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Notes from Land's End - June 24

Trekking it: Sightseeing on the Outer Cape

I have always preferred afternoon cocktails to outdoor hiking. So when my dear friends Adam and Frank were here visiting from Capitola, I thought why not see what the eco-vacation fuss is all about. Off we went on a water shuttle to Long Point for a six mile hike back to the Provincetown Inn! Fellow townies were also on the shuttle sporting picnic baskets, coolers filled with libations, chairs, doggies and a fishing pole for an ever popular staycation, doing nothing but sitting, eating, drinking and laughing. I wanted to stay with them.

I have always preferred afternoon cocktails to outdoor hiking.

According to Adam’s pedometer, it is 22,000 steps from the 1807 Guest House to Flyer’s Boat Rental onto the shuttle for Long Point, walking the outside from the tip, crossing at Wood End Light to transverse the breakwater and back in one perfect circle. Call it mystical, call it exhausting but it’s AMAZING to walk the end of the earth going west, then south, the north across rocks, sand and beds of dried sea grass. Check the tide chart for the three to four hour journey so you can cross the breakwater safely.

Rain or shine activities are all the rage these days so I did the best thing around and took Art’s Dune Tours into the wilds. Yeah, it was pouring but who cared? There was Euphoria, the writers’ dune shack, among a cluster of ramshackle structures made by a community of former squatters from the 1930’s. Now, these domiciles are multi-generational shacks where art, literature and children were born. Measuring eleven square miles and off the grid, these vast dunes are just extraordinary. Barbara Ticehurst and Paul T, tour guides, make you feel as if you are in on a great secret. Also on the tour were Ira and Flora Seldin, of Chatham, who had never gone and brought their grandchildren, Ben and Emma. Everyone had a great time. Art’s dune tours also offers night beach parties for groups and sunset tours. I can’t wait to go again.

Photo by Frank Reyes.

The trolley winds along Commercial Street, defying space by navigating through crowds, skateboarders and delivery trucks on non rainy days. Whew! A familiar sight on Commercial Street during season, the trolley is the sitting person’s outdoor and educational event. It’s a ride all around town and the National Seashore with a forty minute narration with twenty points of interest. Departing from Town Hall, the trolley is a great way to wrap your arms around the town.

Flyers Boat Rental: www.flyersboats.com
508-487-0898

1807 Guest House:
1807house.com
888-522-1807

Arts Dune Tours: www.ArtsDuneTours.com
508-487-1950

Provincetown Trolley:
www.provincetowntrolley.com
508-487-9483

Laura Shabott is an artistic generalist with a degree in writing, acting and painting from the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in cooperation with Emerson College. She washed ashore in 1992 and never left (for long).