Hampton Beast.

As I wrote earlier, the morning in Newmarket and Portsmouth was followed by an afternoon trip to Hampton Beach, an beach town south of Portsmouth and normally a 40 minute drive from Dover. We heard that there were several activities taking place in the town during the afternoon (which was true), but we didn't realize just how unbelievably crowded the island would already be so early in the tourist season.

Nonetheless, after spending upwards of an hour circling the island in search of parking, and ultimately paying $15 for that parking, we were off for a brief exploration. While we will not brave the traffic again to see the end product, one of the coolest sights was the annual sand sculpture competition. It was just getting underway during our visit, and so we had the chance to watch the sculptors begin to produce masterpieces from piles of sand.


In addition to the piles of sand, we also encountered piles of people. It was quite a ragtag bunch at Hampton Beach that afternoon, but everyone seemed to be having a good time. Charlotte and I squeezed ourselves into the front-most row of sunbathers and got a view of many waves and (blessedly!) few people.


After watching the waves break peacefully on the beach for a while, we headed north on the beach a bit, to where ocean catamarans were flying ashore after a race just offshore.

It was quite a spectacle to see the boats coming in to shore, but nothing compared to our own sailing skills. Not sure what this means? Stay tuned for an upcoming post about our latest summer pursuit!