A spring stroll in seaside Sperlonga

Like many, I’m thoroughly sick of the semi-lockdown mode that has kept my family so close to home.

Therefore, on Mother’s Day, my younger son and I decided to take advantage of the spectacular, summer-like weather to go visit one of our favorite beach getaways – Sperlonga.

I’ve written many times about pretty, whitewashed Sperlonga, and the first visit there tends to kick off the summer season … at least in our minds.

Our visit was just perfect.

The sky was a cloudless blue, the sun was strong – but not as scorching as it is in the hotter summer months, making it perfect for long walks and lounging on the wide beach.

My gripe about Sperlonga is the lack of balance between the free access beach and the wildly overpriced “stabilimenti”. Since these paid-access structures are generally not in full swing at the start of May, this is usually a good time to visit this seaside town, before the wide, beautiful beach is marred by the endless rows of umbrellas and loungers.

Sadly, with slumpish tourism, these structures are already out in force. Other swaths of coastline were “in preparation”, with no umbrellas or beach loungers out, but beach goers fobidden nonetheless.

Still, the season is still early enough that there was still space in the (miniscule) areas reserved for the free beach, where most people were.

Otherwise, the day was perfect. Unlike my son, I wasn’t brave enough to dive under the (still cold) waves, but I cheered him on as he took the plunge.

Had a great time getting in my first beach reading session (heaven!) and my first spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams), served beachside.

We also had great walks around the winding streets of the medieval hilltown.

The hour for our afternoon train arrived far too quickly, and in seemingly no time, we were headed off after our perfect beach day.

We’ll definitely be back …