My favorite picture of Abe from the whole trip:Įven big kids had fun, despite this look: There are tide pools to explore, hermit crabs to gawk at, marsh to check out, sand to dig in, and, of course, a thousand miles of ocean to walk out into.Ībe wanted to sit right next to the parking lot and dig in the sand at first:īut the pull of the hermit crabs was strong and eventually he joined the rest of us in the water: We put off First Encounter until our last morning in Eastham, so we didn’t have nearly as much time to spend here as we would have liked. See those specks? Those are my children in water up to their ankles: Also, at First Encounter, you can walk out into the ocean at low tide for about a thousand miles! Anyway, a really long way. The bay beaches are great for kids and, we found, they’re also great for visits in the shoulder season because the water’s actually warm enough to wade and swim in. Sand, water, AND history all in one place! One of the great things about Eastham is easy access to both the colder, rougher ocean beaches and the relatively calm and warm bay side beaches. The parking situation wasn’t bad while we were there, but I’m sure it gets quite crowded in season I’d suggest getting there early!įirst Encounter Beach is so named because it was the site of the first encounter between Pilgrims and Native Americans. The beach is within walking distance of the house Dave’s parents were staying in for the week, so we didn’t need to worry about parking. Its name comes from the old Coast Guard station located here: The water, as mentioned, was freezing, so we didn’t actually swim. I believe at least part of it is dog friendly year round, and we took our dogs here for their first beach visit (at least their first beach visit with us who knows what they were up to before we got them). Salt Pond differs from most kettle ponds in that it actually flows out into the ocean over time a narrow passageway has opened up to connect it.Ĭoast Guard Beach is a popular ocean beach within the National Seashore. But we didn’t try to dive down to the bottom we just walked on the trail. Word is, they’re very, very deep, which freaks me out a little. Salt Pond is a kettle pond, one of the deep ponds left behind when the glaciers retreated during the last ice age. Outside of the Visitor Center is the one and a half mile Nauset Marsh Trail, which takes you out to explore Salt Pond and the marshes nearby. ![]() I know: he looks all innocent and cute there, right? The infatuation with listening to whatever narration was going on on the other end of that phone lasted about 3 seconds. Call me Ishmael), but I didn’t get to explore it much, because Abe: The museum was nicely done, with exhibits on the Native American cultures who lived in the area and also lots of cool scrimshaw (I’m a sucker for scrimshaw. They had a cool temporary exhibit of decorative quilts with a National Park/conservation theme: But! The work was worthwhile, because the kids got wooden Junior Ranger badges and patches! Fancy! If I remember right, they also announced their names over the loudspeaker, which is always a nice touch: I gather they probably get a lot of people who are just passing through on their way to an afternoon at the beach and aren’t really prepared to spend the time attending ranger programs and visiting different sites. They seem to take their Junior Ranger program a little more seriously here than in some parks we got a little flack about Abe getting his own book since he clearly coulnd’t finish it without help (although they did give it to us and when we turned them back in, there was no trouble about it) and they make kind of a big deal about the time commitment required. We picked up our Junior Ranger booklets here. It’s the main visitor facility for the Cape Cod National Seashore, so this is where you go for museum exhibits, movies about the park, ranger programs, and this big round map: We were able to ride our bikes here from our campground, Atlantic Oaks (it did involve some riding off the bike path, on the street, but there were lots of other bikes and few cars, and it was fine). ![]() But not much in the way of actual swimming happened. So we were able to take a leisurely trip up, with several stops along the way, and still be on and off the Cape well before the crowds and traffic set in. Schools in Georgia get out before Memorial Day, nearly a month before New England finishes up. ![]() ![]() The other thing that’s low on the Cape in June, though, is the crowds, and we often decide the trade off is worth it. We compound the problem by often visiting the Cape in June, when the water temperatures are still very low and the air temperatures often are as well. They don’t really have much of a grasp of the idea that the ocean can be warm. Even though we live in the Southeast, the vast majority of my kids’ beach time has been spent on Cape Cod and on the west coast.
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