After a few days of rain and a snow day in April, I caught the itch to be outside again. It was time to plan an outing. Ryan and I had been watching the weather all week, and wouldn't you know it, this past Thursday there wasn't a cloud in the sky!

It seemed like the perfect day to head down Cape with Rosie and my "God-dog" Buddy, the miniature schnauzer, for some much needed hiking and fresh air.

Breakfast at Café Chew in the Town of Sandwich

First things first, I always need coffee in the morning, followed by breakfast, no matter what. So of course we had to make a stop at one of our all-time favorite spots in Sandwich, Café Chew.

Café Chew is conveniently located about thirty seconds from the Sandwich Marina, at 4 Merchants Rd. In the summer this place is absolutely jamming, with indoor and outdoor seating available in their gardens.  

The food is outstanding, especially their breakfasts! 

The atmosphere is perfect too, with recycled wood, old signs and tons of character. There are also great boutiques and shops right next door, which is perfect for all you wives and girlfriends out there!

So after filling up on Huevos Rancheros and the most delicious pancakes, eggs, bacon, home fries and of course plenty of iced coffee, it was time to get outside and start exploring Cape Cod.

A Brief Visit to "Antarctica"

One thing I must always remind myself about living on Cape Cod, is that even if it's warm and sunny with a nice breeze in my backyard, chances are pretty high that down at the beach that "breeze" is actually more like a hurricane-force wind!

Even in April, the wind off the ocean makes my eyes water and my ears go numb-especially down at the beach. Those seagulls that sit in the water or stand on the beach facing the wind head on are absolutely not my "spirit animals!" 

So getting back to my story, we began our trip down Cape with a quick stop in "Antarctica"...otherwise known as the Sandwich Boardwalk. Conditions were super cold, and super windy.

We mainly wanted to get a view of how the winter treated our beloved boardwalk, and to let the pups out for a little walk.  But after opening the car door into torrential wind that made my face hurt within just a few seconds, I immediately retreated back to the car. Fortunately the view is still very beautiful from inside the warm bubble of my Subaru Imprezza.

Sadly, the boardwalk is still closed due to damage caused by this winter's storms.

Our next visit in "Antarctica" was one of our favorite little hidden beaches in West Barnstable, where Ryan looked longingly out to sea, practically willing the fish to start migrating that very second.  

We attempted a nice walk on the beach which overlooked Barnstable Harbor, but that was poo-pooed pretty quickly on my part based on the fact that my nose was about to fall off due to frostbite.

If you ever have the pleasure of spending time with me on a beach, you'll learn two things about me:

1.  I have a very low tolerance for wind, especially winter wind. I have decided that for next year, I will invest in ski goggles and wear them whenever Ryan feels it is necessary to visit a beach in the winter.

2.  Walking through deep sand is a struggle.  When you're carrying fishing equipment, it makes it even harder. You know those dreams where you're running though quicksand and you're barely getting anywhere because you keep sinking down? Well that's how I feel about walking in deep sand on the beach.

Romantic walks on the beach with me last about 5 minutes before I've had enough.

So once I had made that pretty clear to Ryan, we continued our way to one of my favorite new spots (from the car, at least until the weather warms) the Brewster Flats.

The Brewster Flats

Rosie and Buddy had the time of their lives out there! It was low tide when we arrived, so there was endless space for them to run and play.  

I'd very much like to return on a warmer day, but for this day, I took it all in within the comforts of my warm Subaru.

However I did get out for a few quick minutes to take in the beauty of this place, as evidenced below.

Next, we made our way to our final destination, Nickerson State Park.

The Cliff Pond Trail

The town of Brewster, MA is absolutely gorgeous. Nickerson State Park in particular is a wonderful place to get lost in nature, especially during Cape Cod's off-season.

We chose to walk the Cliff Pond Trail, which is a four mile hike of mostly easy trekking that went around the entire perimeter of the pond.  You can choose to walk right at the edge of the pond by following the yellow blaze, or take the higher elevated trail which I believe was marked with blue.  Either one is a good choice.

Understandably, the dogs were a little freaked out by the waders and backpack that Ryan had on for our walk, but eventually they got used to it. 

Throughout the trail around Cliff Pond you will find dozens of easy spots to stop a take a few casts.

There are little hidden beaches like this all throughout the pond, that make you think you're somewhere tropical.

The dogs loved it too of course, with Rosie seeking out any washed up fish or bird to roll around on, and Buddy always leading the pack, to make sure things were safe up ahead.

Unfortunately no fish were caught. Ryan blames it on the time of day (11am-1pm) but I made my Fitbit very proud, Rosie and Buddy got to play with some other dogs on the trail, and nature once again proved to us that a little fresh air and some time in the woods can solve just about anything.

Sagamore Bridge Work: What You Need To Know 

The photo below is a snapshot from from my phone using the Waze app, which is an absolute Godsend when it comes to navigating traffic, except on days like this when every single road leading to the Sagamore Bridge is backed up!

On our way home from Brewster we realized that bridge work had started, and unfortunately we sat in traffic for almost 40 minutes.

What you should know:

• This will go on until Memorial Day weekend.
• They will be doing bridge work 24/7.
• The bridge is down to one lane in both directions.
• If you can travel over the bridge in the middle of the day or even just take the Bourne bridge, that's of course going to be better, but sometimes there's no way around it, so download a podcast or an audiobook and have yourself some "me time" while you sit there.

Meanwhile, the dogs were totally passed out.

Regardless of the traffic, the antarctic winds and no fish, it was still a great day to explore the Cape. We will be planning our next Cape Cod adventure day very soon, so stay tuned!

My goal with these posts is to inspire you to get out into the nature of Cape Cod, and I very much appreciate your feedback and recommendations! Many readers provided me with some wonderful ideas in my post from last week. 

Please keep the ideas and recommendations coming by posting a comment below.