The Cape, et al

We're thinking of a trip to The Cape area this summer for a little 4-night getaway. MikeR, I'll expect you to chime in but any and all advice is welcome.

We want relax on the beach a bit, do some touristy sight-seeing, maybe swing over to MV or Nantucket. My wife likes to sleep in luxury but doesn't mind eating casually. (Although she

without you narrowing it down a bit....it is tough...the Cape is 65 miles long.....but this is what I would do with 4 days...I would find a place somewhere in the mid Cape....from say Hyannis to Chatham ( Harwichport would be my choice)...then I would spend a day or two in the immediate vicinty, a day trip to Provinctown ( you can't go to the Cape and not see P Town...it is the crowned jewel )...a day trip to one of the islands ( Nantucket if I had to choose although they are both great )..and there is your 4 days..as far as where to eat goes...again.....60 miles of the Cape and two large islands...the great choices are in the hundreds...narrow it down a bit and I can help you better..when looking there is one area you absolutly positively want to avoid....RT 28 between Hyannis and Dennis....yes Dennis there is a town called Dennis!!..treat that area like a toxic deadzone unless you like hotels and restaurants piled on top of one another and putt putt golf and waterslides and go carts..well..you get the picture I'm sure

you re better beaches are definetly between Wellfleet and P Town

there is a town called Dennis!!..treat that area like a toxic deadzone

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I've been treated worse...

the Cape is incredibly popular and HEAVILY congested in the summer, especially on weekends ( reason number one I no longer call it home fulltime anymore )...if you can pull off a Tueday-Friday stretch....much better....traffic is insane most days...you want to arrange yourself logistically so that you dont have to drive too far, too often..thats why I suggested the midcape...it is 26 miles from Orleans to P Town and it can take as much as an hour and a half to do that stretch some days...I use my car to get to P Town in June and to leave P Town in September...in between I bike and I walk....thats how bad it is...there are only two two lane bridges that can get you on the Cape and the backup on Friday nights can be as much as 6-8 miles long....

OUCH!

We'd probably do a Wednesday-Sunday trip...like everyone else does, I'm sure. I have limited vaca time and already burned a week in Costa Rica in January and will burn a week in St. Barths in November. I assume July 4th week will be a zoo?

if 4th of July on the Cape was a zoo???..that would be an improvement...its so bad in P Town they close Commercial Street to all car traffic....walking only...the other towns are not as bad....but they are still bad....LOL

sorry...the good news is that the best firework show on the Cape is in P Town and the absolute best seat for that show is on the boat I live on and we usually have a private party of about 50 people.....kegs...clams...lobsters.....and youre invited if you wish to attend...

Dennis- beat the crowds and come the day after Labor Day- I can get you a free ride on Mike's boat. There's a big party on Wednesday. I heartily recommend Harwichport and The Winstead Beach Resort is tops- I love this room Winstead

Beautiful...that's a contenda. We'll probably go in mid-summer...we love crowds and heat...

well....let me know what you decide and I will help you with anything you might need......one thing you may want to consider is it is 2 - 2 1/2 hours from BOS to the mid cape, so with only 4 days, you may want to make sure you get an early morning flight in so you dont lose the day entirely, and an evening flight out on the last day....or a better idea would be to catch a Cape Air flight from Boston to P Town and rent your car at P Town Airport ( P Town airport is even smaller then SBH )....your 2 1/2 hour drive gets reduced to a 20 minute flight on a puddle jumper....its how my daughter does it everytime she visits....by virtue of how the land goes its 110 miles by car from BOS to the Cape but only about 40 miles by the way the crow flies...thats what I would do if I only had 4 days....otherwise its really going to be only a 2 day vacation....the beaches and dunes on the outer Cape where I live are as beautiful as any beaches anywhere in the world and all preserved from developer whores by being National Park Seashore Lands....you will see why I have no problem at all leaving St Barts in June when I know the outer Cape is my next stop... despite the overdevelopment of some of the towns and the crowds etc, which sent me packing,selling my house, and no longer living there fulltime, the natural beauty of the outer Cape is beyond belief....artists and photographers come to the outer Cape from all over the world to capture the incredible color and light which exists at sunrise and sunset, and the outer Cape and Key West are the only places on the eastern seaboard where you can watch the sun set into the ocean..

if you can avoid Logan and fly into Providence instead....better yet...same distance from each airport to where you are going

Miker,how did you end up landing in P-Town? Ive never been,but hear its nice with great beaches..Being a single guy who likes cute girls,is it worth a look for me?? Isnt it a Gay Resort Town?? Not that theres anything wrong with that..LOL..Ive got many friends on ACK and thats where i always end up...

long story Peter...short version is I went regularly as a kid with my parents and fell in love with it....then returned as a young adult when I was working for an international boating company who operated live aboard dive boats in the Caribbean, whale watchihng boats in Cape Cod and oil drilling service boats around the world. I got myself assigned to a whale watching boat in P Town....loved it so much I quit the boat company, and went to work for a local P Town whale watching company, opened up a deli/cafe, started a water taxi business, became the high school hoops coach, bought a house and called it home for a while .....it is a predominant gay resort for sure and it is very much like Key West in its vibe but despite all that, there are no lack of cute straight girls as well..I spent quite a few single years there and had a blast and eventually met Wendi there......PBS did a documentary on P Town a few years back and called it the most "sexually liberated" town in America, and not just because of the gay population....it is one crazy ass little fishing village mon ami....I could write a book....LOL

Peter- To add to what Mike just posted, it is a good place to meet single, straight girls. They're attracted to P'Town because it seems safe from "the sharks that can swim on the land".
I'm partial to the Wellfleet/Truro area. There are amazing fresh water ponds there. They're warm, when the ocean isn't.

I used to spend time at a place, in Truro, called The Beachcomber. It's right up your alley.... it was always full of single, beautiful, extremely friendly women, on vacation, looking for a summer/weekly/nightly boyfriend. If I'm ever in Sea Bright, we'll meet at Ichabod's and, I'll tell you some stories......

...and to add to eddies post.....the single girls you find in a place with the reputation of P Town are, for the most part, not exactly what you would call the church going type either...LMAO


oh the Beachcomber stories I have to tell........but dont ask me in front of Wendi when we are in Select...because you'll get nuthin...she knows many of the stories firsthand, having been there as well, for part of the time at least....but would rather not hear them....LOL

Truro and Wellfleet are just spectacular towns that somehow side steped the insane build up which occured in P Town...

oh the Beachcomber stories I have to tell.....

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If you were there in the mid 70's, to early 80's, our paths probably crossed.

nope....was working down in the Gulf and then South Caicos and St Croix for 2 years during that time....my crazy Beachcomber summer years were 85 to 91

nope.....my crazy Beachcomber years were 85 to 91

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Then you got the leftovers. :-}

I'd prefer to think of it as... a new batch....

Fair enough. Is it still there?

hell yeah...and has been declared off limits to me by you know who.....but I wouldnt go anyway...not into that scene anymore...would rather sit in Bubulas and listen to jazz and drink my GG and then take a nice leisurely walk back to the boat...much safer that way

When I was there, in my late teens/early 20's, I remember seeing the old guys, trying to pick up the young girls, and thinking, " get a life, losers". I guess I shouldn't go back, either....