Beaches, Boats and Lobster Rolls …

Every summer needs a beach. Take no offense, readers, but sometimes Mudge Pond and The Grove just won’t do. So my family and I headed out, recently, for genuine ocean beach. Our destination, Gloucester, MA, on beautiful Cape Ann, north of Boston.

For the cost of less than two reasonable hotel rooms for our family of four, my wife Jenny found a lovely three-bedroom house in a residential neighborhood called Lanesville, rented out by friendly first-timers. It had all the amenities, including the obligatory lobster pot. (Don’t worry, it went unused.)

A few steps away was Plum Cove, a small beach favored by locals and notable as one of those places to see sunsets over the Atlantic; the view is west toward the north coast of Massachusetts. We took our first beach break there. The couple sitting nearby instantly chatted us up, she being an artist showing at a gallery in Gloucester (“Glosta,” in the native argot).

At lunchtime we explored the charming town of Rockport, at the north end of the cape. Sailboats seemingly dotted every inch of the coastline. Jewelry stores and gift shops carried some nice fare. New England clam chowder and clam strips got high marks, though I was surprised at the high price of clams.

On day 2, Mother Nature caught up with us. It rained all day. After a bit of moping and feeling sorry for ourselves, we headed back inland a bit, to Salem. This town has gone over-the-top for tourists with a witch in every window, but the actual memorial to the executed victims was understated and moving. An old graveyard next door was worth exploring.

We finished with a visit to the attractive Peabody-Essex Museum, with its interesting collections of American and Asian arts, fine and decorative. A special exhibit on American painter Thomas Hart Benton and his close relationship to Hollywood was fascinating.

For dinner, we found a nice, though somewhat pricey, restaurant in Gloucester proper. I had to satisfy my craving for a lobster roll. Jenny had a delicious risotto. The teens had fresh sushi.

Our last day dawned sunny and warm. We decided to take Hazel Grace, our cocker spaniel mix, to a dog run in a state park. Skittish as she is, HG hung by Jenny’s leg, but we met some superb pets — a gigantic Irish wolfhound and tiny Italian greyhounds — and their kindly owners. A helicopter hovered over the beach nearby, filming for “Wicked Tuna.”

Then, at last, it was time for the real thing: expansive, sandy, sun-drenched, wave-battered beach. Good Harbor, perhaps the most popular of Gloucester’s beaches, was the ticket. That evening we cleaned up the house and headed home, rested and becalmed. The drive was a mere three-and-a-half hours.

I’m certain we barely scratched the surface. There’s so much more: whale-watching, concerts, fishing, kayaking, lobster-eating (if that’s your thing) or hanging out at the Crow’s Nest, the bar where the events depicted in the movie “The Perfect Storm” took place.

Did I mention that Cape Ann is a prime birding destination in mid-winter? I’ll save that story for another day.