Cape Cod’s Provincetown, or P-town as it’s known locally, is a classic gay vacation spot and for good reason

BY OLIVIA KIENZEL

When I think of Provincetown, I don’t remember nightlife so much, or museums, or antique stores. I think of crossing the bay on a ferry on a hot late-summer’s evening, of taking a nap in a hammock in the garden of an inn, of the rustle of wind in the reeds on a stretch of sand at the furthest point of Cape Cod, of the view and the quiet and the sound of the waves from a porch high atop a hill. Think of having a beer and lobster po’ boy with friends in front of a huge open window at the Squealing Pig in the center of town, or chatting with an innkeeper about her past as a concert violist. Watching seagulls dash shellfish against rocks and gobble the soft insides. Seeing lighthouses up close for the first time after picking my way across a long jetty composed of rocks the size of cars, having every person I pass offer to take my picture and warn me about the poison ivy.

P-town, as they call it on the East Coast, tries to be many things to many people—and succeeds. There are special weeks during the year for women, film buffs, bears (the human variety), gay families, pirate lovers, and even Tennessee Williams fans. It’s a place where our brothers and sisters have been vacationing for ages, seemingly since the term “Boston marriage” was coined the first time. Still, it’s so quaint and friendly that straight people come here too. Whether drawn by the delicious seafood, the adorable and well-kept clapboard houses, or the history of this strange little outcropping that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, what really gets them is the charm. It’s natural, it’s friendly, it’s small in scale, and not too satisfied with itself. In short, for the gay Southern Californian, it’s another world entirely.

First thing a local would tell you is don’t miss out on Boston. Either catch it on your way out to the cape or on your way back. A fabulous town with some amazing architecture, museums, theater, nightlife, and dining—there’s also no sales tax on clothing in Massachusetts, so be sure to hit up Filene’s Basement (617/348-7848; www.filenesbasement.com) at some point during your stay.

Second, be sure to take the ferry. You could fly, or you could spend way too much time going the long way and drive there, but you don’t need a car in P-town and you really ought to experience the water crossing. (The cape is shaped like a flexed arm, with Boston at the shoulder and P-town at the knuckles, so to drive is to get there the hard way.) Bay State Cruise Company (877/PT-FERRY; www.baystatecruisecompany.com) offers regular service from Boston’s World Trade Center, which you can reach by a short water taxi ride with City Water Taxi (617/422-0392; www.citywatertaxi.com) from Logan Airport. Especially at times when there’s a lot of traffic on the roads, travel via water is the only way to go. There’s a reason why they call this the Bay State.

Once you get to P-town, you really have no end of options in terms of where to stay. This being New England, there are all kinds of proper inns offering everything from central locations with flat-screen TVs, big pools, and lavish breakfasts, like the distinguished Brass Key (508/487-9005; www.brasskey.com); to the home-y-ness offered at a fine property like the Fairbanks Inn (508/487-0386; www.fairbanksinn.com), with the aforementioned hammock in the garden, well-appointed rooms, and welcoming innkeepers that make you feel as though you’re staying with friends or family.

On the far west side of town, there’s the blissful respite offered by the beautiful Land’s End Inn (800/276-7088; www.landsendinn.com). A rambling and well-kept property perched high atop a hill, it has no phones or TV, but it does have sweeping views, gorgeous gardens, wraparound porches, and art nouveau elegance that spares no detail. There’s also a wine and cheese held on the porch where you can pump more seasoned visitors for information on where to go and what to do on the cape.

To fill your days, your options are also almost unlimited for such a small town. Lounging on the beach or around the pool is always nice, but eventually you’ll want to explore the shops along Commercial Street. Be sure to stop in at Good Scents (800/507-4164; 351 Commercial Street), where you can find anything from limited edition Lampe Berger (the perfect gift for one of those gay Massachusetts weddings) to a signature scent that no one back home is wearing.

If history is your thing, stop in at the Provincetown Public Library (508/487-7094; www.provincetowngov.org) and take a look at the huge ship that they’ve renovated the building around, or walk along the main drag and look for the small tiles bearing three wavy lines affixed to the fronts of some of the houses. These are known as floater homes and were originally located across the harbor, until they were floated to the site of the new town in the early 1800s. P-town is also the site of the Old Harbor Lifesaving Station (508/349-3785; www.nps.gov/history/maritime/park/oldhbrls.htm), a museum devoted to the numerous water rescues launched from its shores. Or, for those with more unusual historical tastes, there’s the Whydah Pirate Museum (508/487-8899; www.whydah.com).

If you want to explore more of what nature has to offer, you can walk past the western part of town and out across the jetty to the lighthouses, or rent a bike, or take a hike along the trails that branch off to the north and west of town to get a better look at the National Seashore (www.nps.gov/caco) and its sand dunes.

When it comes to eating, it might take an investment of time, some luck, and a willingness to take risks to find the perfect meal. Even a mediocre shrimp Caesar salad will set you back about 20 bucks at most places with a view, so instead, you might want to spend $15 on a lobster po’ boy at the Squealing Pig (508/487-5804; 335 Commercial St.), grab a $5 veggie burger on the boardwalk, or try out the South African restaurant, Karoo Café (508/487-6630; 338 Commercial St.) that just opened in the downtown core. You could also wander out east to the grocery store Angel Foods (508/487-6666; 467 Commercial St.), and get your hands on a truly gourmet picnic to take to the shore.

Or just follow your instincts and your nose. My favorite meal was at a small, authentic-looking trattoria that my friend and I wandered into on the western edge of town called Sal’s Place (508/487-1279; 99 Commercial St.). It had candles stuck into Chianti bottles, checkered tablecloths, and the soundtrack to The Godfather playing but it also had an amazing linguini alla vongole, the best cannelloni I’ve ever tasted, authentic Amaro for after your meal, and an almost overly convivial owner stationed at the front register—complete with a Jersey accent and generous girth—greeting patrons and talking sports to anyone who came within earshot.

No matter how you decide to occupy yourself in Provincetown, the one thing you will unquestionably get is away from it all. I hadn’t been back to the area since I graduated from college 10 years ago and I’d forgotten how friendly everyone was—not in a servile way, but in a proud sort of East Coast way. They’ll spend 20 minutes out of their busy day telling you about the history of their town because they love it and because that’s what you do for visitors. They’ll sit in the living room of their inn and trade life stories with you over tea because that’s why they opened an inn—and because that’s just the way things are done in P-town; after all, we are family.