JFK Jr.: Places In Time

(CBS)  It's a corner of the world on the shores of the North Atlantic. Once upon a time, it was where fishermen plied their trade and lived with their hearty wives and children in simple cottages along the windswept beaches.

But time and history has given Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard the patina of the privileged. Particularly in Hyannis Port, it has also made the rugged shores a gathering place in joy and sorrow for one of America's most prominent families.

Some 10 miles south, on the island of Martha's Vineyard, celebrities play in the sand alongside the general public and no one makes a big thing of it. Residents include singer Carly Simon, retired CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, Dan Ackroyd, and Jim Belushi, whose late brother John lies in an unmarked grave on the island.

For John F. Kennedy Jr., Hyannis Port was the place forever associated with his father. As far as the ebb and flow of his life was concerned, Martha's Vineyard was removed from that Cape Cod compound not only by geography, but by his mother's desire to make a life of peace and prosperity for her children after their father's assassination.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis bought a house on the Vineyard, which she bequeathed to her son and his sister, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.

On the other shore, the Kennedys have long been associated with the resorts on Cape Cod and nearby islands. The family compound, where they gathered Saturday for a family wedding but ended up waiting for word on John F. Kennedy Jr., is in Hyannis Port.

The Kennedys bought the property in Hyannis Port in 1926. Over the years, it has become the biggest tourist attraction on Cape Cod. Tour boats regularly pass the three-house cluster from a respectful distance off shore. But the Kennedy compound is not mentioned by name in any of the advertising for these harbor cruises.

Of course, tourists on land often annoy the Kennedys' neighbors by prowling the streets and peeking over walls. The compound is not marked by any elaborate trappings and is not easy to find, simply because it blends in so well with the local scenery.

The compound is composed of three houses. One is the former residence of President John F. Kennedy, where he learned of his presidential victory in 1960. The others are the second homes of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy.

It was at the family compound that the late Joseph and Rose Kennedy were informed of the death of their eldest son Joe during World War II. It was there that the Kennedy family gathered for a somber Thanksgiving Day dinner in 1963, less than a week after JFK's assassination. It is there that the Kennedy family now deals with another tragedy.

As an historical location, the Kennedy family compound looms large in modern history. But, on the main street of Hyannis, some visitors quell their curiosity at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, a collection of about 80 photographs illustrating JFK's life from 934 to 1963.

The island has attracted the nation's current president. He and his family spend part of their annual vacation time on the Vineyard, which has become one of the most desired vacation spots on the east coast, attracting people from the financial world as well as the arts and literature.