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.

Driving to Provincetown

"Honey, I told you the whole world is headed to the Cape this weekend"
Terri-Lee Burger, Brooklyn, NY, winner of the Cartoon Caption Contest in the August 11 & 18, 2008 issue of The New Yorker.

Three Hot Tickets

Tuesday evening, July 29th, Central Park, Crosby, Stills & Nash. Peace, love & harmony, can't ask for more than this.

Wednesday we went to the new TKTS window in downtown Bklyn and got great seats to see the Pulitzer and Tony winning August: Osage County. Very powerful, emotional theater.

And then, Thursday, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Traffic, tolls, crowds, and a two hour wait for the concert to get started due to a major accident that kept people from getting there on time. Not us, we were early, so waited about three hours, actually. I think Mark and I were the only ones who brought books to read while waiting in the stadium.  But finally...it was loud and wild and we loved him, loved them, loved it all.

Saturday Night Live in Hillsdale

There's Barbara, and Meryl right behind her, shortly before Meryl, Mark and I decided to call it a night. Saturday we spent many hours at the festival and we were not only tired but wanting to get back to the dogs. So the three of us headed home around midnight, on the long dark winding unpaved country roads. Lots of deer, lots of nervous driving. We arrived at the Solovay driveway, and right on our tail were a couple of impressive emergency vehicles, including a real fire truck. We got of the car, assuming we'd watch them drive on by, when to our surprise they pulled right in behind us. The rather large Captain approached in a hurry, "the smoke alarm is going off", and Mark and I threw open the front door and ran for the stairs, each grabbing a poodle and heading back out. Three guys ran through the house, while the three of us, two holding poodles, watched, stunned. The big guy came barreling down the stairs calling out to us, "the house has been ransacked, the closets have been emptied!" "Let me go look" was my response and I ran upstairs, into each bedroom, noticing that Leandra's room appeared to have every possible article of clothing in a pile on the floor. I took a quick look at the other rooms which looked pretty normal to me, ran back downstairs, and said to the Captain, "a teenage girl came home from camp today, I think that's what her room is supposed to look like." Meryl asked, "is this a Saturday Night Live sketch, and is that John Candy?" Meanwhile Mark was running around with two phones, the house phone with the alarm company, which only worked inside the house, and his cell phone with Paul on it, which only worked outside the house.

It took quite a while but the nice and concerned volunteer fire guys all left with their serious trucks, the three of us still standing around, half in shock, half hysterical, until Susan and Paul showed up and we got to tell the whole hilarious ridiculous story, and then again when Barbara, Steve & Alec arrived.

A wild ending to a great, long day. Oh, and I guess the conclusion was that the heat lightening in the air was what set off the fire alarm. Which, by the way, mostly rang in the fire station, or wherever, and not in the house. And the lightening preceeded a major storm that started moments after Paul left to go back to the festival to pick up Leandra and her friend. But that's another story.

Falcon Ridge

After driving for a day and a half with very patient dogs, we arrived in Hillsdale NY Thursday night. Barbara, Steve and Alec beat us there by several hours but Susan & Paul, whose home we all congregate in for Falcon Ridge, were away picking up their daughter Leandra from art camp. Alec greeted Mark and me and the dogs.
We enjoyed the use of the Solovay home and pool, and were joined on Friday by Judy Zerden (an old camp friend of Barbara's & mine) and her husband, Hank, on Friday. That night we saw and heard some great music. The Strangelings were wonderful, and the Friday night song swap, with John Gorka, Eliza Gilkyson, Vance Gilbert & Patty Larkin, was the big late night favorite.
When we woke up Saturday morning Susan, Paul, & Leandra were home and soon Barbara & Alec's cousin Meryl arrived from Bklyn. Saturday was a long day of music at the festival.

Janis Ian is as great a storyteller as she is a musician. Dar Williams & Eddie from Ohio were wonderful as always.

And Susan was brave enough to do some contra swing dancing.

A great festival, if a bit too hot, too cold, and too muddy at times, but greatest of all is being with old, good friends.

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!