Nantasket Beach

[plumtreeblossom]

beowabbit and I have discovered Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA. We happened upon it when we were looking for an alternative to Singing Beach (which makes parking very difficult for non-residents). We've been to Nantasket twice now, including yesterday when we spent a few lovely hours there.

It's small-ish and low key, which is just how I like it. It wasn't very crowded either time we went, which is a nice plus. The beach is very clean, the waves fairly large, and there's a strip of beach-y shops and food places, as well as a historic carousel and a co-op art gallery. This beach was a very pleasant find indeed. And it's so close to beowabbit's house that we could go any time without even needing to plan in advance.

Put me in the ocean waves and I feel 10 years old again. I love swimming in the ocean, and I can't believe I live so close to the Atlantic and have gone so seldom in my years here. Yesterday I even got in some body-surfing, with a protective beowabbit standing guard over his swimming-with-a-broken-toe girlfriend. Squeee!

Comments

[beowabbit]

Thanks so much for nudging me to go there!

I wonder if we should each keep a spare swimsuit at the other’s place for impromptu beach trips?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea! And easy for me, now that I've discovered I own two bathing suits. :-)

*beach blanket kisses*

Don't throw it away!!!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Hippies can use your cat hair to weave things :)

I'm allergic, so I sympathize.

[hill-the-khore.livejournal.com]

How do you guys get there? I would love to accompany you two as a surrogate son, especially if you drive. I'm getting a wetsuit soon (the water is too cold for me), and I'm going to try to go to the beach as much as possible. Right now, my main option is Revere Beach, which is good, but I'd like to have some variety.

Is there any way we could make it work? I'd gladly contribute gas money or something.

Nantasket Back When

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

It's too bad you could not have known Nantasket when it was THE place to rent a summer cottage. That was in the 1940's and 50's. There was a boat that sailed from Rowes Wharf that went to Nantasket right into the sixties, making the use of a car unnecessary. When I graduated from the 9th grade at Mary Curley Junior High School in Jamaica Plain, almost our entire graduating class met at Rowes Wharf around 5 pm that night to take the boat to Nantasket for the evening. We were a motley group of 15 year olds that June evening in 1955, but bonded together by the three years we had spent at Curley Junior High.
In those days there were amusements and rides and arcades all along the beach boulevard, including a few night clubs (not for us kids, though). We spent a happy night on the rides and at the windows trying to win a big French doll, or eating hot dogs, cotton candy and frozen custard. (Revere Beach was similarly set up, but was more everyday for us because we could get there more easily by the T and also cheaper and much more often) Nantasket was special. On graduation night there were no swimsuits packed on the boat -- we did not go there to swim, we went to play.
The seventies brought in the builders of the high rises and the ultimate destruction of Paragon Park in Nantasket, and subsequently all seaside amusement centers. Sad!
It was fun for the whole family, and alternatively a place where youg teens could go at night for safe fun and wholesome play without breaking their (rather slim) budgets.

Re: Nantasket Back When

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this neat history of Nantasket Beach! I never knew it was once a social hot spot for young people. It must have been a blast. Nowadays, it has a mellow, slow-paced feel to it. It's very easy to relax there, and Jay was able to fall asleep easily, even. I'm really looking forward to going again!

Re: Nantasket Back When

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

It used to be a great place. My father's aunt's family had a summer place in Hull and I have many memories of trips there as a child (from NY City). Even as an adult, after moving to the Boston area, I remember visiting my Great Aunt there - and taking the boat to Nantasket Beach from Rowes Wharf. The boat was still running in the 1970's. I really miss that boat.

Oh yeah, and I remember the amusement park too. It's so sad that Paragon Park is gone - but at least the carousel is still there.

Btw, I still wouldn't call it a small beach. You can walk for several miles up its length.

[ron_newman]

Did you check out the Fascination parlor while you were there?

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

We went to Walden today...the water was great:) I'm nervous going to the beaches around here because I expect them to be very cold...was it very cold for you, or are you more the polar bear type such that it doesn't matter?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was pretty cold. Much colder than Walden. But I'm fine with that once I actually get in and get acclimated. I have to inch my way in bit by bit. Jay reached his limit at about the thighs, but I went for full submersion! :-)

[thorbol.livejournal.com]

Do you know of any public transportation to that beach, or even of a privately-owned bus company that runs something between the MBTA and there? I think it's been eleven years since I hit the beach (can't remember which one).

Also, do you know if Wallaston Beach is swimmable? I think it wasn't, but dare to hope for improvement.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

This page lists public transportation to the town of Hull, but I have no idea if any of those are walkable to and from the actual beach. I didn't have time to look at the site in-depth, but take a look and you might find something that works.