Provincetown

Whew! Back from Provincetown, where I had never been before last week. I definitely hope to return. It's a terrific place, low-key (at least at this time of year), quaint and artistic.

It's just what you'd expect -- lots of shingled, Cape Cod-style houses, a business district that looks straight out of 1955 (if you don't look too closely at the store windows!), docks, boats and seafood. Of course it's also a gay mecca, but the season hasn't really started up yet, so right now there are just a few scattered people on the streets and none of the flash and disco thump that comes later in the summer.

We had a great time despite occasionally inclement weather and the off-season atmosphere. I was worried when we first got there on Monday -- we were just in time for a rainstorm that flooded out parts of Rhode Island and filled basements throughout the region. We went walking Monday night and found virtually nothing open on Commercial Street, the main drag. I thought, "Wow. This might be a long five days!"

We were pretty much trapped in our guesthouse room on Tuesday. We read and watched movies -- fortunately our guesthouse had an excellent selection of loaner DVDs!


Finally on Wednesday and Thursday we were able to venture out, and though it was still gray the town became more lively. April 1 seems to be the magic date for many of the businesses to emerge from hibernation, and work crews were spiffing up the buildings and moving in new stock. We found several restaurants open (of varying degrees of quality) and we were able to go up in the wind-whipped Pilgrim Monument that towers over town.

Unfortunately, The Lobster Pot, which I photographed and posted a few days ago, was not among the open restaurants. In fact, I went the whole week without eating lobster. It's surprisingly scarce on menus -- we found it in one place for $42, which is too rich for my unemployed blood.


By Friday, the weather had improved substantially and we had lots of sun. Dave and I walked out on the breakwater that connects Provincetown to Long Point, across the harbor. We tried to take Ernie and Ruby but the rocks proved a little too treacherous, and they spent the morning in the car, lounging in the breeze with the windows down. I actually got a light sunburn.

It did us a world of good to get away. Dave and I had a chance to talk and spend lots of quiet time with each other, and compare notes about what we want to do with our lives. Fortunately, we're both on the same page. We share very similar ideas about what we need and how we define success, and similar fears and frustrations in our creative lives.

We're so enamored with Provincetown we'd love to move there some day, though admittedly I still need to see it in season to get a complete sense of what I'm in for!

(Photos: Provincetown's East End, taken from the Pilgrim Monument; Long Point Lighthouse, taken from the deck of our guest house in town; Wood End Lighthouse, taken from the breakwater.)