Tag Archives: Outer Cape

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.


Hollyhocks a Provincetown Cape Cod favorite flower

Hollyhock Lane glimpse of the harbor

Hollyhock Lane glimpse of the Provincetown harbor

Admiring the gardens as you walk downtown  is part of the summer experience when you visit Provincetown and hollyhocks are a favorite flower. Their height and various colors makes a nice contrast to other blossoms. According to English botantist Wedgewood, The name holly came from  “holy” because the first of the plants brought to southern Europe came from the Holy Land, having been transplanted there from the orient.  It does well in  all climates and soils. During  the Middle Ages, and it is mentioned as “holy-hoke”, an adaptation of the Welsh name, in a British horticultural treatise of 1548. Here is another lovely antique postcard.

Holly Hock Lane with the Provincetown monument in the background.

Holly Hock Lane with the Provincetown monument in the background.

If you enjoy reading about Provincetown, you should enjoy the murder mystery just published this month, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook, available online, at bookstores and at Amazon.Com. Like us on facebook.

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Provincetown Cape Cod setting for mystery and love

Fishing Boats at Provinetown, Cape Cod Mass. circa 1900

Fishing Boats at Provincetown, Cape Cod Mass. circa 1900

The above antique postcard shows the beauty of the Provincetown shoreline, viewing it from the harbor. While fishing boats are fewer, the beauty of the Cape Cod town known for its art galleries, bars, restaurants, and shops has gone through many evolutions through the decades, but is still a compelling place.  As described in the new murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook, “Whatever their disagreements, members of the Provincetown community were united in their love of the sea and sand dunes, along with the winding, narrow streets and nineteenth century architecture that dominated this small New England town.” Want to read more? The 306 page paperback is available at a number of online sites and at bookstores including Amazon.com and is also available as an ebook on kindle. Don’t forget to like us on facebook. We’ll be giving away one more FREE book this week to a facebook fan.

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Provincetown takes center stage in new book

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

Provincetown, that enigmatic town on the tip of Cape Cod, is part of the title of the newly released murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown, and it is the core focus of a perfect mystery lite.  A story that delves into the thoughts, fears, and aspirations of a medley of characters as varied in their socio-economic and sexual orientations as the town in which they reside.

 Roz Silva, is the power hungry publisher/editor of the town’s (fictitious) weekly newspaper The Provincetown Observer. Widowed three years earlier, with two teenage daughters, she is attractive and lonely—so lonely she’s been carrying on what she thinks is a secret love affair with the new town manager, who just happens to be married. But in a small town, there are no secrets.  Certainly talented and sensitive Frank Chambers, a chef and owner of the highly regarded Indigo Inn, knows of Roz’s indiscretions and he’s not going to pass judgment on who she sleeps with when he is too busy worrying how to get his restaurant staffed for the upcoming season and whether the HIV virus he’s carrying will develop into a full blown case of AIDS.  But he and his good friend Bruno, an Innkeeper with a weakness for young boys, do know one thing, they don’t like Roz and they want to start an alternative publication—a magazine.

And then there is the murder. Sonny Carreiro, Portuguese American native son, insurance agent, and real estate developer is mysteriously shot in front of his home on a Sunday evening and there are no witnesses. But there are plenty of suspects. He’s been separated from his wife Sarah for several months. Why did she leave him? He’s not on speaking terms with his business partner Beau Costa. Where was Beau on Sunday night?  Who in Sonny’s past, may have a score to settle?

Set in the early 1990s in a version of Provincetown which contains many actual businesses and locations used in a fictional context along with newly created places and situations that may feel oddly familiar, the book brings to life a town known for its beauty and the unique diversity of its inhabitants.  Available online at Amazon.com and at local bookstores in trade paperback, 306 pages $12.95 retail or as a kindle ebook, it is destined to become a mystery classic.

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Hanging out in Provincetown Cape Cod

New Central Hotel in Provincetown, Massachusetts now Crown & Anchor

New Central Hotel in Provincetown, Massachusetts now Crown & Anchor

The name of the Inn in Provincetown’s center may have changed from New Central Hotel to Crown & Anchor, but people still hang out and check new visitors walking by, particularly at the height of summer. This beautiful setting on the tip of Cape Cod is filled with a multitude of historic buildings,  has a view of the Bay, many art galleries, shops, and fine restaurants. Some visitors come once and never leave, Remaining in Provincetown, the name of the new murder mystery novel released just two weeks ago, everyone’s talking about. Now available at Amazon.com as a trade paperback and on kindle. Like the Facebook page.

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Provincetown Poet of the Dunes, early Cape Cod publisher

Cape Cod Sand Dunes

Cape Cod Sand Dunes

Provincetown’s sand dunes, now part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, have inspired many artists. One writer, closely associated with the dunes was Harry Kemp,(1883-1960) who was fondly referred to by the summer and year-round residents as “The Poet of the Dunes”. It is likely Kemp helped promote that name for himself, as one of his poetry collections he self-published in 1952 was entitled Poet of the Dunes.  Here is one of his short poems.

My Books

My books are ragged veterans

    Much leaked on in my shack;

But each of them’s bound with a rainbow

     And wears glory on its back.

