At the northern tip of Cape Cod is the charming seaside town of Provincetown, also known as P-Town. This little coastal town has most of its attractions clustered around Commercial Street, although it's a so teeny that it's exceedingly difficult to find a place to stop or--should we daresay--park, around here. But it seems that there's a small but thriving Portuguese community that's taken root here, and we were excited to get some Portuguese tarts (Pasteis de Nata--we're going to say it's one of the world's best pastries) from Provincetown Portuguese Bakery. According to its website, the bakery has been around since 1900, and has been passed down through several Portuguese families.
While it's in the center of the main street, there was nowhere to stop, so Lisette dashed out to grab the pastries (4 Pasteis de Nata and 1 rice cake--so good!), while Michael circled the block. Across the road from the bakery is the quirky Bob Gasoi Memorial Art Alley, an eclectic array of mural fragments, paintings and metal art sculptures (even a rusty knight's armor) by Bob Gasoi, a local artist who passed away in 1997. There are some works depicting scenes from Alice in Wonderland, in the works is a series of 10 4x6 paintings of scenes from Alice in Wonderland, vivid paintings featuring animals, as well as quite a bit of nudity (lots of spanking going on too); a warning if you're not keen to see the obscene!
Celebrating the Coast of Cape Cod
After leaving Provincetown, we went back towards the coast, visiting the Marconi Wireless Station, where the first transatlantic wireless communication between the United States of America and Europe occurred on January 18, 1903. Here, the inventor Guglielmo Marconi placed a large antenna array and transmitting station that produced enough electricity needed to send signals to a similar station in Cornwall in the UK. There's a plaque to commemorate this milestone, right by the rugged coastline looking out onto the ocean.
We soon realized that some places were out of bounds for us, as there was a vehicle length limit of 20 feet for a few areas (and we are just over 10 feet longer). Unfortunately, we didn't always find out until the last minute, and we'd have to reverse by doing a 10-point turn or so to exit. The Three Sisters Lighthouses, a trio of 15-foot high lighthouses, was one such no-go attraction!
However, we did make it to the Cape Cod National Seashore, a lovely beach area that we probably would have struggled to go to in peak season. There's 40 miles of sandy beach, marshes, ponds, lighthouses, walking and biking trails in this area, and people can even get a permit to drive right onto the beach (reminding us of the fun and leisurely days we spent in Corpus Christi). Along this long strip is also Captain Penniman House, a prominent, historic home built in the French Second Empire style in 1868, by a sea captain for his wife and children.
We took advantage of the weather (shorts and t-shirts temperature!), to relax on the beach for a while, even walking back to grab our camping chairs and Sheila's long leash so that we could all chill out comfortably. Michael was even tempted to go for a dip, but in the end decided not to, although the water was probably chillier than it appeared. We hung out for a while among a small group of other folks making the most out of the warm weather on a weekday and during off season, before we got hungry for lunch and the wind picked up.
Rhode Island and Booze
In the afternoon, we left Cape Cod and before we knew it, we had arrived in Rhode Island--state #43! We briefly visited the Ladd Observatory, an astronomical observatory at Brown University, that's still used by the university's students today. It was closed so we could only wander around the outside of it, but weather permitting, people can visit on Tuesday evenings for their public observing nights.
Speaking of nights, there were a few streets we could park on, but we wanted to be unobstructed from trees to get as much solar power as possible, so we headed to Walmart where we could also pick up a few groceries. Now, we've been to plenty of Walmart stores on this trip and the layout is pretty much the same--but as soon as we entered this one it was noticeably different. It didn't take long for us to know why--there was no fresh produce at this store (so odd, where are the fruits and vegetables? All the food was processed).
Secondly...there was no alcohol section! Michael's quest for cider had been thwarted again (the last time that happened was when Lisette didn't have ID on her and he was prevented from purchasing it in Maine, even though she was just accompanying him). It turns out that Rhode Island has specific state liquor laws that mean that alcohol needs to be purchased from a specific liquor store, so the likes of Walmart and other grocery stores can't stock it. We didn't learn this until we looked it up afterwards, so oddly enough, when we asked 2 Walmart staff about alcohol, one turned to her coworker to ask, while the other one simply said they didn't stock it but there was a liquor store across the road. It seems they don't know about the specific state law, despite being in Rhode Island?
The Walmart was small, and the parking lot was a bit chaotic, since we were also right next door to a Wendy's fast food restaurant that closed at 4am, and reopened at...6am! It was loud and busy through the night, and in the one hour that the Wendy's was closed we were actually awoken by someone blasting music in their car (a Wendy's employee finishing or about to start their shift, perhaps)?