Nick and I are almost exactly three weeks away from going on our big road trip. We will be traveling from Massachusetts to Michigan to visit my family. And then from Michigan we are going to drive all the way south across the country to Florida. We’re looking at about three weeks on the road and we are beyond excited.

In the mean time we are still here on Cape Cod. Tourist season is over, the colors are changing, work is slowing down and it’s time for us to enjoy this beautiful place. Yesterday, in the midst of the last bouts of rain as Hurricane Florence blew back out to sea, we went to the gayest place on the East coast, Provincetown.

P-Town as it is affectionately called is the northern most town on the tip of Cape Cod. It’s surrounded by ocean on three sides and it is home to some of the most eccentric and fun loving people I have met in quite some time. Nick and I arrived in the afternoon and here is the number one most annoying thing about this place, parking. We looked for off street parking, side street parking, you name it. We ended up in a paid parking lot about a five minute walk from where we wanted to be. In the hurricane rain. But oh well. We were making a memory.

Prominently displayed on Commercial Street is a multi level white building with bold red letters declaring ‘Lobster Pot.’ This place is a Provincetown institution. Locals and tourists alike talk about the great food this place dishes up. And now, in the rainy off season, when there aren’t tourists lined out the door, it is our turn to check it out.

When you first walk in there is a large tank of lobsters on the wall and many signs inviting you to check them out. Straight ahead is the host stand and behind that is the open walled kitchen. A half a dozen cooks are plating food and stirring large steaming pots, even at four in the afternoon on a week day in the off season, the place has some happenings.

The host checks us in at the computer in front of him and tells us to ‘follow the hall way, go up the flight of stairs and check in with the host there.’ It is an organized process and one can tell that this host is a weathered restaurant veteran who wouldn’t bat an eye at a line out the door and down the street.

We walk down that hallway, staring at the dishes in the kitchen that are waiting to be ran to their hungry tables. It looks tasty. There’s a large dining room in front of us with a second host stand. But then to the left is a flight of stairs. ‘He told us to go up the stairs. Right?’ I confirm with Nick. He nods his head and up we go. To be greeted by the third host who greets me by name ‘Devan?’ Damn. These people are good. When we first walked up the stairs the first thing to catch our eye is the bar seats. The bar wraps around the floor in a half circle ending in a straight line. It’s cozy, only about twelve seats, and the last two are claimed by us. The whole dining room is nothing but windows. Looking our over the neighboring buildings and out onto the harbor. The rain keeps coming down, but now that I’m looking at a specialty cocktail list, none of that matters.

These cocktails have such names as ‘Tito’s Rhubarb lemonade’ made with house made rhubarb shrub. I settle on a ‘Peach Cosmopolitan’ made with real peach puree. Nick gets a Bloody Mary after being tempted by the looks of a few at the bar. The bartender brings me the martini glass filled with my lightly colored, delicious looking drink. And then she places down a glass half full of ice with a little carafe of even more Cosmo. She had made extra and gave it to me. Nothing could be better than a two for one. I’m in love with this place already. Nick and I give cheers, our spirits and toes being warmed by the alcohol we consumed.

The menu is quite extensive. But everything sounds and looks so damn good and fresh. They do something called a ‘Clam Bake’ And serve you chowder, mussels, corn and of course, the main attraction, a whole steamed lobster. Fresh from the tank we passed on the way in. They have plates of clams, mussels, fresh fish, lobsters. Any sea food you could desire they had it. We settled on two appetizers, not wanting to ruin our appetite for actual dinner.

The mussels we ordered were huge. The kind that you can tell are Cape Cod native. They came in a traditional garlic sauce. We got a seafood sampler plate. The blackened shrimp was a little too spicy for my taste. But I am a wimp when it comes to that. The clam was the the stand out on this plate. The saltiness of the clam was complimented perfectly by the light coating. I could have had twelve of these alone.

Nick and I both agreed that we definitively could have had another round of both food and drinks,  but it was time for us to head home. I just about floated out of there after two Cosmos. But I was delighted. As we were driving home the sun started peaking through the bleak clouds. Nick and I pulled over as soon as we could to enjoy the sun setting over the water. (Cape Cod is one of the few places on the East coast where you can see this phenomenon) As we were walking on to the beach a lady passing us on the way to her car says ‘You just missed it. It’s over’. In reality – I think she left before the best part.