Yesterday, I told you about our spur-of-the moment trip to Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster, Massachusetts. Today is all about the beach there and the incredible Brewster Flats.
The Brewster Flats is the name given to the tidal flats of Cape Cod Bay. They run from Brewster to North Eastham which is about 10 miles. It’s said that the Brewster Flats are the widest expanse of tidal flats in North America. They are wonderful but you need be very cautious because of the tidal creeks between sand bars. Let me explain…
Low tide was at 7:00am. We arrived at the beach at 7:45 am so the tide was already coming in. However, even at that time the tide was out as far as we could see. My best guess was that it was about a mile.
I’ve heard stories from other people about how fast the tide comes in and it’s easy to get caught and have to swim back. It’s true because when you walk out onto the flats, you don’t realize you’re walking on sandbars. The water literally comes in around you. After just 45 minutes, the tide was already in.
During that 45 minutes though, we enjoyed walking the flats (close to the shore). We walked out to view the oyster beds and talk to the owners who were there sorting them I imagine.
There were three large sections of the cages. What he told us was that he owned this section. During low tide he came out and tended to the beds, removed the mature oysters and sold them to a wholesaler. At first we thought the cages were traps and the oysters were caught. The owner, however, told us that these were actual farms. He placed baby oysters in them and they multiplied and matured in the cages.
As we walked along the Flats we saw many sights…
On a beach that was almost all beach sand, was this section of small rocks. It was almost as if someone had planted them here just for the snails to make their home.
We came across boats.
A fresh water creek that ran into the ocean.
Seashells.
Shimmering water.
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