Our family is going to Cape Cod for a week in August (staying in Brewster area). We've never been before and would love some suggestions for things to do with our kids (ages 10 - 13)two boys and a girl. I read about a trip to see seals on an island - has anyone done that? Anything else? Thanks SO much!!!

A whale watching trip is great fun too! There are many super bike paths and places where you can rent bikes and helmets. The cape is so flat it is a great place for us oldsters to bike also. Check out the many websites re: the cape. I know that they have lots of ideas too.

Jan,

We vacation for a week on the Cape each summer, in Chatham, which is just (roughly) south of Brewster. Our kids are 11 and 14, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert!

Brewster's beautiful--you'll love it, and you'll be right near the Cape Cod rail trail for bikes. You can rent bikes for a reasonable rate at several places--we just did so in June at a place right at the entrance to Nickerson State Park. You pay by the hour, and you have easy access to several great lunch spots to stop and rest. You also can easily bike to one of the many freshwater ponds on the Cape--it's great to be hot and sweaty from the ride and then able to jump in the cool water at the pond.

Here are some of our family's favorite things:

Cape League Baseball--this gets four stars. It's real old-fashioned baseball, with college players (many of whom--like Garciaparra--get drafted into the Major League). Games are free; they pass a hat for donations. Brewster has a team, as do Chatham and Harwich, several nearby towns.

Pirate's Cove miniature golf--It's in either Yarmouth or Dennis, on Route 28. Take back roads from Brewster, as 28 gets pretty backed up. It's great. We usually go twice.

Wellfleet Drive-in.

Freshwater swimming--go to one of the many ponds. In Brewster, too, you'll be on the bay side and can experience the wonderful low, low tides.

National Seashore--the headquarters has great, short hiking trails. Also, some of the National Seashore beaches are spectacular--Marconi (where the first telegram was sent), Head of the Meadow, Nauset. Spectacular surf.

Day trip to Sandwich--Heritage Plantation, Sandwich Glass Museum, toy/doll museum.

Those are our highlights. We also enjoy eating dinner at the Marshside in one of the Dennises--it's the one on the bay side of the Cape, near Brewster. It's a great family place, reasonably priced and not frequented by many tourists.

We've never done the seal watch--in fact, this year was the first year we heard about them. They sounded great and it would definitely be worth investigating. The one near Monomoy Island interested me, as the whole story of Monomoy is neat--it used to be a peninsula, I think, and has gotten separated from the mainland by erosion and storms over the years.

I hope you enjoy the Cape--summer wouldn't be summer without it for us. Definitely see a ball game!

I don't discount this as a perfectly legit query, having raised a kid and been a kid bored on a rainy day during vacation -- BUT: you're on Cape Cod! Do you have to "DO" anything else? My most treasured memories are long idle hours just poking along the shallow beaches on the inner Cape and finding creatures and thingies and watching how the sand and mud work in the water -- and other wonderful hours playing in the waves on the outer Cape, learning how water works and imagining myself a bird or a fish or something. When water and sand and wildlife aren't around, there are always (sorry for the bad word -- ) books.

By all means, go see seals, putter around the dune and the National Seashore, etc. But try a couple of days when you resist the temptation to schedule schedule schedule go go go. Ignore the "there's nothing to DO" whining. And for god's sake, don't go near a TV! You're on CAPE COD, you lucky people! Ten and 13 are perfect ages to do this.

Penny and Ann- thanks SO much for the great suggestions! We will plan to catch a ballgame and hit the bike trail. Pricilla, I do understand where you're coming from. We actually live near the beach in NC and spend weeks there at spring break and summer just hanging out (I don't work). Also I don't think we'll be up this way, Cape Cod, again. We're going for my husband's work meeting. So don't want to miss anything special about the area! Thanks all for the great input! Would love more suggestions!

Jan,

You can pick up a little weekly magazine of events when you're on the Cape--I've only read dozens of them over the years, but I can't remember the name. Cape Cod Guide, perhaps. It's yellow and about 5 X 7. There's also a version for kids. It will list Cape League schedules, and it will also have discount coupons for mini golf, etc. The local newspaper, the Cape Cod Times, will also have the baseball schedules. (Also, http://www.capecodbaseball.org/.)

Shelling is great fun--we always try to find quahog shells, which have purple inside (which I'm told the Indians used for wampum). My 14-year-old and I did hours of shelling and brought home a huge bucket of shells, now washed and adorning our deck.

It was great being there in June, but writing this makes me want to go back!

I hope you love it as much as we do--