photo by Don Church and Tony Schillaci

Seen from a rooftop, Provincetown is a beautiful place, and it's still hopping during the fall and winter!

There’s a different vibe in Provincetown each fall and winter. People are more relaxed, there’s more elbow room on the streets, in bars, clubs, restaurants and shops. 

The one thing that never changes is the array of popular festivals and other special events for which this great gay destination is famous.  This fall is the premiere of a new one that has the whole town talking and working on together: Restaurant Week. It’s on Friday November 6th through Thursday the 12th. All the restaurants from plain to fancy will be proving why this is a renowned food town. 

To help promote this great gay destination’s events is the newly appointed town tourism director, Bob Sanborn (www.provincetowntourismoffice.org) and the incoming director of the Provincetown Business Guild Nick Robertson.

To start off the Fall/Winter season’s festivities is the 25th Anniversary Women’s Week. October 9th - 18th, 2009. A schedule can be found on this Web site.

Fantasia Fair is October 18 – 25, a transgender event that attracts people from the entire range of the GLBTI community.  Cross dressers, transsexuals, intersex individuals, M2Fs, F2Ms, and all others are welcome. 

Halloween will be celebrated big time October 30 – November 1. Witches and bitches and boytoys, oh my!

Thanksgiving, November 25 - 29, doesn’t have an official schedule yet posted, but some of the inns and B&Bs offer holiday parties from cocktails to a traditional dinner for its guests. 

Holly Folly, Friday December 4, 2009 – Sunday December 6th.   Hear the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus.  Pose with sexy Santa and Ms. Santa.  Eat, drink, and of course, be Mary!   

New Year’s 2009/2010 - December 30th - January 3rd.  This gala includes hot and cool stuff happening all over town.  Check out the many venues at the always bustling A-house, Crown & Anchor, Madeira room at the Vixen, among other hot spots in town.

In 2010 it’s Martin Luther King Weekend, Jan. 15-18 – the first three-day holiday of the year. 

Valentine’s Day Weekend is combined with President’s Weekend, Feb. 12-15. Time for lovers and other strangers to get it on.

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2010.  Talk about greening the gay planet!  Green beer, green hats, big green monsters the next morning.  Enjoy!

Many inns, restaurants and shops will be staying open through the winter months.  If there’s no great event going on, create your own with best friends or find new friends in town. 

Here are a few places that are so popular with the locals and long-time visitors, and offer great value for your money.

The Mews Restaurant and Café at 429 Commercial Street in P-town will stay open all year, and on Monday evenings will have an open mic so that residents and visitors can try their entertainment skills.

A trio of us recently shared expertly prepared and served crispy duck, lobster risotto and a great steak with garlic fries along with a superb bottle of Borsao wine from Spain. The Mews is always an unfailing treat any time of year.

Another fun place to stay, dine, drink, and enjoy baked goods (how’s that for a combo of activities?) is the newly opened Waterford Inn, Tavern, and Café. Owners Mark and Al are hands-on hosts and their signature “pure fruit” martinis can be enjoyed socially in the street-level tavern before getting a table upstairs with food, glorious food, prepared by Chef Michael.  Their full-time pastry chef produces the café’s desserts, and the “sinful treats” in its in-house Daily Dose, a coffeehouse.  Open year round, too.

For those who just want a sexy stay-in-the-inn time, coming up for air and a little take-away food can be found a few steps away from any bed in town at Far Land Provisions.  It’s so much more than a little grocery store.

We found good wines from $9.99, goodie baskets that can be delivered right to your room, delicious take-away meals prepared by its chef.  Almost everything is made from scratch – including their signature Cinnamon Buns!   They will be open New Years’ Day in case you need an extra brunch bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne at only $57.99!

A great new Web site has a day-by-day calendar of what’s open, what’s happening throughout the year. It’s a labor of love. It’s the creation of Dan Hoort, owner of the beautiful Somerset House Inn.

For other inns, we recommend the Distinctive Inns of Provincetown, eight fabulous places, especially the Benchmark Inn & Central. Take a virtual tour.   

For a hot time in Provincetown this fall and winter, try all of the above and find more on the listed Web sites.  It’s party time all the time.

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