66 Days Until Spring!

66 days until spring - that seems doable, no?  Plus there is always that one random 70 degree day in March on Cape Cod to keep the dream alive!  One of our VERY favorite Cape Cod activities on warm winter days and during the spring is a visit to Stony Brook Grist Mill & Museum in Brewster.  The museum is open only on Saturdays during the summer, but a visit off season is, in my opinion, even more wonderful. Why? The Stony Brook herring run cuts through the property and during March and April the herring make their way from Cape Cod Bay, up the Stony Brook fish ladders (my daughter is jumping across a fish ladder below) and to the freshwater Mill Ponds just behind the Grist Mill where they spawn.  Through some miracle of nature, the herring return back to the place they were born every year.  It's truly amazing to watch the iridescent scales of hundreds of herring swim by you up the fish ladders as they make their way to the ponds to have their babies. Some days they are so plentiful that even the air smells like herring! In 2016, nearly 90,000 herring made their way up Stony Brook.  Please note that the herring are protected and cannot be touched.

Insider's tip: you will know the herring are running when seagulls are EVERYWHERE on the grist mill property and on the roof of the historic white house next door!  They love a herring snack!

Stony Brook Grist Mill & Museum
830 Stony Brook Rd.
Brewster, MA  02631
http://www.brewster-ma.gov/stony-brook-grist-mill-museum