloved-yet-exclusive hotspot, vacation colony and host of the yearly “Jawsfest” is located just six miles off scenic Cape Cod; once your travel group steps off the steamship ferry they will have no trouble discovering many things to love about the captivatingly beautiful 100-square-mile New England island! In addition to the substantial peak-season crowd, many high profile residents and affluent East Coast families call the six fabulously unique towns of the Vineyard home; it’s not difficult to see why: a temperate year-round climate offers multi-seasonal getaway opportunities and ensures Martha’s Vineyard, the gem of the Atlantic, remains one of the most popular of New England’s destinations. In the off season, the picturesque island and its wind-swept, sandy shores and landscapes lie peacefully accessible; the droves of summer sun, sand, surf and seafood seekers are home raking leaves or busying themselves with the details of returning to school. There is no bad time to visit! Grab a bicycle or scooter, call a cab or hop a bus and explore her quaintly quintessential seaside villages full of gingerbread cottages and stately Greek revival architecture, all steeped in a rich fishing and whaling history. Lace up your comfy shoes and hike miles of gorgeous beaches and trails; explore iconic old lighthouses, wander magnificent wildlife havens or just shop to your heart’s content – fun to fancy boutiques, shops and markets abound! The Vineyard’s charming cafes, fantastic restaurants, cozy theatres, welcoming bed and breakfasts, and elegant inns all afford you and your group the opportunity for a perfect East Coast Island getaway.

It’s a lazy, salt-hazy Cape afternoon; you’ve got big plans tomorrow so tonight will be a low-key kind of evening. Your travel group has bellied up to the table at your new favorite outdoor cafe, and you’ve just emptied your huge bowl of chowder, popped the last stray oyster cracker into your mouth and talk has turned to dessert. Then it dawns on you, your favorite, cozy sweatpants for later are miles away, back home-folded but forgotten-along with that crisp, new paperback you grabbed for your trip-on your bed! You freeze, for a moment, clenching your crumpled napkin, crinkling your straw paper and flicking at a crumb: What to do? Where does one go on Cape Cod for…sweatpants? Everyone forgets things in the excitement of packing; but you are not without options! Walk off that delightfully late lunch and track down something to satisfy that sweet tooth at the Cape Cod Mall, a regional favorite of locals and visitors alike! Conveniently located in the heart of the Hyannis retail district, and just the right size to offer a little of everything you’d expect from a stop at your favorite mega-center but in a slightly downsized resort-town venue! Browse Barnes and Noble for another beach-blanket read and a little you-time; duck into the cinema for a flick and let your food settle. You’ll find plenty of your of old favorites in addition to anchor store Macy’s: Marshalls, Hot Topic, Sephora, J. Crew, Hollister, Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21, Gap, Banana Republic, Pac Sun, Wet Seal, AE Outfitters-the mall is home to nearly 100 shops and eateries-all open 10 am to 9 pm Monday through Saturday and 11 am to 6 pm Sundays-plenty of fabulously familiar places to locate those sweats and a few other things you might want for your seaside adventure getaway! Careful-you could easily find yourself staying until dinnertime! No worries! Full service cafes and restaurants, in addition to a 400-seat food court will cater to all craves: Time for Thai? Missing Mexican? Prefer pizza? You’ll find it all-at Cape Cod Mall!