Concert Time And The Drive Home

Saturday afternoon arrived at last and it was time for our chorus to meet at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting Hall. We met at 2:15 to prepare for the concert at 5:00. The concert was a benefit performance for the Provincetown Soup Kitchen. When I got there, I saw other chorus members arriving:

The building is both a historical and an imposing structure. Its steeple is visible from all over Provincetown:

Inside, the chorus members were assembling. That's David in the pew dressed as "Frieda Munchon." We'd be doing a comedy duet together later in the program:

After assembling, the Director ran us through the full choral pieces and the pianist worked with the soloists and small ensembles:

And many of us gathered out front to sing and announce the upcoming concert to passersby:

This is the way of Provincetown. When you want to announce something, you stand alongside the street and really announce it:

Many of our members relaxed before the concert instead of singing out front:

The concert was a big success and received rave reviews. We raised over $600 for the Provincetown Soup Kitchen. My own comedy duet - well, you can judge for yourself:



And early Sunday morning I left for home. I avoided most of the holiday and weekend traffic by leaving so early. Besides, I'm accustomed to waking up early and driving home was a great way to occupy my time. I threaded my way back down through Cape Cod and across the Cape Cod Canal:

And stopped to get a photograph of these cranberry fields before I entered the main highway and started the high speed race back towards Albany. Thus ended my weekend in Provincetown and another choral performance. Provincetown is a place of many memories for me and one of the scenic and historic wonders of our nation:

Downtown Provincetown

It was Saturday midday in Provincetown and I had a concert in which to perform at 5:00 with a call time of 2:15. I'd been up since before daybreak and had kept myself busy since then. It was time for me to take another walk down Commercial Street, the main drag (no pun intended) of P-Town. Commercial Street runs right along the shoreline. One has only to walk between buildings to find the ocean shore:

Provincetown is, as it has been for many decades, an extravaganza of color and commotion. There wasn't much foot traffic on this chilly Saturday, but the evening crowds were sure to come out in force later in the day:

Most restaurants now have hawkers beckoning people in. Folks in costume wander the street pushing one business or another. It's a happening place:

I used to love shopping the little stores lining Commercial Street but now it's become mostly a choice between hugely overpriced "art" or cheap and tawdry souvenirs and tee-shirts. Still, I love to walk Commercial Street:

In recent years, dogs have become popular and are everywhere on Commercial Street. I could only hope that everyone cleaned up the poop left by their dogs. Of course, I'd love to have Seamus with me, or perhaps the two Papillon puppies. I met several folks walking Papillons:

And on one side of the street, every gap between buildings reveals the traditional seaside Provincetown:

The water was clear and the boats were sailing:

The Provincetown trolley was carrying tourists up Commercial Street:

Pedi-Cabs (rickshaws) also carried tourists up and down the street:

By this time the sun was beginning to warm things up, the shops were all open and tourists were arriving:

Commercial Street was coming alive. That white steeple in the background is that of the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House. That's where we'd be singing in just a few short hours. Notice that you can see just a bit of the tip of the Pilgrim Monument just behind the steeple. I'll post about the concert tomorrow:

The Pilgrim Monument - Part 2

I'd climbed to the top of Provincetown's Pilgrim Monument. According to the pamphlet I'd been given upon admission, the granite structure had been built between 1907 and 1910. Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone and William Taft led the dedication ceremony:

The monument was built to commemorate the first landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims on November 21, 1620:

The tower is more than 252 feet tall and 350 feet above sea level. The view of the Provincetown wharfs was terrific:

With many windows around the perimeter of the monument, I could snap pictures in every direction:

And the narrow tip of Cape Cod was evident:

And the Atlantic Ocean was visible in every direction:


Here's a brief video taken looking out several of the windows. There's nothing to hear but howling winds, so you won't miss anything if you turn down your speakers:


I was glad that I didn't have a fear of heights. I was also glad I'd decided to once again explore the view from the top of the Pilgrim Monument:

But it came time to leave and I descended the ramps all the way down to the base:

And finally, a video I found on YouTube while uploading mine. It shows the monument's top, interior and museum. It's a fun video, so I thought you might enjoy it. Keep your speakers on for this one, though, as the dialog is fun and witty:

The Pilgrim Monument - Part 1

I'd been in Provincetown for less than 24 hours and had already seen a lot. I'd hiked the shoreline and sand dunes at Head-Of-The-Meadow Beach, walked out onto the breakwater at the tip of the Cape, and explored the downtown of Provincetown. Now I decided that since I might never be in Provincetown again, I should go visit the Pilgrim Monument. Though I'd been inside and to the top in the past, it was so long ago that I couldn't even remember if one used stairs or an elevator:

