Beat the Heat of Warm Days Ahead with a Cooling Splash in Provincetown Harbor

Folks cool off at the West Vine Town Landing, next to Captain Jack's Wharf.

With this year's warmer-than-usual temperatures, it can be quite important to find ways to keep cool, like spending a little time in the water. The folks in this photo are cooling off at the Town Landing found at the foot of West Vine Street, next to Captain Jack's Wharf. Town Landings are found in spots all along Commercial Street, providing public access to the beaches on the edge of Provincetown's magnificent Harbor. There are footpaths and walkways leading to harbor beaches as well.
Each neighborhood has a Town Landing or a walkway to the harbor, and some areas have several. Use any of these to go for a walk on the beach (tide permitting) or to go for a swim, or to launch a canoe, kayak or raft. Town Landings can accommodate larger craft like rowboats and small motorboats, while the boat ramps at Flyer's and at the West End parking lot can accommodate bigger boats.
If you read my post on Earth Day, you may have already found some of these footpaths, walkways and Town Landings. Here's a list of current beach access points, eliminating the footpath next to the Ice House, where a "Private" sign has once again appeared, and I've added the new "beachwalk" next to 463 Commercial Street. It's a new clam shell footpath next to the newly remodeled home where the old Flagship restaurant and its famous bar made from an old fishing dory began welcoming diners back in 1930.  The remodeling job on the building and grounds included a new pathway to the harbor with a large sign that announces 24-hour access to the harbor via this beachwalk, as the sign calls it. So here's an updated list of PTown public beach access all along Commercial Street, beginning in the Far West End and working up the shoreline to the Far East End:

•West End Breakwater (climb down to the beach or walk out to Wood End or Long Point)

•West End Parking Lot (Town Landing and stairway to this tiny neighborhood beach)

•West Vine Street (Town Landing at Captain Jack's Wharf)

•Franklin Street (Town Landing on the west edge of U.S. Coast Guard grounds)

•Good Templar Place (Town Landing next to former Lorraine's, at Flyer's boatyard)

•Atlantic Avenue (Town Landing west of the Boatslip)

•Court Street (Town Landing east of Bubala's)

•Whalers Wharf walkway through the building (the footpath on the east side of the building is accessible 24 hours)

•Ryder Street (beach access between the kite shop and Fishermen's [Cabral's] Wharf)

•Freeman Street (Town Landing west of Lands End hardware store)

•Johnson Street (Town Landing at the back of the parking lot)

•Pearl Street (Town Landing)

•Between Law Street and Washington (Town Landing, next to Devon's)

•Near Bangs Street (Beachwalk on the west side of 463 Commercial Street)

•Saint Mary of the Harbor Episcopal Church (the stairway over the seawall at the back of the    church parking lot)

•Between Atkins Lane and Hancock Street (Town Landing)

•Fanizzi's (stairway at the back of the parking lot)

•East of Snail Road (stairway across from Harbor Hotel, 698 Commercial Street)

Last Saturday we hit 90 degrees in Provincetown, which is about 13 degrees higher than normal for this time of the year. Even at that, we were still a few degrees cooler than the folks in Boston. We've got a break in the heat for a couple of days with cloudy skies and some rain, which gave us a high today of 75 degrees at 8:45 this morning, an unusual time to mark the day's highest temperature. Tomorrow looks to be even a bit cooler, but temperatures will soon climb to the mid-80s again, and an over-all hot summer has been predicted, so make sure you keep yourself feeling well and healthy by cooling off a bit when the mercury rises, and be sure to drink an extra glass or two of water over the course of each warm day.

Taking in a movie is a great way to get out of the heat for a couple of hours. It's nice and cool in the Waters Edge Cinema,. at 237 Commercial Street, on the second floor of the Whalers Wharf. Besides two other films showing this week you'll find 20 Feet From Stardom playing for an extended run. This is the film that ran away with the Audience Award at this year's Provincetown International Film Festival a few weeks ago. Read my July 9th post about this terrific movie, watch the trailer for 20 FEET TO STARDOM, and check the blurb on the right-hand side of this page to find the updated schedule for the coming week, through July 18th.

One way or another, find a way to cool off and enjoy the exceptionally warm days ahead.