Provincetown Offers Holiday Revelers 150 Shops, Galleries, Restaurants and Accommodations

Good Scents, at 351 Commercial Street, brings us fragrant
products from around the world, joined by at least 80 more
PTown boutiques and galleries open for your holiday shopping.

I took a spin around the streets of Provincetown the other day and found more than 150 businesses open for folks who want to shop, eat and play in the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere of our holiday season. I counted more than 80 stores, boutiques, gift shops, galleries, hand crafters, and other unique purveyors of various goods and finery before I lost count of them all.

Tonight, Mac's Italian style celebration highlights seven varieties of
seafood. Click on the link at the left for Mac's New Year's Eve menu.

There are more than two-dozen wonderful restaurants open to serve you anything from a great deli sandwich to a splendid holiday meal with wine pairings and live music. You can enjoy shoulder season bargains and specials or immerse yourself in fine dining at its best.
Mac's Fish House, for example, offers choices ranging from its famous all-you-can-eat fish and chips dinner on Thursday nights for just $16, to tonight's Feast of the Seven Fishes. This special meal is a traditional Italian holiday feast.
Mac's is also pulling out all the stops for its special New Year's Eve Dinner, beginning with an amuse-bouche, followed by six courses, then dessert, with optional wine pairings available as well. This fabulous meal will be followed by live music from the Rip It Ups. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit SKIP, the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown. Call 508 487-6227 to inquire about reservations.

Click on the link at the right to reserve a room online, or call
508 364-2549 for the White Porch Inn's special winter rates.

Lodging in PTown varies widely from rustic simplicity to stylish elegance.
The multiple award-winning White Porch Inn, for example, is a jewel among dozens of inns, B&Bs, guest houses and hotels in Provincetown that are open throughout the holiday season. In fact, this fine inn and a number of others stay open year-round, often featuring great bargains on seasonal rates.
This immaculate B&B has the charming look of an old sea captain's home, while the thoughtfully renovated interior provides a unique backdrop for contemporary paintings by artists from all around the world. Guests often become attached to a particular painting during their stay. Happily, many of these artworks are for sale, gaining the place a fine reputation as an Art Hotel. In an international survey of comments and ratings by its visitors, the White Porch Inn scored 9.7 out of 10, which ranks it among the top 3 percent of those surveyed hotels around the world.

Suede's unique talent defies description,; her voice is truly her own. MUST SEE!

The jazzy, bluesy, fabulous vocals of Suede will be oozing out of the Paramount at The Crown & Anchor on New Year's day as the diva takes the stage at 8 PM.
In fact, The Crown & Anchor will be a very busy place over the holidays, with Bobby Wetherbee's famous sing-along piano bar, Thirsty Burlington's Christmas Special, drag bingo to benefit the Provincetown Business Guild, and a huge New Year's Eve dance party.
There will be special menus in the restaurant, along with Peter's award-winning wine list, and special room rates, too. There will also be a food court on New Year's Day as part of Provincetown's First Light celebration, and this will be a great spot to watch the fireworks that evening. Click the links above to see all the things going on at the Crown.
Come and enjoy Provincetown for the holidays, with something for everyone. Visit the PBG website for the First Light event schedule, including parties, entertainment, Hanukkah festivities, family fun, European style holiday market, a bike event, indoor farmers market, polar bear plunge, fireworks, and food events all over town. There's also a list of lodging and restaurants open to serve you. Come Join us! Create a New Year's tradition for yourself with our 2nd annual First Light celebration.

Three PTown Events This Weekend Offer Great Food, Shopping and Entertainment

Get homemade baked goods today at the Methodist Church bake sale in PTown.

There's a bake sale today at the United Methodist Church in Provincetown, at 20 Shank Painter Road, from 10 AM to 2 PM. There's no telling what kinds of tasty baked goods will be offered.
You're bound to find homemade cookies, brownies and a variety of holiday treats and festive goodies made by parishioners, with proceeds going to the church's student education fund.

See the Outer Cape Chorale and Chamber Singers
free concerts in PTown and Orleans this weekend.

The annual holiday performance of the Outer Cape Chorale got underway last night with the first performance of this year's program "O Be Joyful" at Town Hall in Provincetown.
There will be another performance of this free concert (goodwill donations are gratefully accepted) tonight at 7 PM at Town Hall, with one last chance to see this highly anticipated event on Sunday afternoon at 3 PM in Orleans, at Nauset Middle School.
Traditional holiday tunes will also be featured. Go a bit early to either venue, as this event generally plays to a packed house.

