We spent a week on Cape Cod from Aug 19-26.  We drove down on Saturday morning and managed to avoid most traffic, stopping twice for a bathroom break and then to eat our sandwiches in Sandwich.  We arrived at our rental house in Eastham right on time around 3pm.  It was a cute cedar shingle house with 3 bedrooms, a screened porch, and a plunge pool on the deck.  After settling in we went out to see our local beach, named “Boat Meadow Beach” because during low tide the water is so low the boats are sitting right on the sand/grass.

On Sunday morning we drove into Eastham to buy a weekly beach pass at Wiley Park, then we decided to try another beach on the bay side of the cape, called “First Encounter”.  It was pretty crowded, but we found a spot to settle, and then Blaine wanted to play up in the dunes.

After the beach we went to the Friendly Fisherman, which we’d read has the best lobster rolls on the cape.  They were pretty good, but not the best that I had on the trip.

Back at the house postnap, getting ready to have dinner on our porch.  Followed by ice cream.

On Monday we decided to pay the $20 to park at the national seashore (the ocean side of the cape) and see “Coast Guard” beach.  The kids loved the shuttle bus we took from the parking lot out to the beach.  The beach itself was beautiful, huge, nice sand, clear water with some decent waves.  We even saw a group of five seals swimming in the water!  On the downside, there were some biting flies which were a nuisance, it was pretty crowded, and I found out later that the seals attract sharks!

We’d already paid for parking so after Sarah’s nap we decided to check out the other beach on the national seashore, called “Nauset Light” beach, due to its proximity to the Nauset Lighthouse.  It looked beautiful, but we skipped the long flight of stairs down to the sand.

Instead, we checked out the lighthouse.  We weren’t there at the right time for a tour, but it sure was picturesque.  Blaine figured out later that this is the lighthouse featured on the Cape Cod Potato Chips bag.

That night we went to dinner at a restaurant in Orleans called the Rock Harbor Grill.  It was mixed – the lobster mac and cheese was good, and the poke was ok, but the woodfire pizza we ordered (which I think they are known for) was nothing special.

Tuesday was a little cloudier and we decided to check out another bay beach, this time the one called “Campground”.  The water was a little rougher and it was windy and cool, which I always enjoy.  The beach itself is small, with a huge parking lot, so I can’t imagine how crowded it gets on a nice day during high tide.  At low tide you could walk in either direction but at high tide the water came up to the rocks.

We gave the kids lunch on the beach and then went for ice cream before heading home for naptime.

Here’s a pic from the next morning showing the neat screened in sitting porch, which we used every day.  It was so nice to be outside without worrying about bugs.

On Wednesday we were scheduled to go on a whale watching trip (at Blaine’s suggestion) but the weather was supposed to be bad so we moved it to Friday.  Instead, we went to the Salt Pond Museum and saw natural artifacts, learned about whaling, that sort of thing.

After that the weather was clearing so we drove up to Wellfleet to see a lookout at Marconi Station.

Then we went mini-golfing!  Blaine had already experienced his first round of mini-golf with Daddy during Sarah’s nap one day earlier in the trip, but this was the first time for Sarah.  They were both pretty focused, surprisingly, though didn’t really follow the rules (unsurprisingly).

After our round of golf we went into the restaurant, Arnold’s, for some casual dining.  I had my second lobster roll of the trip, as well as some oysters.  Andrew had a tasty fried clam dish.  We also got their famous super-thin onion rings, which Sarah wanted to wear like a bracelet.

After Sarah’s nap we decided to head back out to Boat Meadow Beach before dinner.

We had such a nice time that we decided to spend Thursday morning at Boat Meadow Beach.  It was so peaceful there, not crowded at all, and the water was calm for the kids to enjoy.

Here’s a pic at low tide showing how much the water goes out.

We even built our own sand boat in keeping with our surroundings.

Now here’s another pic as the tide was coming in, showing those same three boats that had been on sand now floating in the water.

Thursday night we went out for dinner again, this time to a small place called “Capt Cass” that was well reviewed for seafood.  I had – surprise! – another lobster roll, my third and favorite of the trip.  Andrew had the fried scallops and they were good, but he was surprised to not find more fresh local fish at the places we tried.

On Friday we got up early to drive to Provincetown for our whale watching trip.  Blaine was so excited.  Sarah was less enthused and declared she would sit on my lap the entire time.

I did not get any pictures of the whales we saw, but boy did we see whales.  I’ve been on whale watching trips before, in Hawaii and in the San Juan islands, and this far surpassed those trips.  We were so close to the whales, at one point a humpback came right up beside the boat, where we were sitting, and blew spray right up next to us.  It was amazing.

Unfortunately, shortly after that majestic sighting, Blaine succumbed to his seasickness and wanted to sit down for the rest of the trip in the center of the boat.  So we missed much of the actual whale watching, but the watching we did was fantastic!  The trip was a bit long for the kids, so I don’t know that we’d attempt it again until they are older.  But I enjoyed it!  Sarah was glad to be back in Provincetown.

We had lunch at a Portuguese Bakery we came upon and it was delicious.  I had the “extravaganza” sandwich which was egg, cheese, and linguica (portuguese sausage) on a portuguese roll.  It was great.  We also left with a box of desserts including their specialty fried sugared dough, a malasada.

Both kids fell asleep on the car ride back from Provincetown, so that afternoon we went back out to Boat Meadow Beach one last time before cooking dinner.  Here’s Daddy making another sand boat, with a view of high tide behind him.

The next morning we were up early to pack up and say goodbye to Cape Cod.  We had a wonderful trip and would definitely like to come back sometime.