P'TOWN CONTINUED

There at times that owning a timeshare works well.  Trading is one option that certainly allows you to travel all over the country, if not the world.  What's important when you buy is that "worst comes to worst" you want to actually spend a week at the venue that you purchased.

I bought timeshare at Eastwood at Provincetown in the early 1980's.  The amenities itself consists of having tennis courts, an outdoor pool, two hot tubs (one is above ground), a washer and dryer on the premises, a place to BBQ and a clubhouse.  All of the units are fully furnished with a full kitchen.  That means you can stock up at Stop & Shop and do your own cooking.  That doesn't mean  that you won't want to dine out.

I went to some of the newest dining spots in town as well as some with new locations.  Dining al fresco can't get better when at the Aquarium Mall.  There was an aquarium there in the 1970's and although gone for many years, the name is kept and it's sort of a "food court" with a few other stores.  If you go back toward the water, there is a deck with tables and chairs and the most fabulous view of the Provincetown Harbor. 

Native Cape Cod Seafood has Jason Ken to thank for the cooking.  I sampled a mussel-leek-saffron soup that was so delish.  Best lunch deal is the Native Fish Pockets.  A grilled tortilla was filled with a decent size piece of cod (the fish changes by what is fresh caught), roasted corn salsa, cabbage, and a cilantro-lime aioli.  You get two of them for $9.95 and....wait for it...it comes with french fries.  The company has a bar on the deck.

Two great places for dessert.  My favorite, of course is I Dream of Gelato, directly across from Native.  Connie's Provincetown Bakery moved to the mall. Cakes, cookies, pastries and breads. Brown Bag Lunch for $10 gets you either sandwich, coleslaw and cookie or street pie, green salad and cookie.

Pick a Wednesday for lunch and dinner here.  Make sure you go down to 260 Commercial St. and visit the Rose Dorothea Schooner Library for five reasons.  1. You can use their computers to go online at no cost.  Half an hour or longer is no one is waiting.  2.  They show a movie in the early evening at no cost.  3. Enjoy the view of the harbor of P'Town.  4. Sculpture of The Tourists by Chaim Gross in front.  5.There is a replica of the Rose Dorothea Schooner built in the middle of the library! 

This should remind you that there are several boat trips that leave out of MacMillan Pier, including a few via the Viking Princess. The boat is US Coast Guard certified for 49 passengers and 2 crew, so you won't get a crowd of people.  Rather than doing a "whale watch" as some of the other vessels at the pier do, opt for their Critter Cruise or historic Harbor Tour.  As they travel around the harbor, critters lurking towards the bottom of the bay are scooped up and brought aboard for both kids and adults to examine under lenses.  A lobster trap is hauled up to check out not just lobsters but various types of crabs as well.  508-487-7323.

MacMillan Pier has been renovated these past five years.  Entering from town you can see the new sign and garden.  As you continue along the walkway, you will easily spot many shacks the closest of which are being used for artists.  It not only allows for the artists to pay less than a gallery but for tourists to make purchases coming to and from the ferry at the end of the pier.

A new restaurant opened on Commercial Street, a few blocks West of Sips and Lix.  Far from the idea of "juicing", Local 186 focuses on burgers and just beef.  You can get them made with sushi grade tuna, turkey, veggies and lamb.  I opened with a salad called The Lobster (being in P'Town) with local greens, lobster, avocado, bacon, green beans, and tomatoes.  This was proceeded by a Build Your Own starting with an 8 oz. Snake River Farms Kobe burger, smoked Gruyere, sauteed wild mushrooms and fried egg.  Had a side of fried grilled pickles.


Talk of the town was Sage Inn and Lounge, located a few spots away from the library.  The former Pilgrim House of years ago is now a lounge, with a back room for events and rooms upstairs.  It may be the only hotel open year round as well as having an elevator.  An herb wall lies just near the entrance of the inn used by the chef in drinks and tapas. The lounge is set with a living room atmosphere to chat, drink and enjoy small bites of savory food.  Some of the items that I sampled were: a deconstructed clam chowder; oysters on the half shell atop a cloud of lemon mousse; crab cake crusted with panko and avocado mousse; pork belly with a sweet onion jam and cracklins.  Comfy place. Then again all of P'Town seems comfy!





