P-town Revisited

[Moors, West End of Provincetown; 8/14/10]

I read somewhere earlier this summer that people enjoy vacations more when they do something new versus going back to where they had a great time before. On the other hand, it's also nice to go to a place that feels like home away from home -- I'm thinking of when my parents lived year-round at the New Hampshire seacoast, where we also used to go for vacations when I was young, and I still always love going there.

This past weekend, D and I went to Provincetown and stayed at the same inn we stayed at last year on our first vacation together. We thought of other places to go, but somehow it seemed easiest to plan to go back to P-town and we loved the quiet West End of town out by the moors, the furthest point in Provincetown, which is the furthest point on Cape Cod. Things are always a little different when you go back -- this year the weather was cooler than last year's heat wave, there was no power outage to contend with this year!, and the sunsets were not quite as spectacular absent the humid conditions -- but in many ways it was more relaxing. We still managed to shake things up a little by exploring some new things while still going back to some of the same shops, the Portuguese bakery with the scrumptious chocolate croissants, a couple of restaurants we'd liked before, and so forth.

[View from Sal's restaurant, Commercial Street, P-town]

One thing we did that was new was to rent bicycles and ride the bike paths, which run past beaches, through the dunes, and through the scraggy beech forest. That was on Sunday, when the weather was a bit overcast and just perfect for cycling. The trails goes up a few steep inclines and down others, and we had to occasionally walk our bikes up for short stretches, but other cyclists on the trail were lovely and the paths -- we did the 8-mile loop -- were accommodating to all ages and abilities of riders. It let us see another side of Provincetown, a "wild side" in the more literal sense.

[Bike paths, Provincetown dunes]

Of course there's the other "wild side" of P-town. We were there the same time last year, just as Carnival Week was getting started. It's an annual gay and lesbian party, though it must be said that the gays are way more visible. Those boys have more fun than anyone else on the planet, I swear. Anyway, this year's theme was Jungle Fantasy, and some of the inns and guest houses decorated in style.

[On Commercial Street, P-town; 8/15/10]

It was nice to get away from work and enjoy the sea and scenery, good food, and a rest and break from work. To see more photos from my trip, take a look at my Flickr set for Provincetown 2010.

[The moors, Provincetown West End]

Comments

[maria]

Lovely photos -- all suggesting that a relaxing time had been had. Which is the point of a vacation, isn't it?

[Relatively Retiring]

It sounds and looks lovely.
I especially like the cycle paths - even I would cycle in such conditions. The UK lags behind in the provision of safe cycling routes, but Sustrans is doing its best.

[Sky]

ooh, i love that last photo! now i will go look at the others. glad you got a break. we look forward to our own.

[Leslee]

Maria: Thanks, it was relaxing - at least when we got out there. The drive out on Friday took forever, with much stop and go traffic. At least the ride back on Monday was easy.

RR: It is lovely, and the weather was very comfortable. The bike paths are a godsend. We'd have never have tried to bike out there otherwise. I hope you get more of them where you are.

Sky: Thanks, and enjoy your vacation!

[Lorianne]

It sounds like you had a great time, traffic notwithstanding. (If you go again next summer, I'd recommend the passenger ferry, assuming you can go without a car once you're there. It's fast and worry-free, since someone else is driving.)

Given the many fond stories I hear from my students about annual family vacations at familiar campgrounds, summer cottages, and the like, I have to question that article that says it's better to try new places. It sounds like it was trying to "sell" exotic, once-in-a-lifetime vacation spots!

[Leslee]

Lorianne: One could easily get around P-town without a car - we walked from our inn into town every night, there are shuttles to the beaches, and bikes are available. We took a pedi-cab back from town one night! But we did want to visit Wellfleet and other spots on the Cape on the return trip.

I think the point of the article (can't find it anymore) is that trying to recreate a fondly remembered fabulous vacation is bound to be disappointing (it probably wasn't really as good as your memories of it, for one thing!). My second trip to Mexico was more relaxing, but it wasn't the astonishing experience of my first eye-opening trip. But I think a "trip" is different from an annual vacation at a familiar beloved spot. They both have their merits.

[Lisa]

The photos are truly magical!

[Leslee]

Thanks, Lisa. And good luck with the delivery!!