Beach Campfires at The Seashore

Try something different this summer! There's nothing like eating a meal around an open campfire on the beach - lobster rolls, salads, cold drinks (no glass containers), & smores - while the little ones frolic on the uncrowded sand. The Cape Cod National Seashore offers free permits to the Outer Cape Beaches (Nauset Light, Coast Guard, & Marconi) to have beach fires for small groups (up to 25 - varies by beach).

The permits are very limited and need to be reserved at the Seashore Visitors' Center in Eastham a few days prior to your planned 'event'. On many mornings there's a line waiting at the front door to the Visitors' Center when it opens at 9 AM. I've personally waited over 2 hours for the permit.  Go to the Seashore website for the details (http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/permits.htm) .

These campfires are what memories are made of. My kids and grandkids love these and ask for them when they come for a visit. Enjoy

Do Something Different - A Beach Fire

Did you know you can have an evening bonfire on the National Seashore beaches?  I've taken my family to the Seashore for bonfires at Coast Guard and Marconi Beaches this summer for sunset bonfires. They are a lot of fun and you have the beaches practically to yourselves. 

You need to get a free permit at the Seashore visitors center and bring everything (wood, matches, kindling, chairs). Food, and drink (no glass!) are permitted.  You'll also need a bucket to douse the fire and a flashlight to find your way off the beach (it gets really dark). Don't forget the marshmallows for smores!

Only 4 permits are issued for each beach (Nauset Light, Marconi, and Coast Guard). You need to sign up for the permit 4 days ahead (Monday for a Thursday fire, etc) at 9 AM. Sometimes there's a line of folks waiting at the Visitor's Center door so be early. Also, the Rangers check permits on the beach each evening.

Lastly, Eastham allows charcoal fires on the Bay beaches. The fires must be in a container (e.g. a Hibachi) and you need to get a free permit at the Eastham Fire Station, next door to Town Hall.

Photo of the Day - Marconi Wireless Station

As part of our responsibility to show Flat Stanley a few of the sights of the Outer Cape, we took him Saturday to Marconi Beach to see the site of the Marconi Wireless Station, where Guglielmo Marconi first transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean in 1903.

Here, Flat Stanley is standing at the crest of the beach, overlooking one of the four tower bases that eroded years ago from the high bank to the water level, recently exposed only a low tide. The tower base is visible above Stanley's left shoulder. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Flat Stanley at the Marconi Wireless Station, Wellfleet, MA 

Marconi's Radio Towers - Ruins On the Beach

Just north of Marconi Beach is the location where Marconi built his radio towers that changed the world by wirelessly broadcasting across the Atlantic Ocean. This video shows that erosion of the beach sand has revealed the tower bases of 2 of the 4 Marconi Towers.  Watch the video for a bit of history.

Photo of the Day - Ship's Ballast On Wellfleet Beach

CNN's iReport website ran a very interesting photo of a pile of rusted, twisted, iron found about a mile north of Wellfleet's Marconi Beach. The photo was taken by Christopher Seufert, of http://www.capecodphoto.net/. Take a look, below.  The best guess is that it's old anchor chains, used as ballast in the hulls of sailing ships, from the 1700's to the early 1900's.