Cape Cod, MA - We make it a point to get to Hadley's Harbor at least once a summer - oftentimes it's once a week - but don't plan on loading up the car or purchasing one of those ferry tickets to get to a favorite stomping ground. This is one of those quaint little places where getting there requires a boat.

For my family, the Red Dog gets us there. Our trip begins at Pier 37 in Falmouth Harbor; a slow ride to the open ocean allows passengers to read the names of boats and the exotic places from where they came. Flanking the shoreline, views of Surf Drive and Martha’s Vineyard – a few miles out, set the scene. Soon passing Nobska Lighthouse, then before long Woods Hole, where the water rolls into a slight boil making work for the captain before the reward ahead – though just for a bit and not too hard.

The approach to the harbor is smooth as the land cradles the inlet. Between the jetties, boats of varying sizes motor or sail. This calm transition readies the crew for an adventure of the senses. The sun soon settles onto your skin erasing windblown goosebumps with soft lapping rays – the sensation making you want to close your eyes, which you would if it weren't for the greens of the water, the trees, bushes, leaves, and the grass - all varying degrees of green kissed by the gold of the sun.

With the splash of the anchor as it plunges to the harbor’s bottom comes the irresistible urge to immerse bare tanned feet into the remarkably crisp, cool water. A picnic lunch, sun bathing on the deck, followed by that breathtaking dive through summer air into water so cold its hard to imagine it’s July – water the color of jewels variegated by beams of light, energy beams – reemerging invigorated because of this immersion in Hadley’s Harbor, a pastime I wouldn’t pass up.