More Things I Have Done in Boston

, in Travel and Places

Concert at the Hatch Shell

The Hatch Shell is an awesome sound shell sitting right beside the Charles river in the center of Boston. During the summer, various Orchestras (of which Boston seems to have dozens) put on free concerts on midweek evenings attended by fairly large crowds.

Hatch Shell
Hatch Shell

The music was great. The worst part of the evening was the people around us that would just.not.shut.up. The best part was the Bill Oddie impersonator (besocked and besandaled, naturally) who went around furiously but silently shushing them. It didn't work, but was very entertaining to watch.

Twelfth Night in the Park

Also midweek and in a (different) park, a spirited performance of Twelfth Night. A tale of mistaken identity, cross dressing, and wacky hijinks that wouldn't be out of place in the particularly well-written episode of Threes Company. This is one of the comedies, so everyone ends up married at the end instead of dead. Hurrah!

Ferry to Provincetown

South of Boston is a peninsula jutting out into Atlantic Ocean called Cape Cod, which is basically Boston's summer residence. It seems just about everyone decamps down to The Cape for weeks at a time. At the very tip lies Provincetown, a coastal resort town.

We took a ferry from Boston, which is a nice 90 minute trip in itself. Or, in the this case because the ferry broke down, a nice 150 minute trip. But we did get to see a whale on the way.

Provincetown has a reputation for being a magnet for gay people. I can't see why.

Provincetown Main Street Main Street Provincetown

The town itself is really nice, with a very lively main street filled with cool bars and eateries alongside art galleries that actually contain interesting stuff. It is a total tourist trap, but the sort of tourist trap that other tourist traps aspire to be. The homosexual agenda line items regarding making a nice town have all been ticked off in Provincetown.

Provincetown Sunset Sunset in Provincetown

Being right at the end of Cape Cod, Provincetown is surrounded by beaches and dunes. A excellently maintained and only slightly hilly bike track wends around the sights. Even with a ferry-imposed delay, Provincetown was well worth visiting.