Here's how to survive August on Cape Cod. Tips on keeping your cool.
August on Cape Cod is the summit of summer, the peak of a crazy, beautiful, busy and sometimes frustrating season. There's much to love: sunny days, warm water, lobster rolls, ice cream, awesome sunsets and plenty more wicked good stuff that feeds the soul.
On the other hand, it can get pretty nutty out there, and traffic and crowds can lead to exasperation and the most dreaded summer visitor of them all: a sour disposition.
The yin and yang of August was perhaps best expressed by Mary Heaton Vorse in her wonderful "Time and the Town: A Provincetown Chronicle," published in 1942:
"The town is alive, moving in a deep stream which sometimes overflows. The mixture of summer people and town gets too strong and goes off in a roar. People get a disease called Augustitis when the mixture gets too rich. There comes a time when the combination of sea and the sweeping color of the dunes — the exciting and excited people who get together on the beach and the heady salt air of Provincetown — all combine to give one a special sort of intoxication."
Channeling my inner stats geek, I dived into Cape Cod National Seashore monthly visitation numbers. From 1979 through 2021, August had the highest monthly visitation numbers 37 out of the 43 years. July took the prize six times in that span.
Paul Niedzwiecki, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, reported in an email to the Times that historical accommodations data, as well as meals and room tax data, point to a visitor maximum in the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August.
Of course, you could just attempt a left hand turn, or take a trip to the grocery store to reach a similar August conclusion. But fret not, potentially frazzled friends. We are here to offer these tips to help you keep your cool and joyously survive August on Cape Cod.
Take an evening swim
Almost every summer evening, after I finish work, I zoom over to a pond for a therapeutic dip. I always keep my jumbo pool noodle in the car, by far the best $2.99 I've ever spent. I paddle out a bit, then just float for a while. Then I work through a series of non-rigorous noodle positions: under my chin, sitting on the noodle like a chairlift, reclining on the noodle and the very challenging stand on the noodle pose.
Just 20 minutes of this will cool you down and completely reset your mood. It works like a charm in saltwater or freshwater. And the best part is that in just about every Cape town, all the beach booth attendants and sticker checkers leave by about 5 p.m., so the swimming world is your oyster. You can face the challenges of supper and beyond with a cheerful attitude and a good appetite.
Eat at home
Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love heading to a clam shack for a fish sandwich and fries. It's my happy meal! But one way to avoid crowds and that zombie-like feeling you get when you're hungry and waiting for food is to take matters into your own hands and your own kitchen.
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Luckily, Cape Cod has some of the best fish markets anywhere, so you can still enjoy the fruits of the sea. And August is harvest time for lots of locally grown produce. I'm talking killer tomatoes here! Visit a Cape farmers market, have a fun conversation with a farmer and bring home the good stuff. Plus, if you're kind of thrifty like me (I trend toward skinflint), you will be amazed at how much money you save. You can always eat out tomorrow.
Get up early
For some reason, it seems folks like to sleep late, especially on vacation. I vaguely remember this odd proclivity from the days before I had kids and was wildly underemployed. I would roll out of the rack at noon, grumbling and blinking at the sun. But ever since I became a slightly solid member of society, I've celebrated the joys of having the world almost to yourself, early in the morning.
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This way of thinking is especially important to enjoying August on Cape Cod. True aficionados can enjoy a sunrise at a deserted beach. You can get an egg sandwich in the blink of an eye. It's not even that hot out at seven in the morning and you can roam along traffic-free roads. It's like you landed in a joyous science fiction movie called "The Summer that Time Forgot." But don't forget to set your alarm.
Go where nobody goes
Cape Cod has a ton of publicly accessible land with fantastic trails and jaw-dropping vistas. These places are wicked good at restoring your mojo. I hike around a lot, even in August, and I'm always surprised that I don't encounter more people. It sure helps that the Cape Cod National Seashore has more than 40,000 acres and 11 trails, plus miles of beaches. But there are great places to get away from it all spread across the peninsula.
Some of my favorite spots this time of year include Bell's Neck Conservation Lands in Harwich, Beebe Woods in Falmouth, the Bridge Creek Conservation Area in West Barnstable, the Cliff Pond Trail at Nickerson State Park in Brewster and the Morris Island Trail at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: How to survive August on Cape Cod: Tips on keeping your cool
