Best beach

The lure of a good beach is ineffable. The attraction goes far beyond the obvious -- warm Pepsi, sand-filled sandwiches, and a bounteous harvest of peeling flesh -- and extends into the sublime. We sit resolutely and stare into the ocean from which we crawled; we close our eyes and listen to the blood (its percentage of salt said to be the same as that of the sea) pound in our ears; we can go for yet another Ho-Ho. In New England, the place to do all these things and more is Crane Beach. Once the private reserve of Chicago plumbing magnate Richard Crane, the beach features four miles of perfect sand, dunes that go on for days, and the Cranes' former mansion, Castle Hill. Together with the nearby Crane Wildlife Refuge, it's more than 2000 acres of heaven.

A close second goes to Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, named for the quartz granules that form the strand. Its singing sands are famous the world over for emitting a high tone, almost a chirp, as your feet glide across, instead of the usual scrunch scrunch. The choppy Atlantic waters at Singing Beach are perfect for body-surfing, and the rocky headlands encircling the area give it an almost private feel. Don't worry about getting lonely, however; what makes this a Boston-area hot spot is the fact that it's accessible by public transportation -- just take the Rockport commuter rail from North Station, and get off when the conductor puts on his bathing suit.

Crane Wildlife Refuge and Crane Beach, Argilla Road, Ipswich, (978) 356-4354; Singing Beach, Manchester-by-the-Sea, (978) 526-4573.