P-Town

 

Street scene in Provincetown, MA

I visited Provincetown, MA on Saturday. A friend of mine received free tickets to take the people ferry from Plymouth to Provincetown and I offered to go with her. Although she is a Boston native, she hadn’t been to P-Town for more than 50 years.

 

For those of you unfamiliar with P-Town it is located on the tip of what seems like a sandspit at the very end of Cape Cod. Many years ago, I remember it being quaint and the place to go if you wanted to enjoy some whale watching. For many years P-Town has been one of the more openly gay communities on the East Coast. Over the last several years, Provincetown has become one of the busiest seaport tourist attractions where people come from all over New England and elsewhere primarily to shop and eat at the many kitschy shops and restaurants. Posh spas and exclusive B&Bs for the well-heeled have fluorished practically overnight.

 

We arrived in P-Town on this busy Labor-Day Weekend at about 11:30a. Since I hadn’t eaten any breakfast, I suggested that we head to one of my favorite eating spots, Bubala’s. Although we had hoped to eat outdoors, there was a large line waiting for outdoor seating so we moved indoors at were seated at windows overlooking Cape Cod Bay. I was hungry and knew exactly what I wanted – whole fried clams and french fries. Although Susan loves fried clams, she hesitated ordering them because the freshest clams with the biggest bellies are associated with Essex/Ipswich, MA , up near Cape Ann, where she likes to go to eat her clams. Beggars can’t be choosers when you have a hankering for clams however. I explained to her that Bubala’s clams are very fresh, although perhaps not as big-of-belly as she is used to. When the clams arrived she was pleasantly suprised at the fresh taste AND big bellies. So for an hour or so we savored clams, fries and iced tea, a great New England summer repast.

After lunch we ambled up Commercial Street which is the main drag through Provincetown with all its shops, galleries, bars, restaurants, and B&Bs. We first stopped at Forbidden Fruits, one of my favorite shops in P-Town. The store contains a fabulously eclectic mix of home decor, most of which you probably wouldn’t put into your own home. I ususally go for the extraordinary array of Day-of-the-Dead collectibles, none of which I purchased this trip. The shop was filled this time with Katrinas and retablos which have become way over-priced. But they were fun to look at. 

Cottage Garden in P-Town

Susan and I continued to stroll up Commercial street, enjoying the cottage gardens and the many small art galleries. One in particular caught our attention. Inside was the M.I.T. exhibit – Men in Tutus. The artist was in her gallery having just returned from an exhibit in New York. You can see some of her work here:

http://www.menintutus.net/ . The exhibit was remarkable for its dexterity and color. She had a video of the men preparing for their photoshoot by training with a dance instructor. Many of the men had their young children with them. It was fun to watch their kids wide-eyed with wonder at their Dads performing. I sat mezmerized enjoying every moment.

There seem to be a lot more galleries in P-Town this visit. I don’t remember there being so many, but we must have visited most of them. We also visited Tim’s Used Books where Susan spent a good bit of time looking for First Editions that she was interested in. I picked up a First Edition of Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks which Connie enjoyed reading. I also found a good clean copy of Paul Auster’s Timbuktu.

It was a great trip to P-Town although both of us grew tired of the busy holiday crowds quickly. We made it back to the return ferry by 4:00p and enjoyed a relaxing trip back to Plymouth. It was a good day.