And then there was P-Town

Happy Thursday, people!

Growing up in Florida, I'd always heard of 'The Cape' and 'The Vineyard' but I'd never been.  See, Floridians take Winter vacations when all the Northeast snowbirds head south. But we rather like our sunshine state and enjoy sticking around in the summer once all of the spring breakers and would-be-sun-worshipers have long departed. SO, I've never been to 'The Cape' (a.k.a. Cape Cod).

That all changed this past weekend when Mike and I randomly decided to pack up after our German beer experience and head, uhhh... East? North? Northeast?  Yea, one of those.  With no plans but to drive to the end of the cape, we packed an overnight bag and hit the road at the lovely hour of 6am.  Of course, Mike packed a backpack and I packed a duffle bag big enough for me to fit in... options, right?

We drove and it was beautiful.  It's not what I expected, but it was still lovely.  I was anticipating open beach island and being able to see the water from both sides, but it's rather wooded and you can't see the beach for all of the sand dunes. But, those dunes were beautiful and I enjoyed looking from right to left, left to right, to be sure I hadn't missed anything.

We decided to camp. Yes. In a tent. In the bed of the truck. Mike doesn't love camping, but I do and I thought it would suit our impromptu and low budget getaway.  We got a tent space at Dunes Camp Ground in Provincetown and went from there.  The camp site was a 10 minute walk into downtown P-Town (as they say) so we were right in the mix without paying out the nose for peak summer prices.

We made it just in time for the blessing of the fleet and the Portuguese festival.   Now for those of you that don't know Mike, he hates the sun and threatens that he's melting if we switch from the shady to sunny side of the street.  That said, we spent every few blocks ducking in to a bar for a cold drink and some cool air. I don't know if this is secretly his way of getting to have a little pub crawl, but it works. On the other hand, I want to be in the sun, have my drink outside, walk the streets and meet people. We compromise. Sometimes.

On Sunday, while on our little bar crawl, we met Peter and Bob, who took us in, showed us the ropes in P-Town, and gave us the inside scoop on the local things to do, places to eat, and general run-of-show.  Mike and I have a knack for meeting new friends most places we go, but I must say that this find, these two amazing fellas, they took the cake. We laughed, we gossiped, we caught up as if we'd known each other for 10 years or more.  Love.



Peter and Bob told us about the Tea Dance at Boatslip and assured us that it would be a fab time. They were right. Mike and I rolled in, not sure if we'd totally fit in with the crowd, but as soon as we hooked in with our new friends and their group, we felt right at home.  A bit of dancing, some lemon drop shots because.. why not?  This group of gentleman took us in, showed us P-Town the way it's meant to be seen, and won our hearts.

Us with Bob and Peter!

 With bellies filled with yummy drinks and plenty of lobster, we strolled back to our camp ground and had a great sleep, high atop the bed of a Ford F150.  We awoke to the sun and the chirping of birds and the smell of salt air.  I felt at home. Ahhhh... longing for Florida.

We stopped in to Newport, RI on our way home.  It's our favorite place.  We hit up a few old standbys for food and fun and then made the trek back to CT where our vacay came to an end. Bittersweet. What fun we had for not having a plan. What amazing people we met: Paul 'the mayor', Peter and Bob, P & B's friends.  This was one for the memory books.

Yours in gulf coast dreams,

Whitney