Old Man Beach

I know, it's a strange name, but it's a great beach! (There's historical significance to the name, if you can read this plaque.) It's only five minutes from our house, but we'd never visited until today. I'm hooked! I think I'll start rating the beaches and parks that we visit. Old Man Beach earns 4.2 out of 5 Starfish. Here's my grading criteria:

Beach: 4 Starfish

The beach area is very nice, but a little on the small side. I could see it getting very crowded on a really hot day. We were there when the tide was on the way back in, so there was still plenty of room for the kids to play. When the tide is all the way in, there isn't much sand.

View: 5 Starfish

The view is spectacular. Cascade mountains to the east, Agate Pass bridge to the west, Bainbridge Island to the south. It's a great place to watch the boats come through Agate Passage.

Swimming: 3 Starfish

The currents are pretty strong, so I'm not sure it would be a good place for the kids to swim, but they didn't try. It wasn't quite warm enough yet. Matzo had no problems, though!

Ammenities: 5 Starfish

A bathroom with flushing toilets, running water, and soap! And a beach shower! Also has a nice grassy area with 3 or 4 picnic tables and BBQ grills.

Accessibility: 4 Starfish

Being so close to our house is a huge bonus. The parking is limited, though. The path down to the beach is on the steep side, but it is paved. Since I don't have babies anymore, I usually don't have huge quantities of gear to lug around, so the steepness didn't bother me.

So, there you have it, 21 Starfish out of 25 possible, an average of 4.2 Starfish!

The kids spent most of their time digging a big hole. They wanted to make it deep enough for Ben to stand in with only his head sticking out, but hit water too soon and it started caving in. They're going to try again next time, because there definitely will be a next time! I'm so glad beach season is here.