Off-Season Visit to Hampton Beach

It’s school vacation week here in New Hampshire, so that means we have time for more adventures! It was another beautiful day in the Granite State, so we knew that we wanted to spend it outside; L requested a visit to a playground, so finding an adventure that included one was a must! April is a little tough for outdoor activities in NH, as many of the farms and amusement parks aren’t open yet.  Additionally, most of the state parks allow you access, but the restrooms are closed and many of the parking entrance gates are down; as you know, when you have littles, open bathrooms and close parking is a must!  After perusing the NH State Parks page for ideas, I discovered that Hampton Beach checked all of our needs.  I got the kiddos ready, packed a lunch, and off we went for a picnic on the beach (and some sand and playground time!).

After looping around 3 times to figure out where the entrance to the massive parking lot was (it’s all the way at the south end), we found a great spot and paid only $1/hr for parking (yay off-season!). Because it’s April, the beach was not crowded and we had our choice of blanket locations.  The view, however, was just as beautiful as in the summer, if not more so, because there were fewer people.

L couldn’t wait to run down to the water and immediately took off with her bucket!

Little man wasn’t totally sure of the sand at first and so played in it from the edge of the blanket.

However, after L’s 3rd trip down to the water, he decided that he needed to go down, as well.

The kiddos had lots of fun digging in the sand and, despite the 41 degree water, enjoyed repeatedly sticking their toes in the ocean. I, however, did not love having to stand in the frigid water with Little Man…I think that we must lose our cold water tolerance as adults! Ha. The things we do for our kiddos. 🙂

When my feet could no longer handle the cold, I bribed the kids with some lunch and we went back to the blanket to eat some sand…I mean food.

After lunch we explored the large playground.  It was wonderful because there were structures for all ages – from toddler to older kid.  Little Man enjoyed the Toddlertown structure; I liked it because I wasn’t worried he would fall off of something!

There were also two play structures for bigger kids with various ladders and slides.

At the other end of the playground were some climbing walls, a modified see-saw, and a big slide.

The playground also had many swings, including at least 5 toddler swings (!!).  Needless to say, this is a great playground with tons of options for the kiddos!  Do note that the ground is sand.  I didn’t know this and changed my kiddos into socks and sneakers after we left the beach.  I now have about 2 lbs of sand from the kids’ sneakers in my garage… But, seriously, what better than to be at a playground with this view?!

I’m so glad that we made the trek over to the beach today! The kids had a blast and had smiles all day! I am happy that I brought extra clothes for the kids even though I didn’t think they would be brave enough to play in the water – we definitely needed them.  I did forget a towel, though, so make sure to bring at least one of those if you go!  Although the beach is clearly a little chillier if you go in the off-season, there is still plenty to do (and the restrooms are open!); having so few people on the beach was pretty amazing, too.  The kiddos were happy to go to bed tonight and I am sure all of that sun and fresh air will help them sleep well!

I hope your family enjoys this adventure as much as mine did!