Tag Archives: Cape Cod

Bicycling Provincetown trails to discover true Cape Cod

Provncetown Bicycle trails near Race Point Beach Cape Cod.

Provncetown Bicycle trails near Race Point Beach Cape Cod.

Built in the 1960’s the bicycle trails on National Park Service lands take you across the sand dunes to the Beech Forest, Province Lands Visitor Center, Race Point Beach Parking lot and Herring Cove Beach Parking lot. The loop trail is almost five and half miles in length. On your drive along the steep winding trails you will see beautiful vistas of sand dunes as well the native vegetation which includes wild roses and beach plums along with the grasses that have been intentionally planted to help retard the shifting sands that cause dunes to shift and change shape each season.  If you are lucky, in the off-season you may encounter a fox. In summer there are small toads around Bennett Pond.

Don’t have a bicycle? You can rent one in Provincetown for a few hours or a day, to explore the trails. Bring a towel, bathing suit, and plenty of water as well as a picnic, if you’d like to enjoy a daylong adventure.

People of all ages enjoy using the bike trails.  The Carreiro children, in the recently released novel Remaining in Provincetown, can’t wait to get a hold of their bicycles so they can go riding on the trails, even if it is early spring—way too early for swimming. Want to gain a better insight as to what it’s like to live in Provincetown because you are planning a visit? Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook makes a great beach read, or start reading it now in anticipation of your vacation.  Now available at local bookstores, online and at Amazon.com. Like us on facebook.  Show the big publishers you can make your own decisions on what to read. Join the conversation.

Remaining in Provincetown By S.N.Cook. Truro Works. 306 pages $12.95 Trade Paperback

Remaining in Provincetown
By S.N.Cook.
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback

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Provincetown, Cape Cod postcard puts the emphasis on quaint

Vintage chrome postcard.

Vintage chrome postcard.

Greeting from Quaint Cape Cod, says the vintage 1960s postcard. So exactly what does quaint mean? Well it depends on which dictionary you consult. In the “Free online dictionary” the primary definition of the word quaint is:“Charmingly odd, especially in an old-fashioned way. “Miriam Webster’s primary definition is: obsolete and their secondary definition is:  “marked by skillful design or marked by beauty and elegance.” Other meanings of the word quaint emphasize the uniqueness of the person, item, or place. Call something quaint and not only is it a little different, but possibly it takes you out of your comfort zone.

How do you describe a place like Cape Cod, rich in history, beautiful, unique, and yes different—particularly Provincetown, the town on Cape Cod’s very tip ? And if you write a book about the town, how do you capture all the different nuances and various types of people who call Provincetown their home. Remaining in Provincetown, the new mystery novel released in April, doesn’t always follow the rules when it comes to traditional mystery stories. There are lots of characters and lots going on, as there is with a town as “quaint” as Provincetown. Want to find out more? Pick up a copy of Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook at your local bookstore (now in stock at Provincetown Bookshop) or online at various sites at Amazon.com in trade paperback and as  an ebook. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.


Provincetown Bookshop has autographed copies of new book

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Visiting Cape Cod this weekend? The weather may be a bit overcast but that makes it a great day for shopping and curling up with a good book. Just arrived are author signed copies of the new novel, a mystery, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook. Buy them while they last at the Provincetown Bookshop on Commercial Street across from the Crown and Anchor where all the music is playing!

Provincetown Cape Cod view from the beach

A view from the shore of Provincetown, Cape Cod's East End

A view from the shore of Provincetown, Cape Cod’s East End

As shown in this antique postcard of Provincetown, Cape Cod, the waterfront houses were boarded up in the off-season. Primarily owned by summer residents, they offer a beautiful view of Cape Cod Bay looking out towards the Long Point Lighthouse.   Many of the buildings have retained their charm, and look similar to the way they appeared in the late 19th century when this postcard was printed in Germany. While many visitors like to walk along Commercial Street so they can poke their heads into art galleries and shops, a wonderful way to soak up the beauty of the town is to walk along the beach at low tide. (When the tide is high you may not have a place to walk.) Plus you never know what might wash ashore.

Roz SIlva, the female protagonist in the new murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown, frequently walks along the beach to clear her head and think. As publisher and editor of the town’s weekly newspaper she has a lot on her plate, particularly because she is trying to figure out who killed real estate entrepreneur Sonny Carreiro, just as spring is beginning to arrive and the town is getting ready for the summer season.  Want to find out more, check out the new novel by S.N. Cook, now available at local bookstores and online at Amazon.com in trade paperback and as  an ebook. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Provincetown artists instrumental in starting Cape Cod museum

Provincetown Art Association and Museum original building

Provincetown Art Association and Museum original building purchased in 1919

The above vintage postcard shows what the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) looked like before the addition of the Charles Hawthorne Gallery and the subsequent addition of the Contemporary glass wing visitors see today. The veteran institution, located at 460 Commercial Street in the town’s East End,  was founded in 1914 by artists who were seeking both exhibition space and an institution that would be supportive  of the artists who had made the small town on the tip of Cape Cod their home. Oscar Gierberich, Gerrit Beneker, E. Ambrose Webster, Charles Hawthorne, and William Halsail are credited in the history books as being  the founding artists who were supported in their efforts by a number of local businesspeople at the time.The building was initially purchased and renovated in 1919.

