On the early morning of November 9, 1620, the Mayflower's crew spotted land.  It was the first land they had seen in more than two months, and signified to the Pilgrims that they were near the end of their long voyage.  What a relief, and what excitement it must have been!  The crew determined that the land they were seeing was Cape Cod, somewhat to the north of the Hudson River in New York where the Pilgrims intended to plant their colony.  So the Mayflower turned south to head for New York (back then it was called "Northern Virginia").  But on the way, the Mayflower encountered some very treacherous seas, and nearly shipwrecked.  The passengers and crew were so shaken up by the near disaster, that they decided to head back to Cape Cod, instead of trying to make another attempt to head south.  They entered Cape Cod in the early morning of November 11, and anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor, waiting for sunrise.  After the sun was up and the tide was high, they sent shore a small group of men to collect juniper wood--the living quarters on the Mayflower had no doubt become very rancid and smelly, and one of the Pilgrims highest priorities was to collect some juniper wood to burn onboard the ship, to make everything smell just a little bit better.  Over the next month and a half, the Pilgrims would send out multiple exploring parties, seeking out a suitable place to build their colony.