Cape Cod

In July, we took a trip to Cape Cod.  I've already blogged about the first part of that trip, which was a quick stop in Boston and a visit to Boston's Children's Museum.  After leaving the city, we made the drive out to Cape Cod.  Neither Sachin nor I had ever been there before, but we had read that it was laid back and family-oriented, which is just the kind of vacation we were looking for.  We also already knew from a previous trip to Florida that Lochlan loves the beach.  Part of our life with Lochlan is trying to follow his lead, so his passion for the beach made this a good destination choice for us.

**If you click on any photo, it will open up a clearer image.  At least it does on my phone.

Our rental home for the week was in West Harwich.  A couple of years ago, we started doing rentals for vacations and I don't know how we can ever go back to hotels.  I love the space that rental homes offer.  This one was super cute. 

 I fell in love with coastal decor while in Cape Cod.

I had been nervous to see on Google Maps that our rental house was a 2 min drive from two different cemeteries, but it turns out that it wasn't a big deal because, as we came to find out, Cape Cod is FULL of cemeteries and you are hardly ever more than a few minutes drive from one!

I should have taken notes on our trip to blog it accurately.  I'll try to reconstruct the trip as best I can.

On our first day, we went to the ZooQuarium, which, shockingly, is a combination of a zoo and an aquarium.  It was pretty hot and humid, so none of us really enjoyed it all that much.  The best part was the restaurant next door, Captain Parker's Pub.  It had some amazing clam chowder. 

Then we went to a beach.  I confess, I have my beaches jumbled in my head but I am pretty sure the one we went to that day was Corporation Beach.  We found that by hitting beaches later in the day, we avoided having to pay heavy parking fees.  
Lochlan wasn't sure about the water at first, but once he got used to it, we couldn't get him OUT of the water.  He kept taking our hands and pulling us back toward the ocean.  

 The next day, we drove up the Atlantic coast and explored a little bit of the Cape Cod National Seashore.  We stopped at Highland Light, at which point Lochlan fell asleep.  

Next, we went to Skaket Beach.  We had heard that it had shallow, warm water and that it was a great beach for young children.  It lived up to its reputation!  We were there during low tide and you could walk out pretty far.  It was also an amazing place to watch the sunset!!
The downside to Skaket Beach was that come sunset, we were eaten alive by no-see-ums or midges or sand fleas or whatever you want to call them.  Mosquitoes have always loved me but these were not ordinary mosquitoes!  Sachin and I were both covered in welts all over our bodies the next day.  I think I counted 25 on my arms alone!  They were agonizingly painful and itchy and lasted for a couple of weeks.  Thankfully, they spared Lochlan and devoured us instead. 
Here are some more images from Skaket Beach.

 Another day, we made a quick stop at the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory and then headed to Mashpee to visit the Cape Cod Children's Museum.  Due to traffic, we got to the museum about 45 minutes before they closed, which was a bummer, because we would have loved to stay longer.  This museum was just awesome!  For a small simple place, it was so well thought out.  Everywhere I turned, I discovered more fun activities for kids (and some for adults too!)  You could easily spend hours there.  Except for the fact that there was no A/C on.  We were sweating buckets.  But it was still a great place to visit!

After we left the museum, we went to see Nobska Point Lighthouse in Woods Hole.  (Lochlan fell asleep again.  He seemed to do a good job of avoiding lighthouses!)

We spent the evening in Falmouth where we strolled around Main Street and shopped a bit, and then had a delicious dinner at an Indian restaurant.

Another day, we went to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.  It's basically a nice nature preserve with trails and educational exhibits.  We went there in the morning but the humidity got the better of us quickly so we walked one trail and then escaped to our car where the A/C was a sweet relief.

Later, we headed to Mayflower Beach, which was crowded but fun.  The water was shallow, warm, and crystal clear.  Lochlan enjoyed more beach time.  I tried to get him to use the shovels we brought, but he wasn't interested.  He just liked to wade in the water and sit down, poking his fingers into the wet sand as the waves came in and out.

Later that evening, we went into Chatham and took a walk on the beach there before dinner.

On our last day in Cape Cod, we decided to take a break from the beach and go to a pond instead.  Cape Cod is full of ponds and I heard they are popular spots to hit in the summertime.  I think the one we went to was Long Pond, but I could be making that up.  It was just lovely there, very idyllic.

Cape Cod is a great family vacation destination.  It definitely involved a lot of daily planning and decision-making, so that aspect made it more complicated than, say, going to a resort.  But it felt very authentic and the place definitely has its own kind of charm.  I hope that we head back there one day in the future!