Highlights, Ptown Ma, Mystic CT, & Philly PA
7 Ptown, Mystic and Philly artworks from the trip, plus the fam 12 years ago and now, this being our 11th roadtrip to Provincetown.
Road Trip, the good, the bad & the ugly~ We had started going to Provincetown MA in 2014 when the pups, Blaze & Amber were just pups. This was our 11th trip there and it exhibited some new challenges. My car is having oil consumption issues, Blaze has developed some vision loss & diagnosed with early kidney failure recently, then Amber injured/strained her hind right leg just before we began our trip, plus I had decided to catch a YUNGBLUD concert i Philly PA the last day of our trip thus extending it to just over 2 weeks and I had decided to make it a work/painting trip too bringing 7 substrates. This meant a week in in Ptown, 2 days in Mystic Ct & # in Philly PA., the car was stuffed to the gills in what can only be described as a Rubik’s cube puzzle combination.
Navigating the new challenges took some getting used to & adaptation to, but we managed as I had created a rough itinerary for the trip, including visiting our favorite haunts & eateries on the Cape, Mystic Village & Seaport Museum in CT, then doing Rittenhouse Square Park, doing the Constitutional Walking Tour and going to the Yungblud Concert the last evening in Philly Pa before heading home. I love driving across America, seeing it from the ground up, listening to my music selections, just me & the fam, quality time. I received a message on the drive out, form Circle Foundation for the Arts/ France, stating mu submission, “Opening & Closing” was 1 of 30 finalist in a book cover competition. Then on the way home I got a text saying a photo of the pups I had submitted for a 2026 calendar competition had been chosen and they would be August 2026. Day 2 on our drive we even zoomed our UUSG as our new minster took the pulpit for the first time, as real life has ne vacation and is always with you for the ride.
We arrived in Ptown on a rainy grey afternoon, unpacked at the The Provincetown Inn( Gabriel’s Apartments) ours the Dorian Gray that overlooks the base of Pilgrims Monument Park. Its a perfect location, center of the main strip. Herring Cove & Aqua Bar are more often than not our first stops. I’ve painted Herring Cove more times than I can honestly count, so painted another one there and have 2 more to paint from photo references when we get home & Aqua bar is a deck bar on the ocean with a view of the Atlantic great place to have a drink or 2, maybe try a new drink, a Painkiller/ Thirsty Merman style, listen to music, strike up conversations and watch the world go by. While we did a lot more pivoting with our plans than usual we fit in the plan and much more. We hit several beaches this time Herring Cove & Race Point, which you can see lots of seals and whales from the beach. The eateries we hit were Box Lunch, which has a turkey/stuffing/cranberry sauce wrap that is to die for, plus chowder, The Canteen, Lobster Roll And Crispy Brussels, Tin Pan Alley, Statler Chicken and Portuguese Kale Soup, fried calamari for starters, Bubalas, a California Burger and a cup of chowder, Ciro & Sal’s which is top notch, fired zucchini, Butternut Squash soup, Fra Divola, Tiramisu & and bottle of Pinot A gredggia, a must stop, every time…and Moby Dick’s down the Cape in Wellfleet, Blackened Salmon, Fried Pickles and Shrimp Cocktail for starters, being a plan, but a pivot as we went to Highland Light beforehand and the Wellfleet Drive-In to see a double feature of JAWS on its 50th & E.T. We stopped at some of our favorite shops too, The Fudge Factory, The Portuguese Bakery, Tim’s Used Books, (picking up Jews, Queers Germans by Martin Duberman & a compilation of James Joyce works, including, “Portrait of the artist…”, I had just finished Lorca, Bunuel, Dali by Gwynne Edwards) Marine Specialties, & of course the art galleries, with Captains Daughter leading the way so I can get a Cape Odd Chai. Pete Hocking’s artwork was on display I also liked the photographs by Izzy Berdan. The Whalers Wharf has several studio/galleries several caught my eye, an E. Lesh came home with me. While 5 artists & artworks caught my attention, after
I read Eric’s background I choose to add his artwork to my collection, supporting other Queer artist who are also fighting the good fight. Stopped by Hilda Neily Gallery, her wife Kathy was there and a friend who after a long current events conversation, became a new friend of mine too. Angela Russo Fine Art had several amazing figurative aretists showcased. Stopped by The Packard gallery only to find out this was their last season Ane being in her 90’s & Cynthis her late 60’s. Both their artorks are top notch, museum quality sophistication, I was saddened. I popped in Gallery 444, met the showcased artist Laura Levine and had a most enjoyable 45 minute conversation about art, life & everything, as if we’d always known each other. I had brought limited number of painting substrates with me, which caused some anxiety about what to paint as I scoped things out. I was walking the pups one morning before dawn in the park at the base of the Dorian Gray, where we stay. A cresent moon lit up in the sky the 2 apartment buildings flanking it, I thought, yes, a nocturne and got to work. The other 4, were our regular haunts, saving 2, for Mystic & the last one for Philly. I of course took lots of reference photos for the studio back at home. These days I wear one of my many concert t -shirts which like the pups and art, are great conversation starters…Depeche Mode caught a fan eye and conversation and as we arrived in Mystic Ct, Wearing my ELO T-shirt also got a 20 minute conversation as we checked in, arriving at our next destination.