The Canteen brings a European style holiday festival to
Provincetown with food, fun,  entertainment and shopping!

The Canteen's very popular Holiday Market returns for weekends through New Year's Day. Fridays through Sundays until January 1st, from 11 AM till at least 7PM each night, you'll find this winter festival both indoors and outdoors at The Canteen, at 227 Commercial Street.
You'll find hot food and drinks, live music, theater performances, exhibits, local vendors, booths filled with crafts and gifts made by skilled artisans, and the list goes on…
This wonderful event was inspired by traditional European Christmas and New Year's festivals, providing food, fun and entertainment for the community and its visitors.
This year, an ice skating rink has been added, and Cape Cod Beer will be on hand, presenting a new winter brew, available only at this event. The beach at The Canteen will be a great spot to watch the fireworks, and a free champagne toast for all will celebrate the New Year.

New Year's in Provincetown, 2016!

Here's to health, happiness, good luck and prosperity for us all in 2016!

Lavish displays of fireworks usher in the New Year in cities the world over. Click on the following link to see 90 seconds of New Years fireworks from around the world. PTown will enjoy its own fireworks over Provincetown Harbor on Saturday night, scheduled for 5:30 PM. Get to the harbor beaches little early. You'll find free parking this weekend in the municipal parking lots.
There are all kinds of events going on during the First Light Provincetown New Year's Celebration. Please click on the link above to find out about all of the dates, times and locations of so many fun things to do that I can't possibly list them all here. There are still nearly three dozen events, parties, performances, celebrations, venues and lots of great food for all to enjoy during these four days of festivities.
There will be special performances by Suede, Dina Martina and Miss Richfield, 1981, to name just a few. There's a New Year's Day Brunch at the Crown & Anchor. The Polar Bear Plunge will be held on the beach at Harbor Lounge at 2 PM, with free chili to warm you up afterward. There'll be a recovery event tonight at the A-House. Don your best holiday outfit (aren't you glad I didn't say gay apparel!) for Drag Bingo at the Crown on Saturday. There's something for everyone in these town wide celebrations.

The Provincetown Theater will present The Great American Songbook Cabaret with food, drink, comedy and cabaret. There will be live music at Tin Pan Alley and other restaurants and clubs. PAAM offers free admission to their Sip and Sketch event.

Don't miss the holiday fireworks over the Harbor on Saturday night, lighting up the new year for the first time in more than 15 years. You'll see them from anywhere on the harbor side beaches. If you'd like to join a group of folks you can watch the show from the beach with revelers at The Canteen, or from the deck at Spindler's, the new restaurant at 386 Commercial Street, bringing us a sneak-peak of what they have planned for the summer. Tickets for First Light at Spindler's my still be available if you're quick.
To ensure good luck in 2016, visit The Canteen, at 225 Commercial Street, where they'll be serving black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. Eating this traditional dish is said to bring luck and prosperity to all who celebrate the new year with this meal.

The Canteen has extended their season and put together a Holiday Market as a great new PTown winter tradition, emulating the customary winter celebration of food and fun found in open air winter markets of European cities. You'll find local artwork, products and crafts, along with entertainment and lots of food in a welcoming place to warm up and socialize a bit, in the garden behind The Canteen.
Go to canteenholidaymarket.com for more info. The market is open for one last weekend, from 11 AM till 9 PM today and tomorrow, with the last day of the season for The Canteen on Sunday, January 3rd.
All of these great events, music, food and good company combine to make for a great New Year's celebration in Provincetown.
Happy New Year!

July 4th Fireworks Bonus - Moonrise

 

This year's fireworks were as enjoyable as those in any year in recent memory, but we got a bonus this year. As the sky darkened and the fireworks began, a glowing, golden, amazing full moon began its slow roll up into the night sky, rising into full view within the first few minutes of the holiday fireworks display. In all the times I've sat on the beach at the edge of Provincetown Harbor on the 4th of July and watched the fireworks, I've never seen anything like this. In some years past, humidity in the air, or even a rolling fog bank, has sort of hampered or even obliterated the view, but this year's fireworks exploded under a remarkable, crystal clear PTown sky. The photo above shows this glorious moon behind the bursting fireworks, lighting up the rooftop of Cabral's boathouse on the edge of Provincetown Harbor.

