Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Dear Nickerson State Park and Cape Cod, We love you.


I always wanted to be one of those young moms who strapped her wee babes to her back and took off for the woods. Alas, my mom-martyrdom only goes so far. And waking up to give mabubbah to a hungry baby in the wee hours with pine needles clinging to my back and sand on my front is not my idea of fun camping. But now, the little monsters are the perfect age. Of course there were moments when they were ruining "nature" with their squabbles and shrieks, but mostly it was a fabulous time.
Matt and I both grew up spending time at the Cape. Matt had a few summers with Rufus on the their private island. I had many summers with my family staying at various cottages and a few enormous houses, courtesy of the cousins and my aunt and uncle. I remember these times fondly. Lots of beach time, plenty of lobster redolent with butter, corn on the cob, enormous candy bars, movies we weren't supposed to watch when the moms went shopping, hubba bubba, sand everywhere and laughing a ton with my sibs and cousins.
We made friends with some dogs. Henry wants a German Shepard now, of course...
We loved Cold Storage Beach for it's quietness and gentle waves. Coast Guard beach was a bit more exciting, with much larger waves.
This cairn's for you Emily..
We can stand up in our tent. It is amazingly large and has lots of windows which is helpful for a person who doesn't like to sleep in a bedroom with the door closed.

Ezra is growing so fast that he outgrew his shorts on our trip. Or maybe I have been negligent and ignoring the fact that his trunks were a size 2. I'll let you decide. I bought these shorts at a used clothing store in Eastham, with ridiculous prices. I haggled for them. I offered her 5 and she was asking for 9. Proud of me mom?
Rock Harbor was a place we always went to on the Cape. At low tide, you can walk for ages and collect buckets of hermit crabs. Endless fun for the kids.

We ate out once but mostly cooked our own food. Our last meal was an amazing one, with grilled mussels, corn on the cob, hot dogs and baked beans. We finished it off with s'mores.


We concluded that we are gonna do this every ear. Nickerson Park is amazing. The sites are beautiful and the park is dotted with Kettle ponds, freshwater ponds created eons ago by the glaciers and dependent entirely upon rainfall for their water. The ponds are sandy and the water is clear and the perfect temp. The rail trail goes right through the park and every site has close access to showers, sinks for dishes, bathrooms and spigots for drinking water. Nickerson is located in Brewster, which is right in the middle of the Cape, so you can easily get to any beach and Ptown without much time in the car.

Next year we would love to have friends and family join us. We could easily get a string of sites together and have a blast....

4 comments:

Emily said...

dear kelly,

so many things to tell you.
1. we quit swimming lessons because the teacher dunked leah before she was ready and it really scared her . we figured we would take a break and revisit them next year. so sorry i didn't let you know.

2. the cairn shout out made my afternoon. for real.

3. nickerson looks *amazing*. we have big plans to go once hazel is of camping age. maybe we can coordinate.

4. miss you.

xo e

Unknown said...

This looks like an awesome vacation! I love that picture of Henry with the doggie in the water, so sweet!
I can't wait to take my little one camping, although I am with you it doesn't sound too fun until they are old enough to run around themselves!

Laura L. said...

We are there next summer! I never spent much time on the cape before two years ago, and have only been there on business trips, but I love it! The contractor I worked with offered to take me out on his boat any time I like. Not sure what kind it is, but it could be another adventure for the boys.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a fun camping trip! Glad you guys had fun. :o)

Jen

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