One of my dear friends bought a dream home in a place that is special to him: Provincetown, affectionately known as P-Town. It is at the northern-most point of Cape Cod and is known as a LGBTQ+ haven. Some opt to take a ferry in from Boston. This is exactly what I did.
Ferry Ride Over
Operating during summer and early fall, the ferry ride takes an hour and a half and can cost over $100 for a roundtrip ride (steep, I know). It’ll drop you off at MacMillan Pier and much of the town is walkable from there.
Things to Do in P-Town
Bike to a Beach
My friend pointed me towards Arnold’s Where You Rent Bikes on Commercial St. and I followed GPS about 3.5 miles to Race Point Beach. I’ve biked under various situations and found the ride to be pretty safe for cyclists.
A pair running towards the shore. I can totally relate to this feeling!
It was the thick of summer, but I never found any issues finding a nice spot of solitude on the sand. I even saw seals!!!! Honestly, the first one came across as some sort of prehistoric sea monster. Once I realized what animal it was, I enjoyed trying to spot them along the water.
Parties
I don’t claim to be an expert on parties anywhere in the world. I’m much more of a cafe-beach-bike-hike girly. However, my friend has a solid community in this part of the Cape and took me to a weekly gathering meant for people to see and be seen. Some people dressed all the way up, but even more were dressed casually. I recall looking over the railing at the beach below and seeing a woman dancing across the beach to the beat of her own drum. There was also an interior room with a DJ and people having a good time on the dancefloor.
Strolling Around
If you’ve seen other posts on my blog, you know going for a leisurely stroll and taking in street art is one of my favorite things to do while traveling. I appreciate the time such a pace grants me in really taking in my surroundings. Click through on just a few of the nice things I spotted:
- Interesting name for a store
- It was still the covid era
- How fun
Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum
This place comes at a steep cost — about a $20 entrance fee. To be honest, I didn’t find many things to be cheap in Provincetown, but I did thoroughly enjoy my stop here. I love any time I can enjoy heights, so it was nice to climb the winding 116 stairs to the top of the monument.
Inside, there was a wonderful exhibit with recreations of what it was like to live in Provincetown throughout various periods of time that also highlighted famous writers with an affinity for P-Town and the community characters who had made a local name for themselves. I wondered what it would be like to find a community I could adore in the same way long-term one day. And as a writer, I poured over the descriptions from famous writers who felt spending time in Provincetown was crucial to their artistic development.
How precious!
Whalers Wharf
My host introduced me to his friend, a local artist and shop owner. It was so soothing to see this man in his zone, painting and getting a chance to sell his creations in this vibrant town. It was yet another moment of admiration for the art inspired by this sparkling community.
Whalers Wharf also had many other craft stores, clothing shops, and a few food options as well.
Food
You’ll notice I haven’t discussed what I ate as much on this trip as I do for others. At the time, I was still fighting against fibroids and trying out a stint as a plant-based vegan. That means that besides açaí bowls at Mama Matcha Green Bar and yummy salads and nori wraps from Grab n’ Go Health Bar, I was largely fixing meals inside my friend’s home. I don’t currently feel like I have the same discipline to keep up a diet like this, especially as I enjoy consuming seafood when in beach towns, but I have to admit that despite still battling the pain of fibroids at the time, so many other aspects of my health greatly improved while I was plant-based.
I drank a lot of tea during this trip and loved the quote on this tea bag!
Pilgrims’ First Landing Park
Parks are another one of my great loves. It’s so relaxing to sit down and take in the natural world around me.
One of my favorite things about this park were the stone tiles in the ground below. People permanently etched in commemorative messages and even marriage proposals:
- An important quote to me then and now
- Do you think Leah said yes?
- A reminder
Conclusion
This was pretty much the jist of this trip. I got some great quality time with one of my best friends and his P-Town tribe and also plotted on how I would make a trip to Japan happen. Due to a series of events and being as sick as I was, it would be three more years before I embarked on that trip. But as they say,
all in good time <3
I’ve passed these stairs in Boston a number of times and this trip was no different
