Postcards From Susan: Yarmouth to Provincetown

After Hyannis, we headed off to our accommodations for the night, a lovely B&B in Yarmouth, Liberty Hill. It was by far the most elegant and hospitable B&B we have encountered. Martha made her reservations after we did, and by then they were full. They recommended another charming place within walking distance, Kings Inne, also charming.

When we arrived, they greeted us with wine and cookies. if that were not enough, each of our hosts John and Kris took a turn at the piano, entertaining us with various classical pieces. They made a recommendation for dinner, the Old Yarmouth Inn, and made a reservation for us. We walked to Martha's B&B to pick her up and walked together to the Inn for dinner, which included a spectacular lobster bisque, and easily the best clam chowder I have ever eaten. The entire dinner was delicious. We were glad of the walk back.

Since Liberty Hill had been unable to accommodate Martha, they had invited her to join us for breakfast the next morning. She walked over in the morning, and we enjoyed a variety of breakfast treats, including broiled grapefruit, oatmeal pancakes and fruit. Our hosts were delightful -- we were sorry to leave.

Martha's hosts recommended a short detour through the neighborhood where we could see the bay and a thatched-roof barn.

We stopped at the Cape Cod art museum, which was a disappointment, with none of the seascapes and rustic paintings we had expected. So quickly we were off to Provincetown to deliver Martha to the ferry to take her back to Boston so she could get back to her New Hampshire home for the rest of the holiday weekend. We turned in our car, hitched a ride back into town, and checked in to our Provincetown B&B, The Cook's Street Inn.

What we had not realized when we planned our trip was that we would be traveling over Memorial Day. Nor had we any clue what happens in Provincetown over Mrmorial Day. When we passed through a few days earlier it had been quiet and sleepy. When we returned it was busy and bustling. But what we really noitced was that the whole town was full of lesbians, most of them in their early twenties. It turned out that Memorial Day is their holiday in Provincetown. So we heterosexuals were pretty well outnumbered -- in fact, Tom was the only man staying at the B&B. But we very much enjoyed the other guests who gave us good advice about where to go and what to see.

The Cook's Street Inn

By this time it was late and rainy, so we found a nearby restaurant, and took the rest of the night off -- watching TV shows on the computer via Hulu.com.

The next day, our only full day in Provincetown, we followed instructions from the other guests and took a long walk along the main street to the other end of town. We saw any number of quaint old houses, many of them labeled with a year of construction or other historical detail.

Finally we got (almost) to the end of the Cape. It turns out that it curves around for some miles further, but this was far enough for us. And it was lunch time.

Don't ask, you don't want to go there; we wish we had't.

Because it was Memorial Day weekend, we learned that most people had made their dinner reservations at least the week before. So two of the places we were urged to go were booked, an another was way too far to walk. So we found one, Devon, in our guidebook, made an early reservation and were off.

Suffice to say that the meal was remarkable, especially this lobster cake in caviar roe sauce and strawberry salsa. A standard that will not be soon met.

Our ferry did not leave until 3:00 Monday, so we had enough time for two last sights -- the Pilgrim Monument and the art museum.

The tower was built to honor the Pilgrims who first landed here before heading off to Plymouth Rock where they had not ticked off the local Indians by stealing their corn. It is an odd looking thing, in Italian Renaissance style, looking more like something in Florence or Rome than Cape Cod. But there it was, all ninety-dozen steps and ramps. After checking out the really good museum at the bottom, we dutifully trudged to the top. The weather was poor and the air was filled with smoke from a Canadian forest fire, so the normally breathtaking view wasn't. But we could see and hear the town, where a band was playing patriotic music, and we could see the extensive cemetery going back at least 2 hundred years.