Provincetown with the family this Summer.....

Staying in Chatham the end of June and want to go to P-town for the day. Have a 6 and 11 year old sons. Want to fill up a day with food and fun... Any suggestions regarding things to do and good places to eat would be quite helpful...Thanks!

Provincetown with the family this Summer.....

Climb the Pilgrim Tower for the view. Don%26#39;t forget to see the Pilgrim exhibit tucked into the back of the museum on the ground floor.

Folks will suggest the whale watch which is great. Be sure to have windbreakers as well as some warm clothes, seasick meds if necessary and sunblock plus a camera and/or binoculars. Last summer I was up in the bow of the boat as we were going out. When I looked back I saw that they folks where we had been sitting had just been soaked when a wave washed over the deck seating. Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch.

Cruise the dunes on one of the daily trips with www.artsdunestours.com. Great trip.

Stoll Commercial St. with drag queens and families alike and peruse the variety of shops and galleries.

On the way into town stop off at the Province Lands Visitor Center for one (or more) of their frequent short, historic movies, to see some interesting exhibits and to enjoy the 360 degree view from their top platform of the outermost dunes and ocean.

End the day with a picnic dinner at Race Pt. or see the sunset at Herring Cove beach.

Everyone will be ready for Daddy to drive them %26#39;home%26#39; after all this.

Provincetown with the family this Summer.....

I have two kids, now ages 10 and 12 and we%26#39;ve been vacationing in that area since before they were born.

Here%26#39;s some of their favorites:

Marine Specialties ... a store that just can%26#39;t be described --- http://www.ptownarmynavy.com/

The Penny Patch and Cabots for fudge.

Turner%26#39;s for Ice Cream.

John%26#39;s for hotdogs.

The Lobster Pot for a sitdown meal.

Art%26#39;s Dune Tours.

The Pilgrim monument -- climb it, it%26#39;s easy. I%26#39;m old and overweight and rarely exercise ... and I can easily climb it ... mostly ramps w/ stairs in the corners.

There%26#39;s an old life saving station at Race Point Beach. Check the schedule at the National Seashore Provincelands visitors center for hours and demos.

Herring Cove at sunset gives the kids a chance to run around and expend some energy while the parents sit and veg. It%26#39;s a great way to help them sleep all the way home. ;)

Also, stop at the Provincetown Public Library. In the childrens%26#39; area on the second floor and filling the building, is a half size model of a fishing boat, the Rose Dorothea. You can%26#39;t go on it, but you can get a good closeup look at what late 19th century fishing boat was like. You can read about Rose Dorothea and why it%26#39;s there on a stone tablet in front of town hall.

Visit the Wydah Pirate Museum at the end of Macmillan Wharf. Sounds like a tourist trap, but it is actually a rather scholarly display of artifacts from the Wydah, a pirate ship sunk off Cape Cod in the 18th century.

(for your little guys: I%26#39;d plan to take the whale watch first...then everything else! I love the Wydah exhibits..Pirates!)

Great ideas..Thank you ! Any other thoughts?

There is a Pirate ship that leaves from MacMillan Wharf during the summer. They let the kids paint their faces like pirates and then just go around the Ptown Harbor. From walking the dog on the beach and seeing the kids out there it looks like they are having a blast.

If you can squeeze in some bike riding on the trails through the National Seashore, I would highly recommend that. Used to rent from Nelson%26#39;s but that%26#39;s gone. Hopefully someone else can make a recommendation.

There%26#39;s almost too much to do for a day trip....so you%26#39;ll have to pick and chose. If it%26#39;s a beautiful day, the whale watch is a must. If it%26#39;s cool/overcast, you might want to pass as it can get very chilly out there even in the summertime.

The Pirate Adventure would be great for your 6 year old but might be a bit too young for your 11 year old. Still, it%26#39;s fun time on the water and the kids have a blast (and the adults enjoy it too!) www.capecodpirateadventures.com/index.html

Don%26#39;t forget to stop at the Visitor%26#39;s Center, wither Salt Pond in Eastham or Provincelands in P-town. There are many free activities for kids from digging shellfish to campfires on the beach at night. You might get some ideas from www.nps.gov/caco (Planning your stay)

Have a great time!

Great ideas....!Any others?

Hey FloridaGuy....I think you have enough ideas to fill TWO days in Ptown! That may be why no one is suggesting anything else.

Have fun!