PAAM has had a long tradition of organizing a number of exhibitions, some open to members and others juried, during the year. With the addition of more space, a larger permanent collection has been established and a variety of  programs and classes for all ages are offered trhroughout the year, with more going on during the summer season when there is a larger audience. 1914 is almost 100 years ago, and PAAM will thus be celebrating their 100th anniversary next year. Check the PAAM website to find out what is scheduled for this summer and read the new mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook  to fully appreciate that importance of how artists have contributed to the community. (Writers are artists too!) The book, just released in April is available at local bookstores, and online at Amazon.com in trade paperback or ebook. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.

The Smells of Cape Cod and Provincetown

Color version of the dunes

Color version of the dunes

Cape Cod Sand Dunes

Cape Cod Sand Dunes

Provinetown Sand Dunes 100 years ago

Provinetown Sand Dunes 100 years ago

New state road

“Cape Cod has a fragrance all its own”, writes Wainwright J. Wainwright in his book “Cape Cod in Picture and Story” published in 1954,  “characteristic, delightful, hard to describe. It is composed of the salt tang of the sea, the odor of the marshland, the redolence of pines on hot summer afternoons, the scent of sweet fern and bayberry and the sweetness of many flowers.”  Scents help to evoke the feeling of being in a place.  Remaining in Provincetown is about a place, a town– Provincetown, Cape Cod. The new murder mystery is available online, at bookstores, and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

 

 

The Indian trail road to Race Point Light

The Indian trail road to Race Point Light

Provincetown Cape Cod Commercial Street

downtownThe title of this vintage postcard from approximately 1910 says Commercial Street. Do you recognize those buildings? What are they like today? Not so totally different, than today and just as crowded, just with different people. They are all on there way somewhere. Perhaps to the theater, a bar, a restaurant? There were always plenty of businesses to choose from, even 100 years ago. What’s the town like  when it’s not so busy? Take a look at Remaining in Provincetown. Now available at bookstores, online, and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

Boston to Provincetown a popular destination!

Arrival of Boston Boat to Provincetown's Railroad Wharf

Arrival of Boston Boat to Provincetown’s Railroad Wharf

Look at all those people who just arrived from Boston, getting off at Provincetown’s Railroad Wharf. They took the ferry to arrive in Provincetown, Cape Cod for their summer holiday. The harbor is filled with beautiful sailboats and the tourists are well dressed in bowlers, summer hats and frocks. They’re excited to be in Provincetown. And we’re excited to tell you about the new murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown. Now available online, at bookstores, and at Amazon.com Like us on facebook.

St. Peters Church in Provincetown

St Peter's Church in Provincetown

Visit St. Peter’s Church today, and you’ll be visiting the new church dedicated in July 2008. The original church was destroyed by fire in January 2005 and only one stained glass window was saved. But the church, dedicated in October 1874 is very much integral to the Provincetown community. Initially when the church was opened,  the majority of the parishioners were Portuguese fishermen and their families, according to the church’s website, they comprised well over 50 percent of the town’s population. The church figures into the storyline of the new murder mystery released in April, Remaining in Provincetown. Many of the characters are parishioners. Want to read more? Now on sale online and at bookstores as well as at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

Provincetown’s Oldest House, a full cape

Built in approximately 1746 Provincetown's Oldest House

Built in approximately 1746 Provincetown’s Oldest House

Located on Commercial Street on the West End of Provincetown, the house purported to be the oldest house was once open to tourists but now is privately owned. As you can see in this antique postcard, the house was once a shop.  Artists Elizabeth and Coulton Waugh ran the Ship Model Shop and Hooked Rug Shop in the Cape Cod cottage built in approximately 1746.  In the front of the house was an arch made of a whale’s jawbone.

Architecturally a full Cape, said to have been built by Seth Nickerson, a ship’s carpenter. Two front windows flank a central doorway and  the windows abut the eaves.  Inside are wide-board floors. It is said that Nickerson built the house from wood salvage from shipwrecks.

Painter and photographer John Gregory, and Adelaide Gregory, a concert pianist, bought the house in 1944. They opened the house to the public, on occasion, but today you’ll just have to imagine its interior as you walk past. Just as you’ll have to imagine just what happens behind closed doors, unless you read Remaining in Provincetown, the new murder mystery released this month, available at stores, online and at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook.

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!