 

PROVINCETOWN DAY 1

It's been three years since I've gone to Provincetown aka P'Town, Massachusetts, located at the tip of Cape Cod. I Jetblued to Boston and then took Cape Air to P'Town.  Checking in at JFK I noticed that my itinerary did not include the Cape Air trip.  In fact, I was to claim my checked luggage in Boston and then check in at Cape Air.  With a week in P'Town, I did need more than just a carry on and Jet Blue allows for one free checked bag.  So, why could I not just go on to P'Town?

Cape Air's 8 seater airplanes call for a distribution of weight.  They not only have to weigh any bags going on the plane but ask your approximate weight as well.  The Jet Blue crew did much to assist in the transfer matter as well as my enjoyment of the flight. I would in fact love to thank the following:  Captain Frank Lombardo, First Officer John Sven Kleven, flight attendants Phillip Heller (who reminded us that the tray table is not to be used as a changing table), Nakir Abdul Kabir and Daniel Rajcoomar.

The trip from Boston to P'Town took about 25 minutes and a lot smoother than I thought it would be.  There is an elevator that I was able to use to get to Cape Air's plane as I am unable to deal with the 30 stairs down to the ground. With several choices of transportation from New York to P'Town, this one is the fastest.  Jet Blue is paired with Cape Air and the gates are not far away.

I find the P'Town airport to be such a hoot.  There is a basic large piece of metal that reads, "Baggage Claim". If you are bored while waiting for a plane, you can sit in the vending machine room and do a jigsaw puzzle.

I asked the nice guy behind the counter to call Mercedes Cab to take me to Eastwood At Provincetown. Taxis are regulated in this town.  Six dollars to go from anywhere in town with the exceptions of McMillan Pier, the airport and the beach area, the price of which is 8 dollars.

P'Town has a shuttle bus which charges 2 dollars to board (1 dollar for seniors).  There are no specific stops in town other than McMillan Pier.  You flag it down and tell them where you need to get off.   It's season was ending that weekend, so the rest of the week meant using Mercedes Cab.

I think it's about a mile from Eastwood to the center of town.  Years ago it was walkable.  I am much older and require a cane, if you get my drift. Hmm...three years ago I was able to climb to the top of the Pilgrim Monument.

This weekend was the last few days of the Tennessee Williams Festival.  I took one of the plays in the afternoon at the Provincetown Theatre.  There seemed to be 4 short plays of which one was This Property Is Condemned.  The cast consisted of actors from Italy.  In each of the plays, one actor would speak in Italian and the other in English but not as if one was translating.  It was very difficult to follow without having read up on the plots.  Live background music was much a part of each of the theatrical performances at the festival.

Dinner was at a new restaurant called Hot L Bar & Grille, just steps away from the timeshare.  For those who have been there, Michael Shay's was sold and renovated.  What did I eat?

Rather than a basket of bread, out comes a few hush puppies accompanied by a cranberry butter.  Lobster Cod Cakes - a combo of lobster and cod done up as if you had crab cakes with bell peppers and some breading. Topped with a cajun sauce.

Lobster Corn Dog.  Instead of a corn dog that utilizes a hot dog, they take claw meat from the lobster and dip it in a beer batter.  You get a dipping sauce of horseradish, honey and mustard.

Get this one.  Wellfleet Oysters on the half shell topped with tuna sashimi and a dollop of wasabi sauce.  Baby Wedger of Iceberg lettuce topped with bleu cheese, bacon, chopped eggs, grape tomatoes and a buttermilk dressing.  Onto Kale Soup the Portuguese specialty of P'Town.  In case you are not aware, it's still considered to be a Portuguese fishing town.  The soup consists of kale (of course), kidney beans, tomato broth and linguica, a Portuguese sausage.

Entree was Pulled Pork with a Jack Daniels sauce.  Hot L does there own smoking.   The pork came with corn bread, baked beans, and cranberry cole slaw.  Dessert?  Couldn't resist a chocoholic's chocolate cake. 

Btw...at the end of the week I checked out the lunch menu and sampled a Lobster Grilled Cheese sandwich, Reuben Sandwich and a burger so that I could taste not just the burger but their special BBQ sauce.

More Provincetown Trip

First group of youtube is at the Townsend Lobster and Seafood Restaurant on Shankpainter Rd. as I'm interviewing Chris Townsend. We definitely had time for a lobster...but there's that animal cracker trying to get some!

The next group is when Barb, Nancy and I got that awesome tour of the East Dennis Oyster Farm owned by John Lowell and his absolutely wonderful wife Stephanie. Photos and video by Nancy Kozicki