Shhh… it’s a secret

About halfway down the Cape, there is a small town on the Bay called Brewster. That’s my summer home. There are no traffic lights and no chain restaurants. Whenever I tell people that I reside in Brewster, they never have any idea of where we are located, and we like to keep it that way, our own personal escape from the chaos.

Brewster is a small town in Cape Cod, MA that has more tourists than locals. It’s known for the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Nickerson State Park, and the Brewster Flats. Brewster has many public beaches, some including Paines Creek, Point of Rocks, Ellis Landing, Linnell Landing, and Crosby Landing. Some of the restaurants in Brewster are the Brewster Fish House, the Island Blue Crab, Stone L’Oven Pizza, Linx Tavern, Bayzo’s Pub, and JT’s Seafood. 

One of my favorite things about Brewster is its beaches. Brewster is known for the Brewster Flats, a phenomenon created by the tides when the waters recede out of the Bay for over a mile to reveal sandbars and tidal pools full of sea life. It’s truly amazing to see the Flats for the first time. It’s unbelievable! All of the beaches I mentioned above are on the Brewster Flats. During hide tide, the water comes up to the edge of the sand, and at low tide, the water goes out for over a mile. You can walk out during low tide.  My favorite beach to go to is Ellis Landing. I spend most of my summer at the beach, usually swimming, tanning, paddle boarding, and playing lawn and beach games.

The Brewster Flats

When I say Brewster is a small town, I mean it. There isn’t a single traffic light or a chain fast food restaurant in the town. Well, there is a Dunks on the town line of Brewster and Dennis, but I don’t think that it counts because it blends in with the plaza. I usually forget that it’s there since I’ve only been there once.

Over the summer, they recently changed the infamous exit numbers from 1-13 to numbers that correspond with the exit’s mile marker. I always have gotten off at Exit 11. The locals were enraged by this that they still use Old Exit numbers. People have even created Old Exit merch like t-shirts, hats, and magnets. This adds to the charm of our small town.

My family loves Brewster so much that two of my family’s pets’ names are Brewster. I named my blue betta fish Brewster, who lived for only three years. My cousins got their dog five years ago and named him Brewster. Every night, we would use the excuse of walking the dog to get ice cream. We had a script prepared for anyone who asked about him: His name is Brewster and he’s a 3-month-old mini Goldendoodle. Everyone loved that he was named after our town.

Sunset over the Flats

Brewster has always been and will always be my second home. When I go down to the Cape, I feel like I can finally decompress from everything in my life that stresses me out. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t spend my summers there.