Every year my family and I would go camping down the cape at Scusset Beach campground for two weeks! We would leave our house at twelve and arrive around one thirty. I drove with my dad, pulling the camper and my sister drove behind us with my mom. We had to drive slowly, but I didn’t mind. As we passed certain exits on the highway my excitement grew higher. For me, it was the most exciting day of summer. As we pulled up to our spot I could already picture how my mom would set up our camp site. We always leave it up to my mom to make it feel like home. She would hang the white shell lights and three blow fish that people would hit their heads on if they weren’t paying attention. We had four blow fish, one for my dad, one for my mom, one for my sister Andrea, and a baby one that was supposed to represent me. Getting bumped in the head by a blow fish is the most intense pain! The sharp needle-like quills stick out pretty far, leaving a painful sting on your head. Shortly after we arrived, my dad took the bikes down for my sister and I and we went off exploring for a few hours. We went to the canal first just to look at the ocean, then raced down to the beach where hundreds of people sat in the sweltering, hot sun. To us, it felt like home again.
A few hours later we went back to the camper for a quick dinner then back out again to make some friends. We had no luck the first night, mostly because we were very shy. The next day we woke up to the luscious smell of bacon and eggs cooking. The camper would smell of breakfast for hours, or at least until lunch was ready. My sister and I ran outside just in time to catch my Aunt Sharon, Uncle Bill and Cousin Katie pull up to our campsite. They were planning to stay with us for a few days of our vacation. As we walked over to say hello we could feel the burning, hot sun beating down on our backs.
My mom was very excited to see Sharon, her twin, drive up to the campsite. My mom and Sharon are very much alike and they do just about everything together. Sometimes my mom and Sharon will meet up wearing the same outfit, without planning it. When Saturday came around they went out looking for yard sales along the Cape. They usually don’t ask us if we want to come along because they hate being dragged down by kids. What I hate most about going to yard sales with my mom is being left in the car by myself, while she looks at all the annoying little knick-knacks people have on their tables to sell.
After breakfast, Andrea, Katie, and I left to make some new friends. We were determined to find some people to hangout with during our long two weeks at Scusset. Luckily, we had Katie with us, whom always seem to have the guts to make new friends. Later that night we met two kids that became our friends, their names were Joe and Anthony, and they were looking for friends also. They had met each other a few days before and became good friends. We hung out with them all night, doing nothing but sitting on picnic tables talking, playing cards, or just causing trouble around the campground. When it got dark, we took our bikes to the beach, left them along the board walk, and sat in the lifeguard chairs. We enjoyed the peaceful sound of the ocean breeze and powerful waves crashing along the shore line. Joe and Anthony were fun and easy to be our obnoxious selves around.
Usually everyday consisted of the same old thing. We would go to the beach for a few hours in the morning and then have the rest of the day to do whatever we want. Although we had fun everyday, we were starting to get bored. During our stay, a few weeks before Halloween, a few of the campers put on a spooky walk for the kids and teenagers. Many of the kids were older than me, they were about fifteen or sixteen, my sister’s age, but that didn’t matter. The walk wasn’t very spooky at all. We were instructed to follow a tall, sort of large girl. The girl was wearing a black costume with a large blue glow dot on the back of her head that I think was supposed to be an eye ball. During the walk her blue eye ball fell off and landed right in front of me on the path. I started to laugh right away and my sister grabbed it. As we walked along my sister poked the girl and handed her the eye ball. The spooky walk had become comical and our guide did not think it was funny. By the end of the walk we were all pretty wiped out. That night Andrea, Katie and I said goodnight to Joe and Anthony and we headed back to the camper for bed.
The next morning we decided to take the bikes down the canal. Andrea, Katie and I quickly grabbed the three bikes, leaving my mom and Sharon to rollerblade. It took us almost four hours to get down to the end of the canal and back. As a twelve year old girl fourteen miles was not easy to bike in a short amount of time. One direction is always easier than the other because of the wind. Riding down the canal was fun because we had the wind pushing us along. As we reached the end, we could see the train bridge. As we grew closer to the train bridge, it seemed to be a lot bigger than I had remembered it. We drove through the little town on our bikes and stopped at a small pizza place to get some food and drinks. When it was time to turn around and head back, the wind hit us like a slap in the face. My heart was racing after only five minutes of biking. After passing the Bourne Bridge, which is the furthest bridge from Scusset, I suddenly felt drained at the thought of having to bike the rest of the way. After every mile my mom would reassure us of how much longer we have to bike. Once we made it back to the camper we plopped down on the couch for an hour, hoping to regain our strength. It seems that every time we get back from biking down the canal we say, “I never want to do that again!” After a long night of sleeping, we woke up each with a sharp pain in our muscles from biking all that way.
There’s not a lot to do at Scusset Beach, although just being there and seeing how beautiful the peace and quiet can be is enough. Before we knew it, we had only one day left. On our last day we walked over to Joe’s camper, where we also found Anthony. We told them all about our long journey down the canal and explained why we didn’t meet up that night. We warned them of our early departure for the next morning. The rest of the night was quiet; everyone was saddened to say good-bye. The awkward silence was too much, so we didn’t stay at Joe’s camper very long. Katie was leaving that night, so we had to spend most of the last night with the family back at our camper. We told Joe and Anthony we would see them before we left to say good-bye, and we headed back to the campsite for the night. The desolate look coming from my mothers face was upsetting to me. We said good-bye to Katie, my aunt Sharon and my Uncle Bill. Soon after they left, my mom started packing up the lawn chairs and things that we wouldn’t need for the next morning. Watching what had become our home for the past two weeks slowly disappear was devastating. That night I did a lot of thinking and comparing of the past two weeks to the other vacations we had at Scusset.
Many of my childhood memories come from the Cape and Scusset Beach. Scusset is a place I have been visiting with my family for about five years starting when I was about ten or eleven. Being at the camp ground is a very comfortable place for me because it feels close to home. Most of the campers at Scusset Beach are friendly and welcoming. I love to see the different varieties of people. Some campers are cram-packed with large families and others are couples, getting away from the stressful work life, as we are. I enjoy spending time with my family at Scusset Beach because it’s a place that we have all grown to love and appreciate. I always wondered how many other families felt the same way as we did about Scusset Beach, how exciting it is to arrive, and how upsetting it is to say goodbye.

It felt like our vacation flew by incredibly fast. The last day was not very enjoyable. The thought of school was stuck in our minds. Packing the camper was the pits. The lifeless look on my moms face made me very upset. She loves Scusset Beach more than any of us. Before pulling out we took a walk down to the beach and the canal. We had to make our last rounds, like we do every year. We found Joe and Anthony at their campers and gave them each hugs and said our goodbyes. They watched us leave, waving until we couldn’t see them anymore and that’s when we knew, vacation was over.