We had stopped at Eastend Market as we were leaving Ptown, It’s regular stop for a fresh made breakfast sandwich, chose to your taste, bread, meat =, cheese etc. I picked up some fresh rolled figs and s apple/cranberry chutney for the road. We stopped off as we usually do at Nauset Lighthouse & beach. Having left so late, a $25. fee was required, so we passed as we usually only stay 1/2 hour-45 minutes say say farewell to the ocean. We drove a couple miles down the road top the coast guard station and surfer beach it too was closed off to only this day, so we headed for Mystic CT, getting there a several hours before we could check in, so we headed for Mystic Villages. Not normally the kind of places we hang but we rolled with it. It was a beautiful, blue sky, temperate day. We strolled and stopped at the shaded benches as we worked our way through the period shops, stopping at a tea shop for me and a gourmet popcorn one for Don, until we found our way to the Jealous Monk for a late lunch. The next day we headed for the Mystic Seaport Museum not really knowing what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised at it was an outdoor museum of a period seaport village. The oldest Whaler still afloat the Charles W. Morgan caught out attention as did a Whaling history /art exhibition entitled MONSTEROUS. A beautiful day strolling along building to building. I had really hoped to squeeze in at least one of the Submarine museums & The Nautilus, as they were close to where we were staying but time did not allow as we headed out for Philly PA the next morning.
Knowing we would be getting there before we could check in, we headed for the Rittenhouse Park in the center of town to walk about , familrize our selves with the town and grab a bite to eat at Parc, before check in. We crossed the Benjamin Franklin bridge into the city, which was $6 dollars in and $6 dollars out…I had made our accomodations across the river in NJ, as in Jersey to save money…oops, lol and let me just add whoever came up with the traffic system in Jersey should be fired, just saying, the most insane traffic patterns imaginable. Which reminds me of another bridge we had just crossed, the George Washington Bridge between NY and Jersey, insane to say the least, let me put it this way…when you approach a bridge, traffic is stopped and there’s street vendors walking about selling libations…not a good sign, it was at least a 30 minute crossing, bizzarro. Meanwhile over in Philly, we tried to navigate the rain and headed downtown to do the Constitutional Tour. I became very moved walking up upon the Liberty Bell and selfied myself with Independence Hall in the background. Over at I.H. we toured it 238 days to the dayte of the signing of the Constitution and they were gearing up for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next year. The actual chair George Washington sat in as he presided over the meetings was there. the back rest carved at the top, a sun, he was asked if it was setting or rising, he responded rising, of course. Don made it to the National Constitution Center but a torrential rain storm had me and the pups head for shelter. Benjamin Franklins final resting place and cemetery just across the street. Th next morning we found a wonderful park to hang and walk the pups Collins Ln. Park. Later that day we learned the Yungblud concert was postponed/canceled. Bummed as it was to be our trip finale I went one search for a cork screw and some comfort food, Chinese fit the bill.
Next morning we headed home through Pennsylvania the fall colors were already amazing. We stopped for the night just west of Cleveland Ohio before returning home the next afternoon. Within 2 hours of getting home I came down with a head cold. It’s not easy having a good time. A friend asked, What was your favorite part of your trip? I replied, “Just being able to spend that much time with Don & the pups. Adding the other highlights were, in Ptown MA, Ciro & Sal’s plus the gallery walk, in Mystic Ct, the Whaler/Morgan & exhibit Monstrous, in Philly the Liberty Bell & touring Independence Hall. The YUNGBLUD concert was rescheduled for November, so I’ll be flying out for that finale.
Life and experience inspire me, every bit of it. Made some memories, painted 7 pieces and got lots of photo references. A successful life is moderation & balance, that’s all, that’s everything.
As always your questions & comments are welcome, Richard