Trip to P-town
A few months back I bought a groupon for the ferry from Plymouth to Provincetown. Summer was flying by and we still hadn’t used it. So Saturday of labor day weekend we decided to finally go. We loaded up our bikes on the car and drove down to Plymouth. We parked in the lot next to East Bay Grill and did the 4 hour parking for $8 using the phone app. Then we rode our bikes over to the Captain John’s boat. When you use the groupon, you have to do online reservations, which I did the night before we left. When we got to the dock all we had to do was give our last name and we got our boarding passes (for both going and returning). We got on the boat and the staff loaded our bikes. We got there about 9:40am, 20 minutes before the boat left and there were only a few spots left on the upper deck. I’m glad we got a spot as it was a sunny day and it was very pleasant. I wouldn’t have wanted to be inside down below. At 10am the captain came on the loud speaker and announced the bar was opening. Though I appreciated the effort, that was a little early to start drinking. It was a nice smooth ride over to P-town, though a little chilly with the wind. I’m glad I brought my sweatshirt. When we got to P-town we had to wait for our bikes to be unloaded (after everyone disembarked). We decided to go right away to race point. We rode to the beach, which took about 15-20 minutes. There were a few hills but it wasn’t too bad. My husband wanted to go to the tip of the cape so we rode all through the province lands before he realized that you can’t get there from here. The Province lands are a collection of paved trails through P-town with views of the dunes and beaches. I thought I was going to die as it’s very hilly. On the last hill I actually had to get off my bike. It was just a little too much. Luckily it wasn’t a super hot day, probably high 70s. We locked up our bikes at Herring Cove Beach and sat there for a while. The water was pretty warm and there were a lot of fish close to the shore. There’s not a ton of parking so the beach wasn’t too crowded which was nice. I had set a timer for the parking back in Plymouth. So when that went off while we were at the beach I tried to pay for another 4 hours. But, it wouldn’t let me as it said I’d met my max for that spot. Matt decided to try to download the app on his phone and was able to pay for another 4 hours. We ended up paying $16 to park which was a little ridiculous. I should have parked in the free lot which was a little further away. Live and learn.
After enjoying some sun and sand we rode back into town. Decided to ride the last leg down Commercial Street which was a mistake. There were a ton of people as usual walking and it was a little tough to navigate on a bike. We locked up our bikes near the ferry and walked back to Commercial Street for a beer. We were going to go to the Lobster Pot but there was a line out the door. So we went into the Old Colony Tap. Whoa. What a dive. It’s small and dark. We sat at the bar and each had a beer. Then we went across the street to the Governor Bradford restaurant for a bite to eat. We decided to share two apps, the mussels and the fried zucchini. And of course another beer. The food was pretty decent. The mussels were huge but a little sandy. Then we walked back over to the pier to pick up our bikes and board the boat. We were able to grab a seat up on top again which was nice. We had a great ride back with the sun in our faces. We got back to Plymouth at 6pm and waited for our bikes to be off loaded agin. Gave the workers a few bucks tip and then hopped our bikes to ride back to the car. Luckily the car was still there and there wasn’t a ticket. Overall we had a really great day. I would totally do it again and recommend it to anyone. If you can get a groupon definitely do that. Regular price for 2 people (bikes are free) is $106. I paid $75 for the groupon. You can also take the ferry from Boston to Provincetown, though it’s more expensive.