Fourth of July Week on Cape Ann: What to Do

Fiesta ended Sunday night. The barricades are down on Prospect Street, the carnival is loaded onto trucks, and the harbor feels, for about 48 hours, unusually quiet. Then the Fourth of July rolls in on Saturday and Cape Ann fills up again.

This is one of the busiest weeks of the year, and also one of the best. Long evenings, water warm enough to actually swim in, every porch flag out. Here is what to know.

Cape Ann Museum reopens tomorrow

The downtown Gloucester campus has been closed for a renovation, and it opens back up on Tuesday, June 30. If you have been on Cape Ann before and skipped the museum because it was closed, this is the week to fix that. The Fitz Henry Lane collection alone is worth the visit, and the new galleries are a real reason to go.

It is also a good rainy-afternoon plan if the forecast turns, which it sometimes does in early July. The CAM Green satellite campus reopens July 10 if you want to make a two-stop day of it later in the month.

The Fourth itself

Independence Day is Saturday, July 4. A few things to plan around:

Beach parking lots fill earlier than you expect. Good Harbor and Wingaersheek are usually at capacity by 9 a.m. on a clear holiday Saturday, sometimes earlier. If you are staying within walking or biking distance of a beach, use that. If you are driving, be there by 8:30 or have a plan B (Long Beach, Pebble Beach in Rockport, Niles Beach for residents and guests with a pass).

Fireworks happen in both Gloucester and Rockport. Rockport's display goes off over the harbor and the breakwater fills up early. Bring a blanket, get there well before sunset, and walk in if you can. The traffic out of downtown Rockport after fireworks is its own small adventure.

If you would rather skip crowds entirely, a quiet alternative is to find a west-facing rock, bring a sandwich, and watch the sky do its own thing. Halibut Point at sunset on the Fourth is one of the great underrated experiences on the Cape.

Where to eat this week

Reservations matter more than usual. If you want a sit-down dinner Friday or Saturday, book now, not Friday afternoon. The harborfront places in Gloucester (Minglewood Harborside, 1606 at Beauport, The Gloucester House) all take reservations and all fill up. Tonno and Short and Main are reliable for a good evening. Franklin Cape Ann if you want something a little quieter and more bar-forward.

For lunch or a casual dinner, the clam shacks are in full swing. Woodman's and J.T. Farnham's in Essex, Roy Moore Lobster Company on Bearskin Neck, The Lobster Pool out at Folly Cove for a sunset that earns the drive. Expect a line at all of them on Saturday. The line is part of it.

If you want to do a lobster bake at the house, most of the seafood markets in Gloucester will sell you live lobsters and steamers and corn and tell you how long to cook everything. Ask. They are used to the question.

On the water

This is prime whale watch season. The feed has been good, with humpbacks working Stellwagen Bank. Cape Ann Whale Watch and 7 Seas both run multiple trips a day this week. Morning trips tend to have calmer water; afternoon trips have better light for photos. Book ahead for the weekend.

If you want a smaller boat, Beauport Cruiselines does harbor tours and sunset cruises, and the Schooner Ardelle sails out of Maritime Gloucester when the wind cooperates. Sailing on a 1900s-style schooner on the Fourth of July weekend is the kind of thing you remember.

For kayaks, North Shore Adventures in Rockport will set you up. The Annisquam River at high tide is the easy, beautiful option. Wingaersheek at low tide is the one where you walk the sandbar out half a mile and feel like you have left the country.

A note on traffic

128 backs up Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. If you are arriving for the weekend, aim to be on Cape Ann by mid-Friday or wait until after dinner. If you are leaving Sunday, leave early or stay late. The middle of the day in either direction is the bad answer.

Once you are here, leave the car parked when you can. Bearskin Neck is a walk. Downtown Gloucester is a walk. The beaches are a bike ride. The Cape is small enough that you do not need to drive for most of what you want to do, and parking on the Fourth is its own sport.

Have a good week. It is a good one to be here.