Free to be

This one's for mad hatter. (pay no attention to the guy in the photo. )

When C. Love and I were strolling down Commercial Street in Provincetown last Friday night, we new we had to snap a photo for her. I'm not sure if she's in to hats at all, but I do know she would love this place. 'Free to be'- with the shops, fudge and scenery.

We headed out to Provincetown twice this year; the first time was because I had planned to meet my old friend for our yearly summer hook up. This time I met her on the beach during cocktail hour with a 6 pack of Rolling Rock and a copy of my summer cd in tow. As I thanked her for driving up to visit in an e-mail the next day, I was telling her that drinking on the beach is all I ever want to do and to have been able to do it on Race Point was superb, it was better than a scene I could have written for any movie. It was perfect, except for the fact that a 6 pack wasn't enough, but she had to drive back to Boston anyway. So we drank, laughed, got reaquainted a little more, stared at the ocean and sat in silence for seconds at a time; we talked about music, relationships, travel, beaches, family, our goals and our 'dreams'; we soaked up each other's energy, reminisced about some of our old drunken escapades and without saying a word let each other know that we have a strong connection-still, after 15 years. We sat there on one of the most beautiful beaches- in my opinion and hers (she's traveled all over the world and sat on many beaches. Myself just East Coast, West Coast, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the Greek Aisles.) My point being is Race Point Beach is out of control with it's natural beauty. There are no snack bars, houses or buildings in sight- just the rest rooms and Lighthouse. Sea grass, sand, ocean and space abound. I couldn't ask for any more.

When the beer was gone she gave me a lift into town so I could hook back up with my love, C. love who was doing a little shopping and sight seeing while I hung back at the beach. We all sat down for another drink, some chowder and some fried fish then we said goodbye to my old friend and C. Love and I continued to enjoy Provincetown- hand in hand. I noticed lots of ladies out that night, usually it's filled with groups of gay men. I was thinking how fortunate but also how sad it is that we have to go to the very edge of Massachusetts to be able to feel completely comfortable holding our girlfriends hands. Sure, we can do it anywhere we want but in Provincetown it's expected and accepted. Two straight women must feel awkward around there. I don't like to make a scene in general so it's been a challenge for me to show my affection towards C. Love in a lot of public places. I don't want to feel like I have to hold her hand to prove something, I just want to be able to hold it because of the connection we have and in Provincetown there's no reservations and no issue with 'showing'. Some of that is because I have more of a comfort level within myself but since Provincetown so welcomes it, the act itself has become simple- almost natural. It's so comforting for us to be there we almost made the decision to make it the town we would live in when it came time to look for property on the Cape. Almost.

The next time we ventured out to P-town last week was because it was a cloudy day, we needed some space from the family and we just felt like strolling and shopping some more. Whenever we head to the Cape we plan to go out to P-town because it's really the only place on Cape Cod where we can be ourselves. The Cape isn't the most multicultural area in Massachusetts. Not that we are of different cultures or anything, it's just the openness and diversity we crave. Plus there are tons of families vacationing on the Cape and that gets very annoying very quickly. There are still many families walking around Commercial Street but when they are surrounded by an overabundance of gay folks, drag queens and 'art'- it's easier to deal with them and their screaming kids. Anyway, I know a lot of you have been to Cape Cod and some of you have visited Provincetown or are going soon... but I hope that all of you can experience Provincetown someday the way I feel it should be: freely- with your girlfriend, relaxed mind and body, primed for some stimulation; whether it be fudge, scenery, fancy drinks, beer, a new t-shirt, jewlery or just her; my wish is that you get it.

It totally sucks that my vacation is over... that's all I can say for now.