Beach season is officially here, and to celebrate, Liam Sampson and Destiny Janelle went crab hunting.

The pair filled a bucket at Apponagansett Park with a total of 15 crustaceans of various shapes and sizes on June 17. It’s been Janelle's hobby for years, and she's developed a knack for finding the smallest ones scurrying about the beach.

June 16 was the official start to the summer beach season. With parking stickers or day passes now required at Round Hill Beach, Jones Beach, and Apponagansett Park, crowds are flocking in droves to beat the heat.

The inaugural day drew 200 customers to The Bucket at Apponagansett Park. It’s the best day the town-operated ice cream and food stand has reported in four years, according to manager Arthur Domingos. The recent completion of the Padanaram causeway, which reopened to traffic on June 11, played a big part in it.

“The [Padanaram] bridge opened up and it’s just like the floodgates have opened,” he said during an afternoon lull.

With the dominating ice cream flavors currently split between Mississippi mud pie and cookie dough, he’s expecting business to pick up even more once school lets out for the break on June 19.

Highs in the 80s and Father’s Day weekend was the perfect day for Chris Boudreau and Mike Butts to send a newly restored boat Freebie to sea. It’s taken three years to restore, after a neighbor decided to throw it away -- hence the name. It was launched from the boat ramp next to the beach.