Camelot on Cape Cod
For 83 years Hyannis Port has been a place of retreat and renewal for America's greatest political dynasty.
Now they remember a patriarch, and this town remembers a friend. Sam Barber sold him paintings.
"I am going to miss him terribly," Barber said. "I'm speechless."
Ted Kennedy's father Joe bought a cottage here in 1928, thinking it would be good for the kids' health. Three decades later Ted's brothers John and Robert purchased surrounding homes creating the six acre property simply known as The Compound, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.
Peter Canellos is editor of the "Last Lion: The Rise and Fall of Ted Kennedy."
"For his entire life this was his home, this was the home he kept returning to," Canellos said. "The Kennedy's lived in Bronxville, New York, they lived in Brookline, they lived in London, England. But for Ted this was anchor."
The brothers played their famous games of touch football on the stretches of lawn in between buildings, training for the youngest son - a star player at Harvard.
"I think this was the center of his world, so many things happened here and certainly in times of tragedy this is where the Kennedys gathered," said Rebecca Pierce-Merrick, with the JFK Museum in Hyannis.
A place of mourning too many times for the Kennedy clan. He was there in 1999, when he learned of John Jr.'s death.
The Sea served as his solace.
"He loved just the joy of being out on the ocean," Merrick-Pierce said. "We all know about his deep and abiding faith and I think that must have been part of it."
Right up until the very end. After he was diagnosed with brain cancer, he went home, then to the water. He spent last Memorial day sailing the Figawi race, placing second, with his wife Vicki at his side.
He once said this compound was a place to unwind - to be refreshed by the sun and the sea. And this is where he said goodbye.
More Kennedy coverage:
Sen. Edward Kennedy Dies at Age 77
Arrangements for Kennedy Funeral Announced
Obama: Kennedy Was "Defender of a Dream"
Kennedy Memoir Set for Release Next Month
Sen. Byrd: Health Bill Should be Named for Kennedy
Team Obama Turns to the Web for Solace
Flags to Fly at Half-Staff for Kennedy
Mass. Gov. Supports Quick Replacement for Kennedy