So after eating breakfast, I headed to the monument, paid my admission (getting the first "senior discount" of my life) and entered the museum. The museum was OK, but the monument itself was the main attraction and I was anxious to get inside it. So I walked up the steps from the museum to the base of the monument, passing this little house on the way. I'd guess that once upon a time, that's where tickets were sold:

I was the first visitor to the monument that day and its caretaker was waiting at the base. He offered to take my photo before we began our ascent:

Even at the base of the monument, one could see out over Provincetown and the Atlantic ocean:

But the time soon came for the caretaker to head up into the monument and I followed shortly thereafter:

There was no elevator, but steps at the bottom:

And after a couple of flights of steps, the ascent was made on concrete ramps. This is what I saw looking up into the tower from below. The concrete walkways circled the monument, attached to the granite sides. Climbing all that was a daunting prospect:

But I began my ascent and a few others soon followed. Looking down from one of the lower tiers, I photographed people walking up the concrete ramps below me:

The winds were howling everywhere that day in Provincetown, but at the top of the Pilgrim Monument, they were especially fierce. The views, however, were astounding:

I could see out over the tip of the Cape in all directions. And the Cape was so narrow there that I could see ocean in all directions. I'll post more about the monument tomorrow:

Sunrise Over Cape Cod Bay

I was staying in Provincetown to sing in a Saturday evening concert for the benefit of the Provincetown Soup Kitchen. I woke up before dawn on Saturday morning and drove to a convenience store for coffee. Then I decided that a sunrise walk out on the breakwater on the very tip of the Cape would be nice. The last time I'd taken that walk, I'd seen lots of fish, crabs, starfish, etc. in the water. This time, the tide was out and I saw mostly sand and stranded mussels. Still, anywhere on Cape Cod at sunrise is a spectacular sight:

I was not the only person who had decided that such a sunrise walk would be pleasant. A few other daring souls were out there hopping carefully from rock to rock, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells:

And looking back toward Provincetown center, I could see the Pilgrim Monument. It's an anchoring fixture in the tip-of-the-Cape landscape:

There wasn't much sea life visible except for seagulls and other birds. I was having a mostly quiet, contemplative experience beneath the newly risen sun:

Seagulls picked up mussels and dropped them on the rocks to crack them open. Then they'd eat the animal inside the shell. I got to watch this happen many times at close range, as seagulls are notoriously unafraid of people:

I tried to get a video of seagulls dropping mussels on the rocks but never got the chance. I did, however, record a seagull picking at an apparently dead starfish. You can hear the ever present wind:


The newly risen sun was spreading its warmth over the ocean and bathing everything in silvers and golds:

It was all lovely, but I was getting hungry. So I turned back towards dry land:

I got back into my little red car and drove to the only eatery in town open at that early hour. Normally, one avoids driving in Provincetown. It's too crowded, the streets are too narrow, the parking is too scarce. But at this hour, I was sure I could find a place to park:

I had a coffee and a breakfast burrito. I sat alone in the little restaurant except for the company of a brown bird, species unknown. It hopped around the floor picking at crumbs from the night before. He or she was good enough company:

Up, Up Into And Onto The Sand Dunes

I was in Provincetown for the weekend in order to sing in a concert to benefit the Provincetown Soup Kitchen. But I had lots of free time and was exploring the sand dunes at Head-Of-The-Meadow Beach on Cape Cod. I'd tasted rose hips and wild cranberries and now found an Earth Star on the sand near the cranberries. Earth Stars are a spherical fungus with a double layered wall. The outer layer splits open and curls back, forcing the spores out of the inner sphere. I thought this was an especially fascinating discovery:

I climbed higher and higher on the sand dunes, following the bare spots between the scrub roses, beach plums, wild cranberries, scrub oaks and coastal grasses:

I could see for miles. Notice that in many of these ocean view photos taken from atop the dunes, one can actually see the curvature of the earth:

I wasn't sure if these were the fabled beech plums until I got brave enough to taste them. They were indeed wild plums, sour but full of flavor. It's no wonder the locals collect them and make jams. With a little sugar, they'd be really delicious:

A brief video taken at the top of a sand dune:



Higher and higher I climbed, until I decided it was time to find my way back to my car:

But every "trail" I followed turned out to be a dead end. I kept searching until I found a road through the woods. I figured it surely must lead back to the parking lot, so I followed it:

I followed this road for a very long time. I found an empty beach house which I guessed was used by rangers during the busy season. But there was no access to anywhere else except to continue on this small road. When it turned toward the highway and began going sharply downhill, I knew that following it any farther would be big mistake:

So I retraced my steps, descended a steep sand dune and made it back to the beach:

Truth be told, I was getting mighty tired. Walking in sand is like those dreams where you're trying to run but are bogged down and everything is in slow motion:

I was happy when I found the pathway between the beach and the parking lot:

And, as at the end of many hikes, my little red car was a most welcome sight: