Cape Cod!

Bass Hole Boardwalk, Yarmouth Port

Sandy Neck, Barnstable

The last time I went to Cape Cod on a vacation I was probably about 10 years old. We used to rent a little windblown cottage right on the beach in Brewster and spend the week tracking copious amounts of sand in from our trips back and forth through the dunes. It was heaven for a kid, running amok on the sand collecting shells and sea trinkets, and investigating things like the little striped snails that slithered all over the coastal vegetation in the evening cool. So my memories of the Cape are wonderful, if not juvenile... but I wasn't sure what to expect 25+ years later when we booked a 4 day long weekend in Yarmouth with some old friends.

Haley at Cape Cod National Seashore

Haley uncovering her big bro

Haley and Benjamin

As it turned out I was very pleasantly surprised! The Cape doesn't seem to have changed all that much over the years- still lots of quaint little villages, clam shacks, ice cream places, and gorgeous sweeping beaches. We stayed at the cutest little cottages arranged in a circle around a central green, with stairs down to a lovely beach on Nantucket Sound... my friend Karen's family has been coming there for years, so Bek and I (and our families) just tagged along to "crash" their family reunion weekend. It was great to see everyone and especially to get the kids a healthy dose of beach-time. Haley in particular loved the sandy beaches, running her fingers through the sand over and over or dragging a plastic shovel or a stick over the grains to make patterns. She was moderately good about keeping the pacifier in her mouth and the sand out. A few fistfuls definitely made it past the pearly whites though.

Looking for snails

Seaside Cottages, Yarmouth

Kisses from Oliver

A little cold for swimming still!

Karen and Haley

Ben

End of a busy day

Besides beach time, we got in a little birding on Cape Cod Bay at Sandy Neck in Barnstable and Bass Hole in Yarmouth Port, and also spent a day out in Welfleet on the Cape Cod National Seashore. We hiked a boardwalk trail through a cool and creepy Atlantic White Cedar Swamp (where I remembered going as a child), had some more beach time, and ate at a hole-in-the-wall seafood joint that was absolutely delicious, and where Aiden discovered that he loves fried clams. And we couldn't miss the opportunity to play mini-golf, not with three young boys who we knew would love the idea of hitting small balls with clubs through tunnels and over sand pits and water traps. It was a hit. Obviously. On our last day we drove over to Woods Hole, on Buzzards Bay, for some birding/hiking and another seafood lunch before heading home to NH.

Atlantic White Cedar tree

Cedar Swamp

Marconi Beach

Nate and Ollie at Marconi Station

It probably helped that the weather was gorgeous (4 days of cloudless blue) and the summer crowds basically non-existent in early June, but I would say we are definitely smitten (or re-smitten, in my case) with Cape Cod. We'll be booking for next year soon!

Ice Cream treat

Bek and Ben

Aiden and Andy at Sandy Neck

Mini Golf at Pirates Cove