The Great Umbrella Heist: A few of our favorite shark beaches

And free things to do on Cape Cod.

We like visiting the beaches that make up Cape Cod's National Seashore for a few different reasons. Those beaches aren't exactly swimming beaches due to the cold water and rough surf. And the sharks, of course, who are attracted to the seals. You'll see swimmers in the water though. Mainly there are surfers and a few daredevils. I feel like those beaches are nature at its finest. There are huge sand dunes and a wide expanse of ocean. The waves are unpredictable. It's a good place for a healthy dose of salt air.

Located in Eastham, Salt Pond Visitors Center is the National Seashore's main visitor facility. There are clean restrooms, walking trails, a museum and a paved bike path. The main reason for our visit here was to ride the bike path. I had read about it online and the girls had agreed to try it out because it wasn't very long. Originally, we had planned to ride the 1.6 mile path, making a slightly over 3 mile loop. However, when we reached the turning point and realized we were only another half mile to the beach, we kept going.

(Unlike the Cape Cod Rail Trail, this bike path is not flat. So many hills. The girls' bikes do not have gears so they had some difficulty on the bigger hills. It's not something I would recommend for younger kids.)

The bike path leads to Coast Guard Beach, which can only be reached via this path or a shuttle service during the summer season. There is a small parking lot at the beach for those with disabled parking to use at any time. After 5:30, the lot is open to the public.

We ate a picnic lunch when we returned to the Visitors Center and then decided to walk one of the nature trials. After our walk, we visited the museum and watched a short video on erosion. Learning while living.

A few miles up the street from Coast Guard Beach is Nauset Light Beach, which sits below Nauset Lighthouse. You can tour the lighthouse for free. Hours vary so check online. On this particular day, tours began at 4:30 in the afternoon. The tour is brief and, FYI, you don't walk on the outside of the lighthouse. The inside stairwell was not very scary - the girls handled it just fine - and at the top of the stairs, there's a room where you'll hear some information about the lighthouse. You can see out the porthole windows and be given the opportunity to climb the ladder and look out at the top, but you can't go out there.

(I took this while we were waiting in line. Love the blonde highlights.)

After we toured the lighthouse, we walked over to the beach and hung out for a bit. Seals, but no sharks were spotted. The girls get mad because every time we visit one of these beaches, the next day, there's a shark sighting reported on the Sharktivity app.