Sagamore Beach, MA

Scusset Beach State Reservation, in Sagamore Beach, is located just across the bridge from Cape Cod proper. We decided to plop down here for 10 days, which would also conveniently get us through the 4th of July holiday.

Summer holidays in campgrounds are not our favorite things. This includes snagging a campsite on a summer holiday. People really enjoy planning their summer vacation a full year in advance. We’re spoiled and rarely plan our front yard more than 2 weeks in advance. Which doesn’t jive with the subset of America who reserve every campsite in every campground across the U.S. to celebrate with fireworks and hotdogs a year in advance. It’s fine, with a bit of sleuthing we can typically grab a canceled spot. But also, Americans on the 4th of July at campgrounds are a very edition of Americans… very drunk and holy shit where did all these kids come from?

We don’t actually mind that much, we typically just hunker down and remind ourselves we’re spoiled and it can’t always be quiet with breathable (non-campfire air permeating) air at campgrounds. Also, watching people quickly go from ‘isn’t this fun‘ to ‘go ahead, step in one more puddle kid and you’ll be sleeping outside the tent tonight‘ mode within 2 hours of setting up their tent/trailer is a good reminder to check the status of my birth control. I love kids. Other people’s kids.

So yeah, we stayed at a busy state park beach campground for a while, using the location as a jumping-off point to visit Cape Cod – especially Provincetown – and continue to cram seafood down our gullets.

On our first Saturday in town, we made the almost 2-hour drive to spend the day in Provincetown (P-Town). On the way, the Jeep’s anti-lock brakes decided to give out, which was fine once we figured out that’s what the warning lights were frantically trying to warn us of. We continued on our way, employing an extra braking room strategy. P-Town or bust, baby.

P-Town is awesome. Fun culture, rainbows everywhere, awesome beaches, real-life seals sunning themselves, and plenty of coffee shops and eateries to keep us fueled as we traversed the main drag (Commercial Street). We somehow lucked into a parking spot pretty quickly – parking in P-Town is a situation. We attempted to make the walk across the Provincetown Causeway to Wood End/Long Point Beach when we first arrived but realized pretty quickly that the tide would likely trap us over there for the day if we did. So, we instead turned our shoes towards Commercial Street, stopping at Relish for a sandwich and a pastry before joining the crowd and poking into different shops and alleyways. We appreciated the variety of artists showing off their wares. We popped off on some Scott Cakes, where delicious hassle-free cupcakes are sold. No decision making needed – it’s vanilla cake with pink buttercream or nothing. You do have to choose mini or full size. They’re good.

After several hours on Commerical St, we headed back to traverse the Causeway as the tide receded. We were treated to a couple of seals sunning themselves, which was uber awesome.

On our drive home, we stopped at a seafood shack, grabbed lobster rolls, and ate them in an old cemetery. It was a great day.

Other than our day in P-Town, we hung pretty close to the campground. We did have an awesome beach a 2-minute walk from our campsite(s) and an awesome running path along the canal which was also conveniently located adjacent to the campground. And also, the weather ended up being pretty shitty the week of the 4th – rainy, windy, and cool. Which was nice for keeping things quiet around the campground, but not great for doing things outside.

Because we felt obligated, we spent a rainy hour in Plymouth, seeking out and looking at ‘the rock’ before returning back to the RV to watch TV in bed for the rest of the day. I was fully expecting to see a line of school buses spewing out children to examine Plymouth Rock based on how much focus this rock got in my elementary education curriculum. Jake confirmed that, yes, based on his elementary curriculum too, this was a very important rock indeed.

After laying eyes on the rock, we were delighted to read the sign erected was just a bit of distance away, which loosely informed us that “no historical evidence exists to confirm Plymouth Rock was the Pilgrims’ steppingstone to the New World…” Instead, a 94-year old dude who reportedly did not love that the town was going to build a wharf in the area made a claim that they shouldn’t do that because the rock was the rock and how dare anyone touch the rock. That dude is hilarious. He has every 4th grader in America believing that this rock is the most sacred rock, indoctrinating them into big dumb rock culture. And then they just moved the rock and built the wharf anyways.

Other than the P-Town and the Plymouth jaunts, we ventured out by Jeep only for ice cream, food, and to do laundry (womp-womp). On occasion, we sought out sustenance that did not previously dwell in the ocean. We found highly edible and creative pizza, which we ended up seeking out twice – mostly to make up for the New Haven pizza debacle. I am open to forming an exploratory committee to run for office on the ‘all pizza shops should offer Mexican Street Corn pizza’ platform, by the way.

We’ve made it through two summer holidays (only one more to go!) We’re rumbling up the coast for a while more – then who knows where we’ll turn our wheel.

State Park