In Ptown

Our drive from NY to Ptown was not only long and hard, but also included an encounter with a big pickup truck in the middle. Right after crossing the Bourne Bridge, we entered one of the many roundabouts that seem to have no rules or lanes, just lots of confused drivers. One of them saw her exit and didn't see me. So our peaceful week in Ptown started with an accident that created stress, pain and expense.

But, eventually, we made it to the tip of the Cape and to Four Gables. This year we stayed in the wonderful contemporary apartment called Hollyhocks. So comfortable and nicely decorated and stocked, French doors and access to the outdoors from every room, we had everything we needed to feel a little spoiled and a lot at home. One of my favorite things about Four Gables is how green it is. They provide the motivation and means to recycle just about everything, and compost too.
You can see more photos of the place on the website, but here are some of the things we loved about the place.

A great deck for relaxing and reading.
The dogs loved the fenced common yard that is filled with artsy touches and beautiful plants. We loved being able to open the doors to the deck and letting them out first thing in the morning.The dogs loved the inside of the apartment as much as the outside; so did we.The west side of Provincetown, where we stayed, is very much New England and we enjoyed the short walk to town.We also visited Val, Tony and their new dog, Toby, in their little cottage at the far east end of Ptown.
Toby is a friendly, sweet, and very handsome boy.

We all wandered the town,
and Dylan tried to convince us to buy him a stroller so he could ride everywhere. Marley said he'd consider riding in it too from time to time. Maybe someday.
We met Val, Tony, and their friends Ron & Buzz, for breakfast with a view one morning.We did a lot less than usual in Ptown this year. The weather wasn't great all that often and we had to contend with my arm pain which involved wasting lots of time at a medical clinic and some alternative treatments. But we did see a couple of plays in Provincetown and in Wellfleet, visited both Wellfleet, which is really a nice town we'd consider staying in sometime, and Orleans, and got a lot of sleep and reading in.

Then, after a solid two days of intense but uneventful driving, we made it back home. We are all so happy to be home after this very long vacation. Daisy was thrilled to rejoin the family.

Thanks to everyone, in Tampa and Hillsdale, Brooklyn, Provincetown, who made this vacation great for us.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

I snagged an advance review copy of this one last week; I hadn't heard anything about it and it is really a fat book but since I had recently loved The Art of Racing in the Rain so much I was in the mood for another good dog book and this looked like it might be engrossing. When I read Janet Maslin's review in The New York Times I knew this was going to be my big summer vacation read. I'm really looking forward to being on vacation later this summer and to reading peacefully for hours on the beach or on the deck of our apt. in Ptown.

What we did in Ptown

We did a lot of reading and relaxing, I read The Other Boleyn Girl, Mark read the new Harry Potter, then Mark read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and I read the new Harry Potter. But we did other stuff too. Shopped...and
rambled through the artsy and fun town on a daily basis.





We had no other means of transportation (but thanks to Val and Tony for shuttling us to the beach and to their house at the very way east end of town) and that turned out to be great because we became better acquainted with this town we keep returning to. And it was really fun having the poodle boys with us, they were welcomed pretty much everywhere. Well, not the library. But we did get to watch the cupola being returned to the top of the library after being restored.Of course, we spent plenty of time on the beach which is so peaceful, though the water was freezing. When we went to the beach right by Val and Tony's house the tide was way out and it was fun walking way out there with the pups. Mark even got to fly a kite, and get ogled by a guy in a thong, all at the same time!

It was great to get to celebrate Val's birthday while we were there. We had an afternoon party with fabulous cake and good friends on Val & Tony's deck. Later we went to see a seldom performed (with good reason it turns out) Tennessee William play set in Ptown, Parade. But it was followed but a truly fabulous dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants in town.

It was a very happy and relaxing vacation. We shall return.

Walking through the west end of Provincetown.

It was a short and pretty walk from our cottage into town. This was the first time we had stayed on the west end of Ptown, and there was a lot of road work going on -- they are putting in new sewer lines. So we took different streets into town each day and explored the neighborhood, which is peaceful and charming.

After 5 or 10 minutes we are at the very west tip of Ptown and this end of town has an atmosphere of its own. The coast guard base is there but hardly noticeable. Small shops begin, homey restaurants, and the streets wind right on down to the beach.

Four Gables, many dogs, and art all over

Four Gables was wonderful, a little group of cottages & apartments way off in the west end of town (more on this very cool neighborhood later), which was quiet, lush, and so very dog friendly. This is our cottage, the Daisy Mae.

Here's the view from the front porch of the cottage, a pond, a fenced in yard, benches, and wonderful artsy surprises, and dog toys, everywhere you look. Two apartments on the ground floor of the main house also open to this yard. Everyone had dogs, and the dogs all got along, but it was too interesting watching the dogs interact to remember to take pictures.

There is a private little patio out the side door of our cottage, a couple of chairs and a table, more interesting art, very peaceful and quiet.

We spent most of our time on the front porch though, shady and comfortable, the perfect place to read and relax, listen to the fountain in the pond, have a cold drink and cuddle dogs.



Until the morning some workers broke a water main on the corner and our little stone path turned into a rushing river that flowed right under our cottage!