I have often wondered how to describe the magic that is Cape Cod to our guests. Some say it is something about the light that surrounds this beautiful peninsular. Others will comment on the vast expanse of marsh and dunes that envelope Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound. Still others will marvel at the brilliant blue of the sky, the smell of salt air, or the hypnotic effect of watching waves roll into shore. It is all that…and more. But until recently, there was no way to fully capture what makes Cape Cod such a special place, a place to be treasured.

Enter Charlie Gibson, anchor of ABC network news, and part-time resident of Cape Cod, where he has a family vacation home. Mary Richardson of Chronicle HD, a local TV news magazine, interviewed Charlie this week, his final week of broadcasts as anchorman for World News Tonight. “Why do you go to Cape Cod?” she asked him. And in his most eloquent style, Charlie Gibson captured what it is about Cape Cod that makes it such an unforgettable place, a place to return to again and again, and a place, if you’re lucky, to live and work. This is how Charlie Gibson described the feeling of Cape Cod:

“You drive across the Cape Cod canal and the air smells different, the atmosphere is different, the whole ethos of living is different, the pace slows down. It’s just like the weight of the whole world comes off your shoulders. And I love the fact that we have only a blinking light on the main street, and there’s a little deli that sells bread, and a hardware store, and a bike shop, and that’s it.”

“And then you sit and look out at the beautiful waters that surround the Cape and it slows everything down to the point that it’s not racing past you. And that is to be treasured always. It is…it is the happy place in the world.”

You can listen to the full interview with Charlie at the Boston Channel.com.