With our new Cape Cod week vacation stay in the Happy Cottage II on the other side of the main road that divides Dennis Port, my dear wife Karen and I have spent more time exploring the streets closure to the Atlantic Ocean.

By foot and by car.

One trip down the appropriately named Sea Street led us to a small beach that obviously was open to all.

We’d come back to walk, I declared.

The pretty stuff lied below.

Hover over a gallery photo for a description. Click on an image for an enlarged slide show.

The actual public beach is an adequate square with a rock jetty in the middle.

It sits between hotel resorts to the left and private homes to the right.

We chose to stroll to the right, ignoring posted signs and hoping owners were not feeling the need to dial 911 on anybody this cool, gray day.

Did I have beach house envy? Maybe a little?

Some of the places, though, were less sprawling and protected by fragile dunes.

I think I’d get along with the folks who named their place the Musty Hut and hung it on the front.

Looking toward the Atlantic, I wondered what it was bringing to the shore that carried that hint of fuchsia.

We walked until it was no longer smart to skirt the rules.

We retreated to the far set of public beach stair up.

One last look from the top, for sure.