Earl Waves Were Hottest Ticket in Town Friday Night

The hottest ticket in town Friday night was as close to Second Beach as people could get.

Hundreds of cars slowly motored in first gear down Purgatory and Paradise roads, with passengers hanging out windows cameras clicking with all the frenzy of paparazzi on Oscar night.

The show? Enormous white-capped foamy swells courtesy of the pre-storm Hurricane Earl storm surge that rolled in as far up to the walls and disappeared the sandy beach under a blanket of white and tan foam.

From the flat-topped cliffs at Purgatory Chasm and the gently sloping grassy park  west of Second Beach, they pointed, they clicked, they shot, they felt the rain and slight wind on their face, and they stared in awe at the majestic and awesome power of Mother Nature.

"We've never seen the ocean like this before," said Foxboro, MA mom Cheryl Moran, an amateur photographer who's renting a place down the street for the week with her family.

"These are the biggest waves I've ever seen," said 12-year-old Kyle Moran. "I'd like to be in them."

Their next step would be dinner out, they said, not too concerned about the down-graded tropical storm on its way. They had stocked up on flashlights and what-not.

Dad Mark Lancaster and six-year-old daughter Sarah drove down from Portsmouth. "This could be Sarah's first hurricane," explained dad who, back home, had already prepped a generator and stocked up on extra batteries, water, food, and snacks to last three days. "It's not really windy where we live and the waves don't get too big there, and it still seemed safe to come out here tonight before the storm really gets here."

Up the hill, more than a dozen cars at a time parked along the narrow roadway alongside Purgatory Chasm, families, dates and buddies in tow for better vantage points.

Police had barricaded and closed Sachuest Point Road at its intersection with Purgatory Road and closed off the beach parking lots and the beach itself to any visitors hours earlier, but the cars kept coming.

By 6pm, the storm surge had peaked with 11-14-foot swells and the crowds of onlookers also peaked for the day.

"Hundreds and hundreds of cars have been through all days, easily," said one police officer on traffic patrol, as he waves cars by the barricade.

By 3 pm, after clearing the beach parking lots of the dozens of carts and surfers from Second Beach, the police had closed the road and beach to all, including surfers, out of concern for flooding on the low-lying roads and the logistical nightmare that might ensure having to clear all those cars at once.

Almost on cue, a woman pulled her SUV over on the side of the road near the barricade, a camera strap visible around her neck, and partially leaned out her window.

"Can't I just park her a minute?" she asked, excitedly pointing to the waves and nudging her camera strap in one swift move.

"No ma'am, sorry. We have to keep this area clear," the officer replied while waving her through with another wave of cars waiting behind her 10 deep.