Just for you, I am setting out to visit the most spectacular beaches in Massachusetts this summer and report back on the good bad and the necessary tricks (there certainly are tricks to many of them) to visiting them. It's hard to believe from where I sit, but I still think there are people out there who just have no idea what we have going on here . . . It's going to be a tough job but this is my service, nay, my dedication to you, my loyal readers. Let's begin shall we?
Cape Cod National Sea Shore. Thank you National Park Service we "Massholes" are eternally grateful. I have lived in New England for 18 years now and have visited countless beaches on the cape and elsewhere, but oddly, never have I visited any beaches within The Cape Cod National Sea Shore ... fool no more.
Here is what my mentor, Thoreau had to say when he visited the same place:
-Henry David Thoreau"A man may stand there and put all America behind him."
Let's get started: Race Point, Provincetown. You can see location on the map found here. Race Point is at the very end of the cape, the last possible point.
1st step: You are gonna need 4-wheel drive. (there is a normal parking lot beach here too if you don't have the necessary equipment or motivation, but that is not really the same now is it?)
2nd step: You also need a permit. Here is where you get one:
3rd step: You need to get trained on how to drive on the beach without killing all of the piping plovers. Watch video, get vehicle inspected for necessary equipment, (here is the list, have it all or no permit for you) get sticker and continue.
4th step: let air out of tires, or have your staff do it. For now I am maintaining that it is a good idea to teach my boys to let air of out of tires, I may change my mind at some point in the future. I enjoyed my older son's idea to use an American flag stick as his compression tool of choice, after all it was 4th of July. For any other day of the week a little rock will do.
5th step: Drive on out. Lucky me, my husband is a little nervous about stuff like this so Mommy get's to drive - hold on boys let's do some fish-tailing (and hopefully no plover egg smashing). Just follow the signs...
6th step: Behold.
7th step: Get there early and pack all you need, once you arrive you are going nowhere. Fourth of July the beach part got a little full . . . not really compare to other conventional beaches. The NPS limits the amount of over sand permits they sell. As well, due to the nesting practices of the plovers a significant portion of the roads were closed. Come late July and August all will be open, I would venture to guess that when you have access to the whole area you may not see another human.
It was simply breath-taking. The sprawling unspoiled natural landscape is incredibly powerful. Could this truly be what it all looked like? 'Tis not a sight I think we get to experience often enough. Well worth all of the effort and I plan to head straight back . . . soon.
There is an incredible amount of history on the NPS website - this part of the cape is where the Pilgrims first landed, where the Mayflower first docked and 100's of years of more spectacular things. . . but I'll leave that bit of reading for you. Click on the history section of other site.
Next?
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