Dog-Friendly Provincetown, MA - Bodie On The Road

Welcome to Dog-Friendly Provincetown, set a the very tippy-toe of the Cape Cod peninsula. Of all the places Bodie and I visited in New England this was the most brimming over with puppy love – it seemed as if every other person had a canine companion, which could have had something to do with our visit coinciding with an exuberant Carnival of the Dogs.

Mind you, with all the jaunty bunting and joie de vivre vacation spirit, every summer day feels like a carnival along Commercial Street. (That’s the three-mile stretch where you’ll find all the boutiques, cafes, galleries, gift shops and a very handsome man who sells nothing but pink cupcakes!)

WHAT TO DO IN DOG-FRIENDLY PROVINCETOWN: P-town is such a visual feast, all you need to do is amble around and your eyeballs will be entertained at every turn – a glitter encrusted drag queen here, a weathered gray shingle house there…

Described as ’10 square miles of pure adorableness’ by writer Kenny Porporo, you’ll encounter picture book cottages, clusters of artists painting the boat-bobbing harbor and secret wooden jetties.

Peek in the window at the Provincetown Bookshop and you’ll see tomes by Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Norman Mailer, all of whom found inspiration while summering or living here. I highly recommend the tour of the infamous Provincetown Dune Shacks where daring writers like Jack Kerouac and Eugene O’Neill holed up alone with their typewriters, but sadly it’s not dog-friendly. However, you can hire a local pet-sitter for the hour, or perhaps you too will have a kindly bumpy-ride-averse mum about your person. Art’s Dune Tours.

This lovely painting by Provincetown artist Nicoletta Poli is from a series entitled Poli’s Dogs and you can see the originals exhibited at the Poli Gallery on Commercial Street. I love the opening to her Poli’s Dogs book:

“Dunes, dogs, sea and sky – it’s all so beautiful to me. I hope to show you how a simple painting can evoke the greatest of all emotions – the love between humans and dogs.”

WHERE TO EAT IN DOG-FRIENDLY PROVINCETOWN – There are over 20 dog-friendly dining patios along Commercial Street but we had the most fun getting Lobster Rolls and Portuguese Kale Soup from the take-out window at The Red Shack and then wriggling our toes into the warm sand on the beach and watching assorted dogs paddling or even kayaking by.

We found Bodie’s PTown lifesaver ring at Paws & Whiskers – they have their own Dog Bakery and it was a toss up between this and the pastel-hued ice-cream cones. (Pic shows Bodie in the good ole days when he had a full set on bottom teeth.)

My favorite sweet treat came from the Provincetown Portuguese Bakery – Malasadas may look like outsized donuts that have been run over but they ooze the most delicious grease. (I was writing a book about UK and US cakes while in New England and this deep fried dough took the biscuit for me!) As with everything in Provincetown, it’s just minutes from the beach…

WHERE TO GRAB A COFFEE IN DOG-FRIENDLY PROVINCETOWN – The obvious choice would be the Wired Puppy! Repeatedly voted the best coffee in Provincetown they also offer mugs bearing the manic dog logo. (FYI – the branch in Boston offers prime people-watching from a Brownstone stoop on shopaholic Newbury Street) Also consider the dog-friendly front terrace at The Purple Feather – unmissable on account on the boa-bedecked bear at the door and famous for multi-layered cupcakes including the lip-smacking Peanut Butter Awesomeness!

WHERE TO STAY IN DOG-FRIENDLY PROVINCETOWN – Lands End Inn. This is one of my favorite hotels in America. From a distance it looks like a dovecote – albeit a deluxe hexagonal one with wraparound balconies.

Wend up the flower-strewn hill and it feels as if you are stepping through a looking glass into the private home of some world-traveling art collector from the 1930s. The focal point of the lounge is the vast picture window (facing this fireplace) looking out over the shimmering sea.

I picture guests sipping lapsang souchong by day and luminous absinthe by night…

Art Nouveau mingles with Art Deco, brocade with brass, Phileas Fogg with Fu Manchu. Yet for all the antiques and ancient tomes, there is nothing musty-fusty about it. It just feels deeply luxurious and exotic.

Just looking at the unique decor of each room is a treat but if you want to cut to the dog-friendly options on the hotel website click on Gull Hill, Mission Oak, West Indies and Wisteria (pictured here).

I also have to include this image of the intriguing Schoolman Suite – with all its nooks and crannies, this was the perfect setting for a secret-whispering scene in my New England-set novel The Traveling Tea Shop. (I even had one character sleeping out on the balcony under the stars!)