Beach Day - Dennis and Plymouth

I originally planned to do absolutely nothing this past weekend.

Absolutely nothing.

But when my friends asked if I was interested to join them in a beach day on the Cape, I couldn't say no.  I had only been to the Cape once before to explore the area, but it was still pretty chilly in May.

Earlier in the week, I went with the camp to Singing Beach (so called because the sand squeaks when you hit it at a certain angle).  The sand was ridiculously hot and the water was ridiculously cold.  It really should be illegal for beach water to be that cold.

But I managed to submerge myself underwater several times, but it surely felt like I might go into shock.  Still, even with nearly 100 kids, we survived.

Exhausted...but happy...and on a yellow bus...

So, it was difficult for me to believe that any beach water in Massachusetts could be manageable.  But we made our way to Dennis, which was located on the bicep of the Cape arm.

It's definitely worth it to get up early to make it to the Cape, just so you wouldn't have to park super far away from the actual shore.  However, with thanks to the town of Dennis' Beach Department (I love that they have a Beach Department!!!), if you pay the $20 to park at one beach parking, you can then park at any other Dennis beach parking lot.

At first, we stopped at Chapin Beach.  Though there was a line to get into the lot, it seemed that people were heading out fairly quickly.  We learned that it was because of the swarm of flies that were coming from the marsh on the other side of the dunes.  Those flies were pretty brutal, really.  I counted about 5 different bug bites at the end of the day.

Really, the best way to avoid the flies was to get into the water.  I was shocked at how warm the water was compared to Singing Beach!  So I was quite the happy camper.

Chapin Beach
July 16, 2011

There were also tons of little fishies swimming around!  I overheard a man telling his son that they were minnows, so I'm going to take his word for it.

Fishies, algae, seaweed, tosies

At some point, we started snacking on what we packed.  My friend asked if we wanted some chicken, which we enthusiastically said yes to.  Never would I have ever guessed that she would bring out an entire rotisserie chicken.  But never would I have ever guessed that it is really kind of a genius idea.

Chicken? Heck, ya!

After a short while, we got pretty sick of avoiding the flies, and decided to explore the town.  We ended up at the Cape Cod Chat House, which has a wonderful courtyard area where you can sit and enjoy an iced beverage and pastry.

playing with my new hair piece from Siren's Grotto on Etsy

Eventually, we decided it was nap time.  We braved another wait for parking at Mayflower Beach, and it was most definitely worth the wait.

gorgeous waters and clouds

There's a lot more space, and almost every inch of the beach was filled with people and their beach accessories.  But by 3 or 4 in the afternoon with high tide behind us, the shore was shallow for a good while.  I felt like I was walking and walking and walking and that the ocean might just take me.

It was gorgeous.  It's definitely worth it to make the early morning trek to get to Mayflower Beach.  Be patient with the morning/merging traffic and with the wait for parking.  But believe me, it is worth it.

After floating around in the water, napping, and sunning, one of my friends suggested that we head to Plymouth for dinner.  Though we ended up there just in time for the dinner rush, we eventually settled at the Blue Eyed Crab.  The food was pretty good and filling.  I had a crab burger...num!

Cheers to a successful beach day!

I was definitely nicely sunned and sleepy by the end of it all.  And I'm looking forward to more beach days with the kids, my fellow staff, and with friends.