One of the silver linings of Covid has been the impetus to explore closer to home. Once you’ve walked every trail, and visited all the tourist sites (hi, Walden Pond, again), what are you giong to do? Triangulate from your kid’s soccer training, that’s what. Last week, that brought us to Revere Beach.

Billed as America’s First Beach, its public relations needs some work. When we mentioned to neighbors that this was our ultimate destination, there was a pause and a “well, it’s probably good this time of year.” And you know what? It was.

On a cloudless, endless blue sky day, the three miles of beach and water were magical. First we drove the strip–the roadway goes all along the beach (and creates lot of parking which is aweome compared to the nightmare some other beaches are for non-residents). There were wrought-iron shelters with shade–we didn’t need it in the balmy 60 degrees of New England spring.

The neighborhood is very mixed–it went from small wooden houses that reminded the Owl of the little surf shacks in San Diego (that actually cost $3 million because…California) to Miami Beach-level apartment buildings. Having lived in Miami, we have seen this rennaissance before…and the neon signs and the cool bridge at 500 Ocean Avenue made us slightly nostalgic. Just slightly.

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After parking, we took the intrepid rescue dog for a walk. Yes, dogs are allowed until April 1 when they are banned from the beach until September. That ban would be fine for the intrepid rescue dog who is apparently terrified of small waves. Other doggos were having the.best.time. Huge clam shells were scattered everywhere on the beach, and even Mr. Owl, who is Brazilian, said the sand was pretty nice. For the US. There wasn’t a whole lot of trash, which I would expect at the end of winter storms, etc. The long curve of the beach was enticing–we did not walk its three miles but I would like to go back and do exactly that.

If you’re hungry, Kelly’s Roast Beef, world famous for its sandwiches (or so goes the marketing), is right on the beach — order ahead of time and pick up. The line was down the street. The Owls went for tacos instead at Taqueira Colima, and sat out at the metal picnic benches and enjoyed watching the planes land at Logan. Surprisingly, the noise level of the planes was low–perhaps the wind was in our favor?

Revere Beach has a long and fun history, with dance halls, carrousels and roller coasters (the Coney Island of the north is how it was termed, but that seems a bit New York-focused for Bostonians, no?).

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Revere Beach is reachable by car and by blue line “T”–stops are Wonderland and Revere Beach. Undoubtedly the place gets chock-a-block in the summer but with three miles of beach to spread out…well, let’s see. The Owl will be back. If you do not like a crowd, you will need to skip the Annual Sand Castle contest.

For more information and to learn more about Revere Beach history, and things to do, check out http://www.reverebeach.com.