FORTY MILLION MOLLUSKS CAN’T BE WRONG
The mollusks may not have brains, but they at least know enough to live at the beach. When you visit Cape Cod next summer, you should be at least as smart as a mollusk- not just the clams, but the scallops, oysters, and other bivalves as well. Staying at a property right on the beach is definitely the way to go. Does it cost more to do so? Of course it does, but it’s worth every penny.
There are two ways to stay on the beach at the Cape. The first is simply to find a motel or resort that’s right on the beach. Easily done. The best way to stay on the beach is to rent a housekeeping cottage on the beach, either on the Bay or the ocean. For family vacations, I’m partial to the Bay. Housekeeping rentals on Cape Cod traditionally rent Saturday to Saturday. What one gets is someone’s house or cottage complete with everything except bed linens and towels. Although you have to make your own bed and clean up after yourself, the cottage on the beach is a superior experience to the hotel or resort, and in a different universe than an inland rental.
I was never a big beach fan growing up. My father used to rent cottages inland (usually Dennisport), and we would go to the beach almost every day. The first thing we had to do was go get a beach parking sticker, even before we picked up the key from the realtor. That’s an hour out of your vacation right there, not to mention a few twenties of your pocket. Having a beach sticker, unfortunately, is not the same thing as parking at the beach. Thirty years ago, the beach parking lots filled up by noon. There are no more beaches or places to park now then there were thirty years ago, but there are lots more beachgoers, so the math is easy and unpleasant. Street parking near public beaches is illegal and just about impossible. Circling around the parking lot waiting for a space to open is common.
Let’s assume that you found a space through a very early arrival, blind luck, or lots of circling and waiting. Now you have to carry all of your junk (towels, coolers, umbrellas, beach toys, blankets, etc...) down to the beach from the car. Depending on the beach, all of this hauling is something between a chore and an ordeal. The salient characteristic of Cape beaches, besides their classic unspoiled "beachiness" is their lack of facilities. If you’re used to a bathhouse for changing, showers to wash off the sand, restrooms and snackbars, well... forget it. These facilities are few and far between on Cape public beaches.
After you get through everything just described, and you’ve had a nice, pleasant day at the beach (and once you get settled in, you probably will- the beaches are not crowded, they’re quite clean, and very scenic), eventually you leave. Reverse the junk hauling, skip the lot circling, and drive back to your cottage or motel. Now climb out of the car and remove the fourteen pounds of sand from your seats and floor mats.
This is where renting a cottage directly on a beach comes into the discussion. Now let’s assume that you spent extra for a nice little beach cottage. There is no need to go to Town Hall to get a beach sticker. You park in the driveway next to the cottage. The better realtors, such as Pretty Picky Properties (www.prettypicky.com) don’t even require you to go pick up the key- they meet you at the cottage, explain where everything is and how to work it, and they give you the keys right there. Saturday afternoon getting- checked- in becomes Saturday afternoon at the beach. Check in at most housekeeping cottages is 3:00 p.m., so your kids will be in their bathing suits and playing on the sand by 3:15. Maybe 3:02.
You can’t appreciate the advantages of having the beach in the back yard until you experience it. First of all, you didn’t drive there, park in a lot across the street, drag your stuff down, and then reverse the process at 5:00 p.m. But the real pluses go beyond this. If you have kids, you can let them play on the beach whenever they want, and you don’t have to worry about them getting lost- they’re in the back yard. You also don’t have to take them to the bathroom, pack them a snack, or worry about having enough towels- all that stuff is just up the steps at the cottage.
If you don’t have children, you have all the same conveniences for yourself. Most beach cottages provide beach chairs and umbrellas. At many cottages, plastic chaise lounges and side tables are simply left out on the beach all summer. All you have to bring down is your towel, your paperback book, and your drink. When you’re done, that’s all you have to bring back. Most housekeeping cottages on the beach have enclosed outside showers. Not only can you wash the sand off before you go in, but your soap and shampoo are right there in the shower waiting for you. Many guests decide to take all of their showers outside.
After cleaning up, many people cook out on the deck or porch, still enjoying the waterview and the breeze. (The Bay breeze and ocean breeze are nearly constant on the beach, and diminish several yards inland). Although many people go out to dinner and stay out late, others spend the evening at the cottage. Nothing can compare with watching the sun set from your deck or porch, drinks and snacks in hand, as the sun drops into the horizon, reflecting orange and pink on the water. It’s just not the same inland or on a tiny little motel balcony.
Some people staying on the beach only leave to pick up groceries. Since they have a full kitchen, they often eat out much less and recoup quite a bit of the extra money they laid out initially on food. This is also a tremendous advantage for people with special dietary needs, such as diabetics, people with food allergies, and people who would just rather eat their own cooking.
Staying on the beach is such a laid- back, peaceful experience that you must try it if you can afford it. If you factor in the extra time you have to enjoy yourself by not having to drive, park, drag stuff, buy stickers, look after the kids, it adds up to many hours of quality relaxation over the entire stay. One week on the beach is a reasonable trade- off for two weeks someplace cheaper off the shore. I believe that any housekeeping cottage beats any motel or resort for families with children, and beachfront cottages beat them all.
One last thought on this topic: The best properties are reserved early. By "best" I don’t mean the most expensive. If you’re reading this, you aren’t spending $10,000 a week for a twelve room mansion over the water. The best properties are not necessarily the biggest. The best properties are cottages that look like what you think a beach cottage should look like in your mind’s eye- it's a cottage, not a mansion. It's bright, well equipped, cheery, with a sandy beach directly behind the porch or deck and an expansive water view. It looks great in the photographs you’ll show off to your friends to make them eat their hearts out. The best cottages are the ones that despite maybe having smallish rooms, or limited closet space, or no air conditioning (which they don’t need being on the beach), make you feel like you’ve just had the classic, old fashioned Cape vacation. These cottages are so popular that guests often put down a deposit to stay there again the next year as soon as they leave. You can’t start looking for a July or August week in these places during May or June. The best time to start looking is actually in December. If you don’t want to drive to the Cape in December, look online- the places with waterfront have color photos posted showing it. There are usually still desirable weeks available during the spring- especially for July. Labor Day weekend and the 4th of July are usually not the first weeks to be taken, and may still be available as late as March. If you really want to stay on the beach but can’t afford a week in July or August, try June or September when the water is just as warm but the rates are lower.
