Advertisement
Published: August 13th 2006
Edit Blog Post
P2
Sand Dunes on the way to Ptown. Provincetown, MA is the "gay & lesbian" American Dream. It is white picket fences. Fresh cut grass. Beautiful flowers. A small town village atmosphere. Friendly locals and tourists. The corner grocery shops. The town bakeries. Kids playing in their yards. People walking their dogs. Locals and visitors riding bikes. People flying kites. People fishing. Kayaking. Canoeing. Lounging lazaliy in a boat. Sunning on a beach. Having lunch on the pier. Yes. Provincetown is like the gay suburbs -- however -- it is a suberb atmosphere with a "wilder" side. Provincetown is loaded with gay & lesbian nightclubs, cafes, restaurants, shops, drag shows, cinemas, museums, art galleries and host numerous special events throughout the year including Carnaval in August, Holly Folly in December, Family Gay Week in July, Women's Week in October and many, many others. Visit www.provincetown.com or www.ptown.org for up-to-the-minute info.
During the high season the town of Provincetown, particularly Commerical Street, takes on a "carnival" type atmosphere. There are street musicians, friendly drag queens promoting their nighttime shows, dance music blaring from stores, people dining alfresco and an overall vibe of FUN and SAFETY. It really is a DREAM world. Provincetown isn't just for gay men and women.
p4
Getting closer to Ptown Nope. It attracts people of all backgrounds. Gay & Straight. It is a beautiful thing. A gay & lesbian couple can feel just as safe walking hand and hand down the street as a straight couple could. Pride flags fly from everywhere. Homophobia, in my opinion, just doesn't exist in this small little enclave at the tip of Massachusetts. Literally every single hotel, inn or B&B, if not Gay & Lesbian owned/exclusive is gay & lesbian friendly. No matter where you stay -- you will feel safe and welcome. You can get around Provincetown by foot, bike or car. The most popular mode of transportation is bike. There is nothing more beautiful than riding down 6A past the beaches. It is breathtaking. The beaches that line 6A remind me of Key West. They even have a slight turquoise glow to them. Just like the keys.
April, me, my mother & Elizabeth spent a few days here last week. It always goes by so fast. The weather was perfect (low 80's and sunshine). The second you get on 6A past Truro you start seeing these beautiful sand dunes and marshes. You know you are minutes away from Provincetown (a.k.a. Ptown).
p5
One narrow road to paradise! Before you know it the Pilgram Monument shoots up and you have arrived! You start seeing same sex couples walking hand-in-hand, hugging, kissing -- being "normal"! Every one, gay and straight, interacts with each other. You can smell the delicious food being cooked from the many restaurants that call Ptown home. I always get an excited butterfly feeling in my chest when I arrive here. Ptown, to me, embodies -- FUN! Another thing April and I love about Ptown are its wonderful shops. Many times in small villages the shops are your standard souviner "stuff" -- but not here! Ptown has great (very hip/modern) clothing stores, funky-one-of-a-kind gift shops, a VERY cool and ALWAYS fun Army Navy type store that sells EVERYTHING and ANYTHING! There are gay themed shops. Art galleries. Jewelry stores. Pet stores. Literally -- a little bit of everything. The same applies to the restaurants. You can find everything from casual to gourmet. You can dine waterfront, by candlelight or alfresco on Commerical street and enjoy people watching. There are great bakeries, cafes, coffee shops, juice bars and even an internet cafe. It doesn't end there! Ptown also has some great theatres, an atrsy cinema, live music
p3
Beautiful Provincetown venues and, of course, the drag shows. A perfect day is going for breakfast, hitting the shops, sunning on the beach, going to dinner, seeing a show and people watching. Nice! Some popular tourist attractions include whale watch cruises and sand dune tours.
April and I stayed at The Commons Guesthouse. Their web site was VERY misleading. It said it was a "boutique style hotel" -- but it was more like an "antique style guesthouse". I have no idea why they said it was a hotel??? The room(s) are in major need of renovation if they want to consider themselves a boutique hotel. This was the only down side to our trip (especially since the room rate was $207 per night). The atmosphere of this place was also semi-snobby which just doesn't blend in with the rest of Ptown. The staff was nice but the owners were RUDE with a capital R!!! We were waiting over 20 minutes for someone to check us in when we arrived, tell us where to park and help with our bags. Having been to a gazillion places throughout North America, this was a complete let down of service. On a positive note their
p1
Welcome to Provincetown, MA free breakfast (which you get at their onsite restaurant) was nice. You don't have a choice in what you get. It is one thing. Breakfast included a bagel, granola, yogurt and fresh fruit. Yummy! Another positive was it's location -- right on Commercial Street. You are in the heart of everything. Would we stay here again? Nope. But it was an experience! 😊) Mom & Elizabeth stayed at The Masthead Resort which is located at the far end of Commerical Street (closer to the Race Point Beach). This waterfront hotel has been voted the best waterfront hotel by Frommers.
We had fun in Provincetown and can't wait to go back. We are SO lucky to live as close to this paradise as we do (less than 2 hours from Providence, RI). Cape Cod, as a whole, is GORGEOUS and filled with the most adorable small towns and gorgeous beaches. Every season is special here. Hopefully we'll get to spend a week or two here next year and explore parts of the Cape we have yet to see. I can't wait to visit Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket! My childhood memories of both these islands are very fond, but it has
p6
Driving down Commerical Street been WAY TOO long since I have been there. Hopefully Ape and I will make it there soon.
I hope you enjoy the pictures we took!
I think our next destination may be Vermont/New Hampshire to see the foliage this September. I may also be going on a business trip to Orlando in September and Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando in October. In November or December we are hoping to visit Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Canada and then we hit our official 2007 TRAVEL SEASON! January-June! We are hoping to travel extensively throughout Mexico and the Caribbean this year!!!! But those who know April and I know that NOTHING Is ever written in stone. We could end up in Europe or Alaska for all I know! LOL!
Until next time...
Happy Travels! :-D
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0388s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb