I was going to get up early for the gym, but I can't sleep more than 45 minutes in a stretch it seems. Annoying. So I got out of bed at 9:30. Feed the bunny/turtle and went to get my kiddo.

(insert a ton of "I haven't since last year" jokes)

I always go to Plum Island on New Years day so the kid complained he didn't want to go over and over and over. Bitched about everything. Then we went and he had a blast. We went to the mouth of the merrimack first and we were one of only a few people there. The temps were in the 50's, but the wind was so fierce that it was like getting sand blasted. We did walk around a corner and found a bunch of kids that just polar plunged.

We went down to the federal reserve side and my mom found us on the beach. Thanks to the Trump Shutdown, there was no staff, no fee collection, no bathrooms, no enforcement. The place was mobbed. I remember when I was a kid and we would go on New Years and we would be the only people there. This time, it was absolutely packed. Without enforcement agents there, people were just parking wherever they wanted. Granted, there were some "closed" trails where the boardwalks weren't that safe... but I turned to my mom and said "well, who's going to stop us?" and the kid and I walked down some CRAZY/OVERGROWN boardwalks. There were missing boards everywhere, but with the sun, wind, and 50's weather, it was just beautiful. It felt like walking in a dream sequence from a movie. We said good bye to my mom and drove up the coast. Dropped him off at his mom's.

I went home and clean a bit, played with the bunbun, and then played RDR2 until I went to bed. I slept like crap and got up at 5am for the gym.

Not the best vacation since I was mega sick for most of it, but still better than work.

sounds like a good time. i just google image searched this place because i've heard the name before but not much else. looks like a really nice spot, i might take a ride down there with the wife at some point this winter and hope that there won't be a ton of people. think it's pretty desolate during the winter when the feds are swarming all over it?

newburyport i take it that you mean and not the other plum island in ny

Yep. It's usually desolate. I've been going there on new years with my family since I was a kid. It used to be just us. Now, it was packed with the nice weather. They usually have a small crew at the beginning of federal employees and rangers. Then when you drive to the end, it's a state park. During the summer there is always a state ranger down at the end, but not in the winter.

When you have to pay, it's only $5 for a car. When you drive down, the road turns to dirt 1/2 way down. Right where it turns to dirt, there is a great place to stop and walk around with a bird look out tower and boardwalks that you can walk around. If you look at the last thing on this list, it's pictures of that place in the summer including a pic from the bird tower in the middle:
https://newengland.com/today/travel/massachusetts/things-to-do-on-plum-island/

down at the very end, there is an awesome set of rocks and stuff you can walk around on.

right on thanks for the info, i'll probably make a day out of it in a few weeks probably and find a brewery to check out on the way back

there is TONS of stuff in downtown newburyport. If you get down there, check out the toy store called the Dragon's Nest. it's cool and old school.