The Beach

I hadn’t been to the beach all summer, until this week. I went to Spectacle Island on Monday. The island is a 15-minute ferry ride from downtown. Luckily I found a strip of beach hidden away, because there were about 15 four-year-olds squealing about swimming at the main beach on the ride over.

It was literally a strip of sand, but that’s all I needed. The rest of the beach was all rocks. It was the perfect weather…not too hot, with a nice breeze. The only sounds were the crashing waves and the wind blowing through the tall grass. For about an hour anyway. Then came the treasure hunters, looking for sea glass and shards of pottery that had washed up on the beach. I have never heard people so excited to find some sea glass.

Today, Linda and Mary and I lounged at Crane Beach and then went berry picking, thanks to the Ipswich Explorer service. We took the commuter rail to Ipswich, where a shuttle bus was waiting to take us to the beach. It is one of the prettiest beaches I have been to in New England. It was another perfect beach day. Not too hot and humid…and we had walked away from the crowds, so it was very peaceful. After a couple of hours of beach time, we got back on the bus and got dropped off at Russell Orchards. We picked our own blueberries, which was great fun. And then power-shopped in the store, since we only had 10 minutes to spare. The store smelled of cider donuts. We picked up more berries, wine, and cider (and Mar bought a very sweet red pitcher) before getting on the bus back to the train station.

Now I’m reveling in a post-beach haze…and looking forward to a glass of blueberry wine.