Summers at the Cape...

Because no summer would be the same without a trip to the cape (as Bostonians always like to hautily say), my mom and I had to catch a ferry to Provincetown to really make her trip to Boston worthwhile and lasting. Just an hour and a half ride from Boston, across the Atlantic Ocean, is the town which first greeted the pilgrims on their maiden voyage to the Americas. We woke up early Saturday morning and hopped on the P-town Fast Ferry, and arrived to a bright and sunny day, hanging over the small, quaint community of Provincetown. Photo: our hair goin crazy in the fast ferry's fury across the water.


Photos: Buoys!; Cape Cod, fresh off the boat.




As soon as we stepped off the ferry, we made our way towards Pilgrim's Monument, a tall obelisk-type building built at the turn of the century to commemorate the landing of the mayflower. We climbed to the top of the hill it sits upon, and then climbed all 252 feet to the very top of the monument. Out of the small windows we were able to look down below at the small town, a perfect bird's eye view of all we had left to explore during the remainder of the day.




Photos: Taking a break in some nice wooden chairs; Emerging fall colors.




After walking around the town for a bite to eat, we headed toward the western edge of town to rent some bikes and further explore the beaches and nearby terrain. After a bit of negotiating and a reluctant agreement to wear helmets, my mom and I were both situated on a couple of comfort 18-speed bikes, and headed down the 8 miles of bike path, winding in and out of the sand dunes which run along the coast line. We had a lot of up and downs, hill after hill we combated gravity, but we peddled along pretty well, only having to stop once and accept defeat as we walked our bikes up a hill.




The terrain was beautiful, much like parts of Texas with juniper-like pine trees, except the ground was covered by a nice and gritty sand. As our energy waned and the beach called out to us, we took an hour to lay on the beach and sleep in the sun. Photos above and below: the beaches of Provincetown.







After biking, we just kept on keeping on and headed over the rather fortuitously located Provincetown museum, designed by my firm, Machado & Silvetti. 5 minutes til closing, we scurried inside and explained our point of visiting. A rather enthusiastic museum employee shared with us his love of the building and eagerly invited us inside to view the building. We didn't stay too long, as they were about to open their doors for their annual fancy-schmancy fundraising event, but we had just enough time to take a couple snapshots and admire the building up-close. Photos below: exterior of the museum--lots of beautiful wood-cladding; a wonderful detail on the lower half of the building--essentially concrete poured to resemble wood, which was incredibly delicate (not overdone or cheesy).






A really beautiful painting in the museum that looked amazing against the avocado green wall.










After visiting the museum we grabbed a delicious dinner at a waterside restaurant, Fanizzi's, and indulged in some seafood fare, including but not excluded to clam chowder and fish and chips. The day quickly came to a close, and we had to say our goodbyes to the Cape. A beautiful day, one that we can hopefully relive once again, if not in this lifetime, perhaps the next...