After spending just two nights each at our first two stops, we’re spending four nights in Provincetown, MA and it finally feels like we can settle in a little. Two nights is a quick turnaround for camping, especially if there’s a long drive between stops since it means just one full day in a location before packing up and moving on.

Provincetown is an artsy, LQBTQ+ friendly beach hamlet that’s extremely bike and kid friendly. There’s no denying that it’s touristy, but it still feels quaint and authentic. On our first full day we packed sandwiches and set out early to bike the Province Lands Bike Trail to Race Point Beach and back. Unlike the relatively flat rails to trails biking we did in Falmouth, this trail was hilly and challenging. Jake and Phineas both have electric bikes with both pedal assist and a throttle option (Penelope rides on the back of Jake’s bike like a motorcycle). My bike just has pedal assist. After completing 13 miles round trip from our campsite, I was jelly. Race Point Beach is on the ocean side of Provincetown instead of the more protected Bay, so it had bigger waves. We saw seals swimming by occasionally and the kids had a blast playing in the surf. Apparently there are great white sharks off the coast, so we didn’t let them venture too far. Everyone agreed that the calm, clear Bay water was the winner.

Today we played tourist and started out by walking downtown to have breakfast out. We hit up Liz’s Cafe for fantastic pancakes and other breakfast goodies. I’m on a mission to eat as much lobster as possible in Cape Cod and Maine, so I splurged on Lobster Benedict. Afterwards we climbed to the top of The Pilgrim Monument, a tower and museum celebrating the spot where the Mayflower first hit shore, before deciding to move on to Plymouth to settle. After the biking the previous day, the many, many steps felt like a LOT. Phineas has developed a fear of heights, but was a trooper and climbed anyway. Later we did some shopping and Penelope bought some earrings now that she can change out her original piercing earrings.