Provincetown

We went to Provincetown, MA, yesterday. P-Town (as it is known for short) is at the tip of Cape Cod and is apparently where the pilgrims first landed before deciding that Plymouth was a better spot. P-Town is really a summer vacation place; people come here, go to the beach, look at the galleries (there is also an artists’ colony here) and so on. It is also the “San Francisco” of the East, P-Town is where people can be themselves. Check out the pictures of P-Town and of people being themselves here.

The ferry ride to P-Town was great fun.
It was a fast ferry – and we learnt what that meant when we went to the top deck. The wind literally whips your breath away! The one who loved it most was my classmate’s little daughter.


When we got to P-Town we took the shuttle to Race Point Beach which is supposed to be a very pretty beach. Well, we got there just before noon and the sun was just radiating and reflecting off the water and the sand. It wasn’t as hot as in, say, Phuket, but it was certainly warm enough to make the lot of us (clad in pants, shirts etc) feel decidedly overdressed particularly when other people were in swimming costumes. But the sun was bright, the sea was very blue and the horizon stretched to infinity. Nonetheless, we didn’t stay long (or didn’t want to stay long) and took the shuttle back to P-Town for lunch and to wander around the town.

P-Town itself was very crowded. Partly because this is a holiday destination in the first place, and it is the end of summer. Partly also because there is a regatta being held the next day and these are the crowds coming in before the race. Other events were being held in conjunction with the regatta. During lunch, a vintage car procession passed through the street outside. Old, beautifully kept cars from the 1950s (or so I think) with their proud owners behind the wheel. Some were dressed in quite crazy/fun costumes – including a gorilla, Roman centurion, ladies in drag etc.

I think that sums up the whole spirit of P-Town – the architecture is mainly old town America, with wooden frame houses and small streets, and there is this slightly camp spirit about the place (ok, maybe more than just slightly camp). I went after lunch into some of the art galleries and other shops. The art galleries were interesting – a wide range of differing styles and subject matter. It did not occur to me to go into the leather shop (I thought it would have boring things like jackets and these would be better buys in say, Wrentham) but thereafter I was informed that there could be more interesting products, eg thongs, straps, etc. What a wasted opportunity.

Spent most of this afternoon watching the Project Runway Season 3 marathon. However, was pretty drowsy and dozed off half the time, including at the announcement of results for two shows. Well, since it is a marathon I find out who got sent home pretty quickly. The designers are not as colourful as those in Season 2 (but then, who can be as entertaining as Santino?) but there were a few tiffs, including one designer insulting the mother of another and causing her to break down in tears.