Harwich's Holiday Season Heads Back to the Harbor This Year
For 23 years, the Toast of Harwich was a Wequassett night. The event grew until it took up two rooms at the resort. On Friday, Nov. 20, the 26th Toast moves into one room at the Wychmere Harbor Room at Wychmere Beach Club, the space many longtime residents remember as Thompson's Clam Bar.
The Toast held its first few years in that same room, so this is a return. Two weeks later, Christmas in Harwich opens with a tree lighting at Doane Park in Harwich Port, and the weekend closes with a holiday market at Dune at Wychmere. In between, the main road running east toward the Port is a construction zone, and crews are working their way toward the same village where the season is gathering.
Harwich Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cyndi Williams explained the move in plain terms to The Cape Cod Chronicle: "The move to Wychmere gives us the opportunity to be in one room altogether." She told the paper the change would bring "a new vibe while keeping the same ingredients with the restaurants and the beverages."
Some of those new ingredients are new to the event itself. In a separate Chronicle profile, Williams said a live auction is something she has wanted to add for years. Auctioneer John Terrio will run it, with four travel packages up for bid:
The silent auction is back too. This year it is built around four decorated Christmas trees hung with gift cards and merchandise from Chamber members. The Boston Premier Band will play, and with everyone in a single room, the dancing and the food stations share the same floor.
VIP doors open at 6 p.m. with $120 tickets, and general admission at $90 starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are available through harwichcc.com or by calling the Chamber at 508-430-1165.
The Chronicle's list of participating restaurants is a good cross-section of Harwich's year-round dining: 400 East Bar and Restaurant, Brenda's Cakes for All Occasions, Buca's Tuscan Roadhouse, Cape Sea Grille, Dairy Queen, Dive Dine and Drink, Grand Cove Shellfish, Lanyard Bar and Grill, Mooncussers, RDA Catering, Red River Barbeque, Regalcare, Sundae School, Sweet Izzy's, The Grateful Mug Cafe, Three Harbors Coastal Kitchen, TK's Sports Bar, Wingate Residences at Pleasant Bay and the Wychmere Harbor Room itself. Cape Cod Beer, Hog Island Beer, Plymouth Brewing Company and Devil's Purse are pouring, with wines from Josh Cellars and My Cousins' Wine. Sandy Neck Cider is on the Chamber's list as well. Fizzy Potion is mixing mocktails, which gives the nonalcoholic side of the bar a bigger role than it has had before.
Three Harbors Coastal Kitchen is the newest restaurant on that list. It is the third restaurant from the family behind Milano's in Harwich and Milano's on Main in Hyannis, and the Cape Cod Times reported it open by mid-October. It sits in Harwich Port Village Landing at 575 Route 28. The Chronicle described it in August as a 100-seat restaurant owned by Frank Wiacek Jr. and Lauren Wiacek, with homemade pasta and lobster hushpuppies planned for the menu. Three Harbors' website lists local seafood, prime cuts and seasonal specials. Hours there are 4 to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends, with Sunday brunch specials. Style & Sea Boutique, owned by Nicole Applebaum, and Charlie's Ice Cream Sandwich, from Chad Murphy, share the Village Landing building.
Christmas in Harwich runs Dec. 4 through 6, but Friday night carries the most. The Chamber's listing places the stroll in Harwich Port, "From Doane Park to Bank Street." Here is the evening as the Chamber has posted it:
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00–8:00 | Festive trolleys loop through Harwich Port and Harwich Center | Start at the Harwich Chamber |
| 5:30 | Tree lighting and caroling with the Harwich Elementary School Chorus, Pilgrim Masonic Lodge, Pilgrim Congregational Church and First Congregational Church | Doane Park |
| 5:30–8:30 | Stroll through open shops, the church and galleries | Harwich Port |
| 5:30–8:30 | Homeless for the Holidays, with Harwich Fire and Police collecting toys, food and cash or gift cards | In front of the Harwich Chamber |
| 5:30–8:30 | Nativity scenes and live piano, then café, cookie sale and crafts in Monbleau Hall | Pilgrim Congregational Church |
| 6:00 | Seven Trees for Seven Villages light up | Each village |
| 6:00–8:00 | Harwich Town Band concert | TD Bank |
| 6:00–8:00 | Port Summer Nights musicians play holiday songs and covers | Locations to be announced |
| 6:15 | Santa arrives by Harwich fire truck | Chamber porch |
| 6:15–8:00 | Visits with Santa, plus goodies inside | Chamber Information Center and The Grateful Mug |
The children's side of the evening is at Pilgrim Congregational. The Children's Christmas Shoppe there lets kids shop for and wrap small gifts for 50 cents each, and a cookie-decorating table sends them back out frosted cookie in hand.
At 6 p.m., trees light at the same time in all seven villages: Harwich Center, Harwich Port, East Harwich, West Harwich, North Harwich, South Harwich and Pleasant Lake.
Most of the drive to Doane Park from the west follows Route 28, and that stretch is a construction site this winter. The project is a $9 million package of water main replacement, dry sewer installation and roadway work. It runs from the Dennis line through West Harwich to South Street in Harwich Port. According to the Chronicle, the stretch has had six water main breaks since 2014, and a January 2018 break took 21 hours to repair.
There are two crews and two schedules. West of the Herring River, CC Construction is working on the MassDOT phase, which the state's project manager said could take five years. That phase pauses each year from Memorial Day to mid-September. In late October, CC finished the new water main at Route 28 and Division Street and moved on to hydrants. Its next step is low-pressure sewer main, working east from Division Street. During hydrant work between Riverside Drive and Division Street, the Water Department has said Route 28 traffic would detour via Lower County Road.
East of the river, Harwich-based Dig It Construction has the town's water main contract. The plan is to work through the winter, aiming to finish in spring 2027. The Water Department's Route 28 page scheduled mainline pipe to start the week of Nov. 9 near Lothrop Avenue, moving east toward Harwich Port.
Three details shape a December evening on this road:
The Water Department updates its page weekly and notes that dates are estimates. It is the best place to check before heading out on a weekday.
The rest of the weekend moves out to other villages before returning to the Port. The Chamber's weekend lineup includes:
The Chamber is still adding events, so its page is the one to check before the weekend.
Dune is a useful marker for how far the season has moved toward the harbor. Wychmere describes it as a summer pop-up dining space above its rooftop venue, open Monday through Wednesday nights in season. In December, Dune is hosting a market at Wychmere, the same club where the Toast will have been held two weeks earlier.
One East Harwich change is easy to miss between the two weekends. Harwich Paint and Decorating on Route 137 was set to be sold on Nov. 10, business and building together, along with its sister store in Chatham. Owners Paul and Lynn Fox told the Chronicle that the buyer, GE Supplies, LLC, has rehired the staff and will keep the store an Ace Hardware. GE Supplies runs 14 hardware stores in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including one in Mashpee. A little remodeling is planned for the Harwich store. For anyone stringing lights at home before the seven trees go on, the counter staff should be the same people as before.
Whether you are thinking about selling in the spring or just wondering where your home stands as Route 28 changes around it, Team Franklin is glad to talk it through over the holidays. Get your instant home valuation, and we'll follow up with what we're seeing on the ground in Harwich.
Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact us today.