Come to think of it, it isn’t entirely true to say you can’t go East when in Boston – you just can’t drive as it’s all Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean in between you and Provincetown.
There’re a couple of ways too to get to the small town: by air, by ferry, or by fast ferry. The latter would get us from Boston to Provincetown harbor in 90 minutes over the approximately 100 km distance over sea, but it would cost a royal bomb at USD168 for a pair of return tickets – ouch!
There was of course the option of driving south from Boston along the Interstate, then make a sort of U-shape drive around Cape Cod Bay. The 182km drive would take 5 hours, and on weekends, possibly 2-3 hours longer. Everyone we spoke to said it would be crazy to drive driving to Provincetown during weekends. So, it was the fast ferry for us on the Sunday morning trip:
The fast ferry – Provincetown III – looked like a recently commissioned vessel with most of the luxuries of a mid-class ferry. Carpets, comfortable and roomy seats, air-conditioning, full galley and the like. I guess you get what you pay for.
The ferry departed Boston at 8:30 AM. Below is a picture I took from the ship’s stern of the Boston skyline:
The journey took just over 90 minutes and was pretty smooth and comfy. So comfortable that the both of us napped for most of it. It was pretty cloudy when we arrived at Provincetown though at past 10:00 AM.
Provincetown is a very small town of just about 3,100 residents, though its population swells by several factors during the holiday periods with many persons coming to stay at their vacation homes. The most distinctive feature of the town is its Pilgrim Memorial Monument, a tower that overlooks the island:
There are two streets that run almost parallel to the coast line of the town: Commercial Street that runs on either side of the town’s harbor and the town’s main commercial and art district, and Old King’s Highway, which isn’t an expressway by any measure: just a two lane road further inland with mostly residential houses and many small inns and guest houses.
If there’s any one thing I can say about small towns like this, it’s that the houses are all so colorful and wonderfully decorated with flower beds and landscaping as much as the house’s space allows.
The first spot we checked out was the Pilgrim Memorial Monument. It was a gentle walk uphill, passing through small town America. Below is Provincetown High School – and yep, it looks exactly like a frame out of The Simpsons.:)
Our visit to the Monument was memorable and deserves a post on its own (see next post). On our return back to the town area, we further explored the place. Below is the Chamber of Commerce, again the first-stop information center for visitors:
The Provincetown Town Hall:
The front of the Town Hall stood a statue of what looked like a British (or Aussie) World War II soldier. I didn’t read the statue’s plaque – there were a couple of big dudes sitting at the statue’s base and blocking and plaque, and I didn’t think about getting them to move.
Provincetown has a reputation of it being a gay town too, and there were many (as in a lot) of male-male and female-female couples about. Most of their activity was low-key, but several were holding hands, sitting on each other’s laps and the like. There was a funny cafe that was touting customers from the street – the cafe had male strippers, trannies, and cross-dressers in the cabaret performances. We didn’t take photos though – something Matt regretted LOL.
OK; very short video I took just after we landed and looking a little lost:
Next post is on the Monument itself.:)
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