April 8 2018

An Early April “Escape To The Cape”

12  comments

Lauren Collins

​Greetings My Fishing Cape Codders!  Lauren here, bringing you another episode of living life as the wife of Ryan Collins.  Let's jump right in, shall we?

The day started with the sun shining, the birds chirping, a slight wind and a little nip in the air. Spring has sprung, and that means more time spent outside!

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.

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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.

What do you think?

Let me know by commenting below.

About the author 

Lauren Collins

Through the eyes of a fishermans' wife, I'm excited to share my cooking and photography with you here on MFCC. You can learn more about cooking, and get more recipes by visiting my website Creatively Delish.

  • Nice Lauren. As I was sitting here at work at 7:00 pm on Friday staring at my computer screen, your article appeared. Reading your article about exercise will have to suffice as my exercise for today, sigh. However, Nickerson may be a good destination soon. I now feel motivated. Thanks.

  • Nothing cuter than tired, passed out dogs! A neck gaiter will keep you much warmer too. Protects your face, but more importantly keeps the warm air inside your jacket instead of going out the top of your coat. Turtle Fur and Columbia are some good brands..

  • Hey Lauren! Firstly! It was so nice to meet you at the Canal meeting last Sunday! You did a great job keeping the meeting going in a timely fashion! Secondly, your post was great, especially since you ended up in my beautiful town, Brewster! I think we took almost the same picture of Paines Creek maybe 4 days apart! Exploring the Cape is one of most favorite things to do. A couple of weeks ago we took our friends for a walk to see the “Capes best rope swing.” It’s a trail from Yarmouth Port right near Grays beach (have you seen to boardwalk there? it’s awesome but also had some damage over the winter). The trail is through the woods over a small bridge (over an estuary that I couldn’t help thinking about holdover Stripers) through the woods again and eventually out to a salt marsh with a rope swing! The trail is about 1.5 miles one way. I was trying to send a picture but cant figure out how to do it in this application!
    Anyway, thanks for your inspiration and sharing your love of the Cape, it is a special place for me too!
    Here are a few more places on my exploration bucket list
    1. I want to walk across the breakwater in P-Town harbor to Wood End light
    2. Explore Great Island, Wellfleet
    3.Walk the dunes in Provincetown on the trail that is off of Snail road
    4. Do the shining Sea bike trial, Falmouth

    PS, I think it’s so cool that Ryan walked the “Great Beach” from Orleans to Provincetown, I have a friend thats wants to do it but I am afraid of the coyotes!
    Thanks again! Great job!

    • Hi Leslie! It was so nice meeting you as well!! Thank you for the recommendation in Yarmouth Port. Your bucket list sounds really fun too – my absolute favorite place on the Cape is Great Island in Wellfleet. We try to go there a few times every year for some hiking and exploring, it’s very beautiful 🙂

      Thanks for reading and I am so glad you enjoyed the article, looking forward to seeing you again!

  • Looks like a most beautiful day! Although I am sure you are exaggerating the cold and the wind! It didn’t look too bad! Need to head to the Outer Cape where the “breeze” is much more fun! Looking forward to more articles!

  • I will be on the Cape Friday for a long weekend teaser to get the house ready for summer. Back for 10 days over Memorial Day – boat will be in the water and it will be time to fish! Love your articles, I could read one every day as I am so missing the Cape right now. Counting down the days.

    One suggestion – how about a hat?? 🙂

    • Ha! Glad you asked, because unfortunately for me I of course forgot a hat! Learned a lesson that day! Have fun this coming weekend when you’re down here and thanks for reading!

  • I Love your Spring “Antarctic” walk abouts, cant wait to be there myself.
    I live soo far away, Ugghh

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