I would point out to anyone deciding to stay at Salisbury Beach State Reservation Campground that their power supply is unpredictable; my 30 AMP supply regularly kicked out, at least the circuit breaker was available at my post. Saturday morning I paid for my stay with a credit card; the fee $22.00!
I took I-495 South to get to Cape Cod, it may not be a particularly interesting route but it does avoid the congestion around Boston adding 50 miles to my route. At the southern end of this route the highway curves east and then north to cross the Bourne Bridge over the canal. On Highway 6 I stopped at the Cap Cod Visitors Centre in its last day of operation and was regaled with a detailed travelogue of the area. From there drove up to the Cape Cod National Seashore Interpretive Centre to take in one of their movies, pick up information, and buy a guide book and DVD. At that point I still had 30 miles to go on my drive up Highway 6 to Provincetown. The going was good until the road narrowed to a single lane near Wellfleet where a regional oyster festival was taking place. After enduring a mile-long backup I finally got clear sailing to Provincetown.
Getting off Highway Six onto Bradford Street in Provincetown the first thing that strikes one is the crowded nature of the town. A two-lane road with parking on both sides the street is so narrow I needed both lanes to negotiate and people walked in the street as the sidewalks were too narrow to accommodate the crowds. Commercial St one block south is a one-way affair barely rating as a laneway. Backstreets look more like footpaths. Parking? You're kidding. Land it would seem is too valuable to waste of cars. When I found the only campground in town still open the crusty old proprietor put me off first with the price $47 a night, and then with the fact that their practise still embraced the Nineteenth Century, he demanded cash leaving me with one single dollar when the bill was paid.
After getting lunch I decided to walk downtown. Street signs in Provincetown seem to be an afterthought, most corners lack them. Commercial St is an odd assortment of high end antique stores, craft shops, art galleries, small malls, and the exotic—Toys for Eros? Dining establishments are multi-cultural and vary from mid-price to the skies the limit. There is a public washroom near the chamber of commerce next to the Marina where two wharfs shelter the boat basin. On the boardwalk are the small stands that shill the various tour boats available for hire. At the end of one dock is a Museum to a sunken pirate ship, the Whydah, and at the other the ferry terminal. Looming over all is the 255 ft Pilgrim Monument marking the fact that the Mayflower made its first landfall here before heading for Plymouth. After checking out various menus I finally decided to walk back to my RV and heat my own homemade soup. I made it just before the rains.
Sunday morning dawned blustery, cold and wet. Whatever the cause we are getting the kind of rain only the foolhardy go abroad in. It would seem I will be spending more time reading about the Cape than seeing it. The best I can hope for it would seem is that we don't get snow. I needn't have had concerns about finding a campsite in Provincetown, looking out my windows all I can see is the sand dunes beyond the fence line.
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