I Grew Up Visiting Massachusetts Every Summer: How The Gift Barn Became an Unforgettable Experience

I always look back fondly at the experiences I had during my childhood. While I grew up in Rhode Island, I spent a lot of time in Massachusetts; my parents were both born in the Bay State, and we had plenty of relatives to visit here. Much of my childhood was spent traveling across the border to visit family in Central Mass and exploring many of its cities and small towns. Even better, we would take an annual summer vacation to Cape Cod, where childhood memories are made! If you asked my sister and me about our favorite place on the Cape, it would have to be the Gift Barn in Eastham. Going there as children has become an unforgettable experience, and today we can share new memories with our kids.

While we will always refer to it as "The Red Barn" due to its red barn look and the pizza place next door, which has the same name and some of the best pizza on the Cape, it's technically the Gift Barn. Every summer, when we would take our family vacation in Wellfleet, we would always come here to play mini golf and check out all the souvenirs in the Gift Barn. Forget the beach—this is where my sister and I always wanted to be!

Our family time at the Gift Barn was always so special. We would play a competitive round of miniature golf with oversized plaster barn animal statues at many holes. While more modern mini golf courses popped up along Cape Cod over the years, this farm-themed course remained our favorite. Perhaps it's the location or nostalgia, but I always loved how unchanged it was. Only occasionally would the figures dotting the mini golf course get a new paint job.

My childhood days as a family of four, with my mom, dad, sister, and me, were a great bonding experience. Eventually, my sister and I grew up, moved to the West Coast, had kids, my sister got married and had kids, my parents eventually divorced, and my dad moved to Cape Cod. There went the family vacations to Cape Cod with just the four of us—instead, I take my kids to visit my dad on the Cape every summer, and we have created new family memories here since.

When my kids were old enough, we started taking them to the Gift Barn, or "The Red Barn," as we will always lovingly call it. While the miniature golf course has remained relatively unchanged over the years, with the same layout and obstacles from my childhood, the Gift Barn added the Game Barn with arcade games and prizes. Can you guess where my kids want to go multiple times during the summer?

While the arcade is small, there are plenty of fun ticket games, including Crossy Road and Skee-Ball, and several claw machines that my kids always seem to have luck at. Of all the arcades we've been to, this remains their favorite. It's never crowded (even during peak season), the games are fun, and the prizes are better than anywhere else. And just like this was my sister's and my favorite place on Cape Cod when we were kids, I love how it's now my kids' favorite place.

The Gift Barn in Eastham, Massachusetts, will forever be in my heart and remind me of my childhood, as my kids are creating memories here during their childhood. It's so special to me, and I still enjoy going, especially knowing that my kids love it as much as I do.