Featured Stories & Articles from Cape Cod Travel Magazine: Weekend Getaways - Provincetown
Provincetown has long been the quirkiest of Cape Cod towns. These days, it’s full of stylish inns and dining options and happening hot spots. As of March of last year, two of the high-end inns in town became sister properties when the owners of the Crowne Pointe Historic Inn & Spa purchased the Brass Key Guesthouse. Like champagne and caviar, the two properties are a perfect fit.
After checking into our deluxe suite at the Crowne Pointe, complete with flat screen TVs in both the bedroom and bathroom and a gas fireplace, handsome hubby John and I took a few minutes to check out the inn. Like the Brass Key, the Crowne Pointe is actually a charming cluster of historic homes contained within a fence-enclosed compound.
When David Sanford and Thomas Walter, longtime owners of the Crowne Pointe, purchased the Brass Key, they brought in a third partner, Ken Masi. Together, the three have continued to offer a stellar experience at the Crowne Pointe, while giving the Brass Key a million-dollar-makeover.
David and Thomas expanded and renovated their breakfast room, creating a full-service restaurant, five years ago and now serve dinner. The intimate space is decorated with large gilt-framed oil portraits and silk swags adorn the windows – very upper-crust historic home.
After perusing the menu while checking in, John and I decided to have dinner in-house. Before dinner, he relaxed on the sofa in front of one TV and I had a soak in the deep jetted tub in front of the other. At 6:30, we headed downstairs.
I started with a salad of fresh mozzarella layered with tomatoes and then had the filet mignon with a cabernet veal reduction and goat cheese puff pastry. John was in the mood for Asian and started with a butter soft tuna sashimi and then moved on to the ginger miso stir-fry with brown rice, loads of fresh veggies and a heap of huge shrimp. After all this exceptionally well prepared food and a to-die-for cranberry and pear tart, we went back upstairs and fell into a deep sleep tucked into the high-thread count sheets…nice.
The next morning, we went down to breakfast. The inn offers a bit of a hybrid of the expected B&B breakfast: self-serve fruit and pastries, juices and coffee, yogurt and cereal, with a hot, made-to-order selection of the day. Before we’d finished our sliced melon and yogurt, the cook delivered our roasted corn flapjacks with scrambled eggs and sausage.
It was a gorgeous day, early fall perfection, just right for spending a little time at the Cape Cod National Seashore. We headed for Race Point Beach, where John and I were more than happy to spend a good three hours with a couple of paperbacks. By 1 p.m., we had enough of the sun and decided to head into town, stopping at the Province Lands Visitor Center to enjoy the views from the upper level observation deck.
Back at the inn, we continued our day of relaxation. We soaked in the spa’s warm mineral tub and then moved outside to one of the deck-side hot tubs.
After our elegant experience at the Crowne Pointe, we were in the mood for a more downtown dinner and ended up at the Lobster Pot. As those in the know will tell you, the place to be at this restaurant is upstairs; better water views and better all-around vibe.
The menu at the Lobster Pot has several shellfish dishes. I chose classic Oysters Rockefeller and John ordered Russian Oysters - raw on the half, topped with sour cream and a touch of caviar. Both were excellent. One look at the heap of lobster meat on a nearby diner’s lobster roll and I was sold. John went with the lobster salad panini.
We decided to skip dessert at the Lobster Pot and opted instead to just walk up and down Commercial Street, watching the crowds and popping in and out of the unique shops. One of my favorite places in Provincetown was Utilities, a quirky and modern kitchen, bath and home shop.
We started slowly working our way back to the inn and came upon a queue of Ptown Pedicabs, colorful rickshaws that ferry people around town. Being delivered back to the Crowne Pointe under someone else’s steam was the ideal way to end our day of absolute leisure.
John and I snuggled into our king-sized bed - this time it was cool enough to enjoy the fireplace - followed by another hearty breakfast in the morning. We were both in the mood for a little more action on our second day. Even in the early fall, there is plenty to do in Provincetown. We narrowed it down to a whale watch, four-wheeling through the National Seashore with Art’s Dune Tours, climbing Pilgrim Monument, and a day of shopping, but decided on a whale watch instead.
We’d already been on a whale watch several times and I know we’ll go again. Humpbacks and Minkes are the most prevalent types in this area. They just dive and breach and spout and feed and put on an all around spectacular show.
We were back on MacMillan Wharf by 2 p.m. so we decided to stop at Mojo’s for some fine junk food. We both loved the unpretentious little joint’s fried clams and onion strings. We then walked the few steps over to the beach and sat with our feet in the sand.
Just a quick ice cream cone and it was time to start heading home. After enjoying our luxurious accommodations, the fabulous food and all of the really unique stuff to do, I know we’ll find time for another Provincetown getaway…sooner than later.
