TRURO — After Monday’s terrible wind storm, I started thinking about treasure. The sea was choppy everywhere, so I thought a lot of great things might have washed up on the beach. And as erosion continues, we never know what will be dug up or tumbled down the sandy cliffs.
Luckily, I’m not too demanding when it comes to beach treasures. It doesn’t matter if it’s a nice piece of driftwood or an odd stone. Of course, a bunch of doubloons or emeralds would also be nice. This kind of discovery can be complicated, but you will probably have to seek advice from my law firm, Mone & Squeel.
I consulted my well-worn guidebook, “Grab and Hoard: 5 Wayward Tips for Treasure Hunters,” and realized that the first step was to find the best treasure beaches. For me, that meant a remote location where few people go in the off-season.
Less competition could mean more loot for me. You might even get a chance to quote treasure-hunting idol Daffy Duck from the classic Looney Tunes cartoon Ali Baba Bunny. “I’m rich! I’m rich! Yahoo! I’m comfortably rich!”
So I piloted my trusty Curious Prius to the ends of the world. Longnook Beach in Truro. To me, Longnook has always seemed like the most secluded beach on Cape He Cod.it is in front of the majority cape cod national seashoreAs a result, there are not many houses in this area and you have to walk a long distance in either direction to get to another beach.
Sure enough, when Puri and I parked the car, the parking lot was empty. Maybe I should have checked the weather forecast. The north wind was strong and the sand was flying everywhere. It had all the characteristics of a very unpleasant walk: cold, windy and lonely. Exactly what I was looking for!
I decided to roll down the steep path to the beach and walk north. That way, you can have the wind on your back when you turn around. I quickly realized that this would be a treasure trove.
The beach had been washed from a recent storm and was mostly spotless. It looked like the high tide was approaching very close to the sand cliffs. I wish I had checked the tide table.
There’s nothing worse than being left stranded on a beach when a strong storm surge blocks your walking route. This has happened to me many times and my boots got wet and I had a mild panic attack.
To cheer myself up, I opened the Random Sorrow Phrases app on my phone. These essential quotes were extracted from his book.cape cod” can give a bright impression to a somewhat desolate place.
This random phrase popped up. “As we crawled along the endless beach in the squalls and foam of the sun, we realized that we, too, are products of sea slime.” Thanks for nothing, Henry!
But as I trotted up the beach, I felt a bit like sea slime. The wind blew me all over the place and my glasses became speckled with salt mist. The waves were crashing and the tide was uncomfortably close to the dunes. And it turned out that the treasure was wasted.
We found some cool driftwood and a large chunk of concrete that had fallen into the sand dunes. I saw strange buoys bouncing around in the waves. I interrogated a flock of seagulls and asked them where they had hidden the goodies. But those birds weren’t talking.
Sulking seemed like the best option for me. But then the sun broke through the clouds and started dancing on the waves. I began to enjoy being a castaway, thrown into the solitude of a sandy beach by the whims of fate and half-baked plans.
Maybe next time I’ll find a real treasure. Or maybe a trip to a big beach in winter is the only real reward.
When Eric Williams isn’t solving Cape Cod mysteries, he writes about Cape Cod, weather, wildlife, and other topics. To contact him, ewilliams@capecodonline.com. X: Follow him at @capecast.
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