Dateline August 8, 2017, A Little Golf
After our wonderful time on the Cape with Janice's aunt and uncle, we set out early on Sunday to drive north of Boston. Getting off the Cape at first light was a good bet, with the roads nearly empty, and we drove straight on through Boston toward Gloucester and out to Cape Ann.
Cape Ann. There we found a lovely nine-hole course, the Cape Ann Golf Club in Essex, and signed up to play eighteen. For the first nine we were paired with a local couple; the lady turned out to be the club champion, so she and Janice had a fine time of it. The fourth hole has a view from the tee out over the water to Gloucester, so pretty that Golf Digest once named it one of the most picturesque holes in the country.
The course had some real teeth to it, especially the par threes, which ran a long way, a hundred and eighty to two hundred and twenty yards. For the back nine we were paired with another local couple and had just as good a time; you play the white tees going out and the blue tees coming in. A great course with wonderful people, and we would recommend it to anyone in the area.
Salisbury Beach. We had a reservation at Salisbury Beach, a state park out on the ocean next to Newburyport, and it was spotless and beautiful. The plan for Monday was to find a local course, so we picked the Sagamore-Hampton Golf Club over in New Hampshire.
It was a great layout, with more of those long par threes, and the greens ran faster than Cape Ann's. We had a good round, and as we were leaving they told us that Tuesday was ladies' day, twenty-five dollars with a cart, so we booked to come back.
Back at the park we put on a cookout, watched a movie, and got a good night's sleep. The next morning we were paired with a couple from Brookline, New Hampshire, Dean and Melissa Rascoe, and the course was every bit as enjoyable the second time around.
Janice gave Melissa a little help with her game, and afterward the two of them insisted on buying us a few beers. Dean laughed and said it was the cheapest golf lesson he had ever paid for. With our golf done, we packed up and headed for Janice's sister Connie's place in Derry, New Hampshire.
