Cape Cod: The "Perfect" Vacation with Friends and Family

WARNING! Snide post ahead. Cape Cod lovers may want to turn back now.

For many people, Rick included, "The Cape" is practically holy. (In fact writing this will probably put me at risk with my loved ones.) Their families came here when they were kids, and it's just in their blood. It doesn't matter that the weather on The Cape seems to be bleak, cloudy, foggy, cold, windy, you name it, none of what you'd call beach weather. But folks still come here waiting for those few glorious days of sunshine, pleasant ocean breezes and warm temperatures. They have faith. They have memories. Give me the Bahamas.

And let me tell you about the beaches. There are three kinds of beaches on The Cape: the ocean, the bay and the ponds. You have choices!

Above is Marconi Beach, with the ubiquitous enormous dunes to scale, red tides, seaweed, jelly fish, and oh yeah, warnings:

But no biggie, just pop on over to the bay side where you'll find oyster shells and horseshoe crabs under foot, generations of sea grass tangling the murky salt water, occasional closures for polluted waters, but no sharks. Give me Hawaii.

But, if you have the right town beach pass, or it's dawn or twilight, you can head for one of the ponds. Rick loves Gull Pond, because that's where his family went.

Ah, fond memories of romping in the refreshing cool water after a long hot day in the salt water and sun. I don't know, it looks kind of cloudy in these pictures too. Heck, I'd even take Fort Lauderdale!

OK, so the weather may be dreary here on "The Cape," but the company sure isn't. We're parked in Eastham at Atlantic Oaks, a campground very close to where my two best friends from childhood, Linda and Beryl, and their husbands Thom and Ray, are staying in Welfleet. They come to the Cape every summer (they've got the history to buoy them up) and we were finally able to join them here this year.

Being with these guys is pure love. I just get really gushy about it. These are the kinds of friendships that last for decades, forgiving mistakes and surviving long distances of time and space. I don't care if the sun never shines, as long as I can sit down to dinner with my friends at the end of the day and laugh about it all. No perfect beach could beat this.

Thanks, my loved ones, for a perfect Cape Cod experience.