             
         The moon slowly rises, appearing above the head of the man in the foreground

  This photo caught the moment when the center of the explosion

mirrored the golden moon beneath it

 A ground display fired on the heels of a rocket lights up the harbor

As always, if you have photos you'd like to share, let me know.

I'm happy to post them

          

July 4th Crowds Managed Quite Smoothly

Thousands lined Commercial Street for the 4th of July parade, scheduled to begin in the East End of town at 11 AM. It looks as though it actually started on time because a few folks were caught off-guard when the procession reached the center of town well before noon. We're not used to that around here. Any Provincetown parade has been practically guaranteed not to arrive at Town Hall for at least an hour after the scheduled starting time. It seems unfair to change the rules after all these years by starting on time.

Yesterday's parade crowd seemed fairly "ruly"

Swarms of people clogged Commercial Street following the parade, sort of like a dress rehearsal for the hour or so after the fireworks later on when our main thoroughfare would be bottlenecked for several blocks right in the center of town. One very noticeable difference every year between the après-parade crowd and the post-fireworks mob is the fact that in the evening, many more of our guests are likely to have enjoyed a number of lovely beverages throughout the day, while in the early afternoon not nearly as many have imbibed, simply because of the early hour. Actual numbers of folks who are snockered before noon are likely to be no more than 12% by volume.
I went to my trusty thesaurus and found that the only antonym of "unruly" mentioned there is "disciplined" so I think I'm probably making up a word when I describe yesterday's parade crowd as quite a "ruly" one, and the same seems to go for the fireworks crowd as well. I stayed out on Commercial Street for over an hour after the fireworks and saw very little commotion among the multitudes.

There was a far less noticeable police presence on the street for this year's fireworks than we've seen in some years, and we had what seems to me to be a fairly trouble-free night. Coincidence?

County Sheriff's officers keep foot traffic
moving on Commercial Street after fireworks

On July 4th a number of years ago I was walking down Ryder Street next to Town Hall toward the harbor about an hour before sunset. I wanted to get a good spot on the beach to sit and watch the fireworks. An enormous trailer was taking up the first several metered parking spaces near the corner of Commercial Street, and I could see inside through the open door and a couple of windows. It was full of monitors and screens and electronics, with a number of antennas on top, and there were clusters of wires and huge cables running in and out of various orifices. When I stopped to ask the men inside what this giant trailer was, they replied that it was the "command center" and my heart sank. I knew they would have to find some way to use all of this equipment, along with all of the various peace officers brought in to keep order on Commercial Street that night. Every Provincetown officer was on duty, and we had brought in officers from Truro along with county sheriff's officers on horseback and state troopers wearing riot helmets. Sure enough, there were a tremendous number of arrests made that night. If I remember, there were well over forty people cuffed and hauled away in a "paddy wagon" brought in for the occasion, a much greater number than our jail could hold, so many had to be booked into cells far away from Provincetown. Allegations of excessive use of force in some of these arrests made the news. There was a story reported about a man who tried to speak to officers about the way his friend was being treated while being arrested, and he himself was then forced to the ground, handcuffed and carted off to jail as well.
Thankfully we seem to have turned the corner when it comes to handling the tremendous crowds that join us for holidays, parades and other events that draw these throngs of visitors. Clearly, it is important to uphold the laws of the commonwealth, to maintain decorum on the streets and to provide for public safety, but it is good to see this happen in a much less heavy-handed manner than we've sometimes seen in the past. When an ambulance was needed near the Whalers Wharf very shortly after the end of the fireworks, I was among the crowd on the street there being parted and managed so that the ambulance could get down the road and the Rescue Squad could then do their job. Within moments a dozen Provincetown officers appeared on foot, on bicycles and on motorcycles, followed by the paddy wagon, to clear a path down Commercial Street, with the ambulance right behind. This was done quickly and efficiently, minus any officious attitude, and I felt proud, rather than sheepish, to be a yearround member of this community. I was on the streets the entire day and didn't see a single incident that embarrassed me to be a resident here.
We appreciate the very professional service of our local police men and women, and of all those who came from other communities to assist us during this celebration. We thank you, one and all.