A Day at the Beach - November 17, 2024 @goldenoakfarm

On Sunday morning I didn’t get up until 5AM. I got the post up and a shower and then got ready to go for 7AM. I just made it. I got my stuff for the day in the car and my friend and I headed out east to the ocean.

The sun was just coming up and the moon setting when I left the house.

We ended up taking a back road for part of the beginning of the trip. It was slower but a much nicer ride.

But after a couple hours we needed a rest stop and as it was Sunday morning, not much was open.

But this skating rink’s parking lot was full of cars and I figured they had to have rest rooms. There were dozens and dozens of tiny kids, age 3 – 5 years old was my guess. They were so cute I had to get photos.

We were soon on our way, getting closer to Plum Island, our destination. This is a favorite place of my friend’s and she hadn’t felt well enough all year to come out. But she wanted to go before everything was closed up for the season, and Sunday was to be a beautiful day.

I’m not enamored of the ocean like she is and my husband was. Being a died-in-the-wool flatlander from way inland, it doesn’t charm me. But it was cool to go somewhere I’d never been and just experience the different ambience.

The first thing we saw was the Pink House. People are trying to save it, so here’s a bit about it. It was built in the salt marsh, or as I labeled them, tidal pools or bogs.

We headed into the built up area to try to get down on the beaches. We’d been looking for the Mad Martha restaurant because the access is opposite it. But somehow we missed it and ended up down at the end of the island.

But the beach was just too far for us so we headed back. On our way out we stopped at the lighthouse. It had a REALLY cool brick walkway all around it. Apparently you can get a brick with something written on it. There were all types of things for just a saying or quote, to birthdays, weddings, deaths, loves, pets, really anything.

But at the end, there were bricks with the lighthouse keepers on them and I thought that was really cool.

We found Mad Martha’s on the way back and went down to the beach. We tried to get out to the ocean from there, but the walk in the sand was too much for me. So we sat on the biggest log in the configuration and listened to the waves and watched the people walking dogs and talked for about an hour.

She decided to try to get down to the ocean so I headed back up the path, taking photos of the plants that were so different from what I see in my valley to the west.

When she caught up with me she had found shells for me. I’d mentioned looking for shells, but all there was around where I went were white clam shells. She had found some mussels with barnacles on them and a really nice crab shell. I had plenty of mussel shells, but my crab shells had seen better days, so I kept that one.

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It was noontime and we were both hungry so we headed over to the Bob Lobster as Mad Martha’s was closed on Sundays.

We both ordered the same lobster dinner: 1¼ lb lobster with coleslaw and onion rings. It seemed to take forever to get our dinners as we were so hungry.

The dinners were very good, except for the coleslaw. We both agreed it was substandard and didn’t eat much of it. We headed west and turned down the road to the wildlife refuge. We were able to get in on her National Park pass and slowly drove down the long, long road along the marshes, crookedy trees, bittersweet, and lots of the shrubs with the red berries.

We saw ducks, geese, and a couple different hawks. It was such a beautiful day, warm, sunny, light breeze. It took us an hour to drive to the very end and come back. By then it was 2:30PM and time to head home.

I had been designated navigator on the way out and back. The drive back was uneventful and we got back just as it got dark at 5PM.

There was a big pile of firewood in front of the woodshed. I got things put away, found something for supper, and watched a movie until bedtime.

On Monday I have to try to do laundry in the old washer. The kitchen is a disaster, so I’ll be cleaning that up. I need to try to get the truck, with plow, up to the Small garden so we can load the wood into it. We won’t be able to unload it for a while until the pile in front of the shed is gone.

My helper friend arrives at 2:30PM to help me get the tarps off the Small garden, dumped over the bank, and washed and hung up to dry. With just the 2 of us, it will be a bear of a job. But it’s to be sunny and 60’s so getting wet won’t be too bad.

I also have the gutter cleaners coming in late afternoon. So another busy day.