It’s starting to feel like summer around here! So recently I packed up the boys, a bag full of sand toys and headed to Sandy Point State Park for the first time ever. My 3-year-old has been begging for a trip to the “beach” so I figured this was a good alternative to the faraway destination of Ocean City.
We got there early on a weekday morning, around 9:30 a.m., to do a short stroller walk with some of my mom friends. We ended up at the East Beach (not the main South Beach that faces the Bay Bridge) because the kids could see the various playgrounds there and wanted to check them out. We couldn’t have parked at the East Beach, since the lot was gated and a sign stated that the covered pavilions are for use by reservation only, but we had no problem walking there.
After exhausting the playground equipment, we parked the strollers under a shaded pavilion next to the beach, which was pleasantly vacant of any other beach goers, and hit the sand. The kids had a blast, jumping in the small waves, hunting for seashells and picnicking on our blankets. The beach is small enough that they could roam a little but still not get out of earshot.
I didn’t put the boys in bathing suits because I figured the water would be way too cold for wading. Wrong. Toddlers apparently have no internal thermometer. Our little Luke sat down in the water almost immediately, so he sported the diaper-only look for the rest of the trip.
We even had a sweet elderly gentleman come rolling along on his giant beachcomber tractor to rake the sand, which the kids loved watching. It was the perfect beach morning!
We went back to Sandy Point about a week later, again early on a weekday morning. We walked to the East Beach, but this time a school bus rolled in and dropped off a large group of kids. We decided it probably wouldn’t be the quiet, secluded atmosphere we had enjoyed on our previous visit, so we headed back to the South Beach area to give that a try.
We noticed a few major differences between the two beaches, the first being that there weren’t any playgrounds in sight at South Beach. It was also much larger and had a lengthy walk across extremely hot sand to get near the water. Most people might not care about this, but for a hot, tired mom who has to carry two toddlers and all their beach paraphernalia, it’s a big deal. The sand itself even seemed different, more reddish than on the East Beach, where the sand was whiter. The view at South Beach was pretty awesome though, having the Bay Bridge in the background.
The South Beach also lacked shaded pavilions, but there was a large bathhouse, snack bar, chair/umbrella rentals and lifeguards on duty. Lots of picnic tables were around, just not much shade. The kids had fun, but the consensus amongst the moms was that the smaller East Beach was the better of the spots at Sandy Point. All they needed was an ice-cream truck to drive up, and it would’ve felt just like O.C.!
The entrance fee is currently $4 per person on weekdays and $5 per person on weekends; children in car seats are free. For details visit the Sandy Point State Park website.
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Mandy Watts is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Crownsville with her husband, Justin, who runs their family business, and their two sons, 3-year-old James and 1-year-old Luke.
