Provincetown, Cape Cod (Part III)

I walked down the main street, reached the end of it and walked on down a street of houses. There was a birthday party. There was a barbeque. There were old people sitting out, having drinks and talking. The street was narrow, the cars that go by were cruising slowly beside pedestrians like myself. No one was in a hurry or impatient.

I got to the end of it and I saw this granite ridge like the breakwater we have along east coast but this one stretches out towards an island with a lighthouse. And people were walking across it to get to the other side.

The way consists of stepping from rock to rock. And while they were all close together, there were still gaps and unevenness in some parts after the midway. Most people, even the elderly shouldn't have a problem if they are sure-footed, but some may need help stepping across some gaps.

It took about 30-45 minutes walk the entire length of this.

I took my time with this, stopping to take photos, just looking out towards the sea, breathing the fresh cool ocean air and enjoying the sunshine.






Such a beautiful pallet of colors to look across.

I didn't have time to explore the island which I very much regretted. I would have liked to go explore that lighthouse but I would've missed my boat back to Boston if I did!

Until next time. :)

Provincetown, Cape Cod (Part II)

From the top of the Pilgrim Monument, I could see the coastlines and the one east that stretches out thin to towards an island with a lighthouse.

I made my way down the monument and proceed to make my way there.

It was about noon and the sun was all out and the skies were blue but the breeze was cool and it was a pleasure to walk. I made my way down to the beach area and walked along it.

Colorful pebbles and seashells were at my feet. The sand was soft. The waters were so blue.  Not much litter. Very unlike the typical Singapore beach back home, where the water is oily and oil stains marking tidal lines on the sand and there's broken glass and plastic bottles everywhere. Even closed off beach sites on Singapore were dirty and full of litter from passing ships. I breath in the fresh cool air here, enjoying all of it because, as clean as Singapore is, our beach is quite badly polluted.




I walked pass houses, cottages and inns. How pleasant it would be to spend a few days here in one of these beach cottages or inns! I vowed to do it the next time I return. I am sure I will. But I am reminded of a friend who said to me; he said, "there are many beautiful places in the world. It seems a waste to visit the same place twice." It is because one should try to visit as many places as possible when one is alive. But I didn't exactly finish experiencing this one. I was beginning to feel sorry that this was a mere day trip.

To be continued....

Provincetown, Cape Cod (Part I)

When I knew I was going to Boston this year for a conference, I already had in mind to visit Cape Cod when the work part of the trip is over. Cape Cod is a land mass that stretches out towards the Atlantic Ocean. It's a bit way south of Boston city. There are many towns on Cape Cod itself, and the one at the far east tip is Provincetown.

 I was hoping to visit Cape Cod with HVP but she had to work that day. I wasn't sure to go or not. The weather had been iffy -- there had been forecasts of possible thunderstorms and the skies had been full of low clouds the past week I was there. HVP told me there was a train that could take me there and I also found out one could get there by ferry. I decided to take the ferry as I think I would like that over sitting in a train.

The round trip ticket for the fast ferry to Provincetown is $88 USD.

It was a pretty chilly morning when the ferry left Boston Harbor for Provincetown. I came out and looked around. Boy, was the sea winds cold. I went to the top deck and could hardly take it.

The ferry left Boston at about 9 am and arrived at Provincetown at 10.30am. It turned out to be a really beautiful blue sky day and the sun was out. It was still nice and cool. There was quite a lot of people but everyone was just strolling and enjoying themselves looking at the stores or just hanging out and chatting outside the stores and houses.

I walked about the main street where all the stores and eateries are. There are tourist stores carrying all sort of souvenirs and T shirts, and a lot of stores selling artware of all sorts -- paintings, clayworks, weaves etc etc. After walking for about half an hour to 45 minutes, I took a simple lunch at a hamburger stand.

After that I decided to make my way to the Pilgrim Monument.

The Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum is situated on top of a small hill. The monument stands at 252feet (76.8 meters). The granite structure was completed in 1910 to commemorate the pilgrims' first landing on Cape Cod in 1602.

When I reached the entrance of the monument grounds, I was glad to learn that one can climb to the top. It's a series of steps (116) and ramps (60) gently spiral all the way to the top. Along the way, there were plaques with names of cities and their founding dates. These are also cities and towns which have contributed to the building of this monument.

I was glad to find that the way up was quite easy. And it wasn't very narrow which made it easy to pass by other people when going up or down. Along the way up, there are a few barred windows to look out of. 

About 10-15 minutes, I reached the top and was rewarded with beautiful views of Provincetown and its surroundings.

(To be continued..)