I Ran Away...

Yup. I ran away and I took Chuck with me. Actually, we both got that crazy cabin fever meets spring fever meets gotta take a road trip now feeling at the very same time. Then we both started thinking “beach”. The only drawback to living out in the hills of Worcester County is that an ocean beach of any kind is about two hours away by car. For someone like me who grew up just a couple of blocks away from Greenwich Bay, which flowed into Narragansett Bay and had Sand Hill Cove, the best family beach in Rhode Island, just 35 minutes away, two hours for a beach fix is far.

But it’s not too far! We headed out toward the North Shore, finalizing our plans as we drove. Soon we settled on Woodman’s in Essex (home of the first fried clam) for an early dinner. The sun was shining and it was breezy and mild. The food at Woodman’s, as always, was delicious. It was typically busy but not jam packed like a summer weekend. After dinner, Chuck stopped at the little ice cream place at the back of Woodman’s (who has room for dessert after fried seafood?) and asked the gal at the window where we could find a sandy beach nearby. She countered with a sandy beach she could give us the simplest directions to.

So off we went to Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea. It was fabulous, just what the doctor ordered. We spent a little over an hour walking up and down the beach, so named because when you scuff along the sand, it makes a squeaking or singing sound - very cool. We beachcombed and visited with a couple of dozen dogs romping in the surf and on the sand - taking full advantage of their last few “legal” beach days until next autumn. The tide was approaching high and the seas were light, but I still had a great time trying to catch the perfect wave moment on film: building, curling, cresting, crashing, foaming, rolling, receding and repeat...

Now if we plan to run away again is that really running away or a day trip? I’m not about to jinx it. Running away has a much better ring to it!