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Kemp first arrived in Provincetown in 1916.  His memoir, Tramping on LIfe: an Autobiographical Narrative (1922) was a bestseller during the 1920a and 30s. He was part of the elite circle of bohemian writers  of his era  that  included Upton SInclalir, Max Eastman, Eugene O’Neill, Edmund WIlson, John Dos Passos and many others. Setting down roots for a time in Greenwich Village, In the late 1920’s he started spending his summers in a Provincetown dune shack.  A heavy drinker and a womanizer, he was a master of self-promotion, performing stunts for the press in order to garner publicity and attention. Eventually his literary popularity waned, and when he could no longer find a publisher for his poetry, he founded the Provincetown Publishers and had his books printed by the Advocate Press which he sold for two dollars and autographed with a seagull feather along with an envelope of sand “gathered from the first landing place of The Pilgrims”.  Now that is marketing for you!

While the purchase of the new mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown does not include sand gathered from the dunes, it is the hope of the writer that when you read the book you will feel as if you’ve been walking on the streets of Provincetown, which usually results in a little sand in your shoes. Now available in trade paperback or on kindle at Amazon.com , Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Provincetown Gay Party Central, Crown & Anchor history

Now called The Crown & Anchor, the New Central Hotel was a popular Provincetown Inn in the 19th century

Now called The Crown & Anchor, the New Central House was a popular Provincetown Inn in the 19th century and  today is a  “happening place”.

The handsome waterfront Provincetown Inn located in the center of Provincetown on Commercial Street has gone by many names. In the antique postcard shown above it is called “New Central House”. Said to have been built in 1836 as the Central Hotel by 1868 it was considered the largest hotel at the tip of Cape Cod, with 75 guest rooms.  A private beach with cabanas and long porches with rocking chairs for guests to sit out and look at the water, made this Inn a successful business that kept expanding through its many incarnations. Its been called: Ocean House, Central House, New Central House, Towne House, the Sea Horse Inn. and the Crown & Anchor as it is known today.  At the end of the 19th century it catered to prosperous guests by providing a  billiard hall, smoking rooms, gentleman’s parlor, and ladies’ reading room for a mixed clientele of families and primarily straight travelers. But as the town evolved into a mecca for gay travelers, it gradually evolved into a thriving complex of bars and restaurants that cater to gay and lesbian patrons of varying tastes.   Although the Crown & Anchor was burned to the ground in 1998 when adjacent Whaler’s Wharf burned as well, it was faithfully rebuilt in its previous architectural style. The leather bar is known as The Vault and the restaurant Central House at the Crown pays tribute to its earlier years by using the earlier name of the hotel. while  the Paramount Nightclub, Piano Bar, Wave Video Bar and more make certain there is always a party going on somewhere.   Places to have a good time are an important aspect of life in Provincetown, whether you are a tourist or a resident, and in the new mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown a popular hang-out is the fictitious “Cowboy Club”. Want to learn more about what goes on there? You’ll have to read the book now available at Amazon.com and as an ebook on Kindle. Like our Facebook page and you may win a FREE copy.

Provincetown Harbor Prettiest on Cape Cod

A view of Provincetown, Massachusetts harbor from Town Hill.

A view of Provincetown, Massachusetts harbor from Town Hill.

An antique postcard from the time when it only cost one penny to mail, this color lithographic print captures the beauty of Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod when the harbor was filled with sailing ships. The description on the back says it all: PROVINCETOWN is one of the quaintest places, not only on the Cape, but in the entire country with its old streets, very narrow at that, and fairly teems with “local color” which attracts scores of artists every year eager to transfer the odd scenes to canvas. It is entirely unlike any other town in the country and must be seen to be fully appreciated. Writers are also artists, and the town is certainly the inspiration for the just released murder mystery Remaining in Provincetown now available at Amazon.com  and on Kindle. Like the RemaininginProvincetown Facebook page and you may be selected to win a FREE book.

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Finback Whale watching in Provincetown Cape Cod

Finback Whale on Provincetown beach one of the largest ever taken.

Finback Whale on Provincetown beach one of the largest ever taken.

The Finback whale shown in this antique postcard which was mailed in 1918, at first glance looks as if it beached on the Provincetown shore. But on closer examination, and from reading the caption on the photograph, the sad truth is this whale was hunted and killed for its blubber oil.   Currently an endangered species, the Finback is the second largest animal in the world. (The Blue Whale is the largest) It has been described by naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews as “the greyhound of the sea”. Since the mid 1980’s whale watching has become a way for visitors to Cape Cod to observe these handsome mammals. Often sighted in the waters on the tip of Cape Cod are primarily Humpback Whales as well as a few Finback Whales.

This particular whale in the vintage postcard above was killed by Captain Joshua Nickerson while at the command of the steamer the A.B. Nickerson. It was one of the largest of the Finback species ever taken in Provincetown and measured 65 feet and 4 inches in length and weighed 136 tons.  According to the book Provincetown written by Herman Atwell Jennings, “in 1886 the steamer and a facility for processing whales was built at Herring Cove near the Race Point Lighthouse and in 1889 a wharf was extended from shore four hundred feet to enable the factory steamer to bring the whales and other fish alongside to be handled.” A number of the streets in Provincetown have the names of the early families that include Nickerson, Snow, and Dyer. Small towns have their secrets. Want to gain a more intimate sense of the town and its inhabitants?  You’ll want to read the new novel Remaining in Provincetown, now available at Amazon.com. Like us on Facebook and you may win a FREE copy.

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