June 2024
Day Trip to Provincetown, MA – Cape Cod
The official first landing of the Mayflower, a literal one light town, oldest continuing art colony in the country, and largest LGBTQ communities in the country – Provincetown is truly a destination unto itself. And my goodness, we absolutely loved it here.
Our first stop was our way into town at the Sand Dunes which compromise a third of the coastline and there is a trail to walk the dunes to the water. This trail is only a mile each way for a total for 2 hours round trip but if you have ever walked in the sand, climbing the dunes is physically challenging especially as there is no shade. The signs clearly indicate that if you are planning on completing the entire thing to stay “on trail” which is to move in a straight line to avoid getting lost or stuck. I did not have the desire to hike the entire thing but climbing a dune sounded like a good time and right at the start of the trail is one big dune. And climbing was indeed challenging as your feet just sink to the bottom – I can’t imagine what this must be like when the sand is super hot. But going down takes a matter of seconds. The view from the top is great as you can see the ocean on one side and Provincetown on the other. When we returned to the car, it was essential that we emptied our sneakers of sand and it was comical how much we had just from climbing the one hill.
We passed through the one traffic light of Provincetown and were immediately transported to the incredible downtown. Since it was later in the day, free parking was long gone and we paid for a lot by the pier – a going rate of 15-20$ for the day during our visit. We were surprised just how big the downtown area was and we could not wait to get started. Once surprising thing is that down Commercial Street where most of the action is located, cars are still permitted – there are people everywhere and it would really benefit from making this pedestrian only, especially as there are parts without sidewalk. In speaking with some of the locals, it seems to be a point of contention so it is disappointing – it would certainly save them money on all the traffic guards we encountered to regulate the cars and the pedestrians.
I wanted to make sure we did a thorough review of Commercial Street so we started in the direction of some of our must do stops. First, the Portuguese Bakery. Opened in 1936, this bakery serves traditional Portuguese pastries and more. Knowing we had lots to explore, we kept it light, ordering a pasteis de nata and bolas de berlin – both very tasty. And while we have not been to Portugal yet to try the real deal, this pasteis de nata tasted very authentic and the popularity of the bakery seemed to validate that.
Our next stop is a Provincetown establishment – The Lobster Pot. While this did come recommended, I will be honest I was very skeptical of the quality at a place that is shelling out countless lobsters a day. We were welcomed inside and sat immediately at the upstairs patio and the wow factor hooked me – the view from here was stunning, overseeing the beach, ocean, and the ferry ports that shuttle people back and forth from Boston and Plymouth. This was the moment of relaxation that vacation had begun.
Read our dining review for The Lobster Pot – does it live up to the hype? Find out here!
Now that we checked food off the list for a while, we decided to continue walking down Commercial Street, bopping into any store that interested us and there were a ton of fun shops. East End Books, Puzzle Me This, Fudge Factory, 361 Cafe, Provincetown Bookshop, Glass Half Full, and so many more that we enjoyed and I am sure we missed more. I was surprised how large the downtown area is and how much is stacked into these blocks. This is definitely a great place to have a scooter to get around and we spotted several along our walk of Commercial Street. One thing we did not get to do was visit the Pilgrim Monument – apparently from the top you can see Boston on a clear day!
For dinner, Ciro and Sal’s was recommended to us several times and I snagged a reservation for this popular spot. Opening in 1954 as a coffee and sandwich shop, Ciro and Sal’s has been a staple and permanent fixture in Provincetown. The current owner started working in the kitchen in 1967 so this is certainly a restaurant of tradition.
Read about our dining experience at Ciro and Sal’s here!
Sunset was in twenty minutes so we had enough time to grab the car and drive to Race Point Beach. I read this was a great spot for sunset and even though we were on the east coast, due to the curling of the peninsula, this part of Cape Cod faces west. We sat on the beach and watched a beautiful sunset. I fully expected the beach to be crowded but it was actually pretty empty so I wonder if this is something people know about. We associate sunsets like this with our California trips so it was very special to experience it so close to home.
I was not sure we would have time in the rest of the trip to come back to Provincetown but our full half day was a great showcase of what there is to do. You can easily spend the entire weekend or longer in Provincetown alone and I can definitely see us returning here in the future.