About 5 million people visit the Cape each year. Most of them come, at least ostensibly, to bask on miles of sandy beaches, or cool in the clear kettle ponds. It might be hard to find a parking space in the middle of a hot summer day, and hard to believe that most of the time those same parking lots are relatively empty. Show up a few hours before the lifeguards and you’re in for a peaceful treat. There are benches overlooking Quissett Harbor in Falmouth, the Bass Hole boardwalk at Gray’s Beach in Yarmouthport, and the flat, extra-wide expanse of sand that is Nauset Beach in Orleans. Each town has its special spots, and when you experience them at their most tranquil, you remember what made it worth it all to get here.