Salty & Sweet

Cape Cod is a weird and wonderful place. Especially Provincetown. I'm endlessly fascinated by the zany mix of old leather queens, lesbians with specialty haircuts, salt-cured New England natives, German tourists, cheesy T-shirt shops and, naturally, fudge. It sounds like the kind of setup that would normally drive me to stick my head in the oven, but to my great surprise, I'm always delighted to be there.

In addition to its many natural attractions—beaches, dunes, deer ticks—Provincetown has much to offer in the way of Culture. One expects a small, seaside tourist destination to have plenty of schlock art on display, and on this count Provincetown does not disappoint. But there's more to the local gallery scene than pop-lite, sub-Warholian happy art and Rosie O'Donnell collage exhibitions. Be sure to check out the Schoolhouse Gallery and Larry Collins Fine Art—two of my favorites.

Of course, for craft enthusiasts, Provincetown has an embarrassment of riches. There are more chimes and tchotckes than you can shake a driftwood stick at. At the risk of arousing the wrath of the feminists in my readership, I have to give a special shout-out to Womencrafts, a gallery of, well, I suppose it's self-explanatory. If you need to pick up a dreamcatcher woven out of hemp, leg hair and old tea bags, this is the place for you. (It's a joke! I'm sorry!)

Provincetown even has a few treats for modern architecture enthusiasts, including the recent-ish  renovation and expansion of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (above) by Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston. The new building was apparently met with some degree of hostility from the natives, but I think Messrs. Machado and Silvetti did a fine job of effecting a rapprochement between the rigors of modern architecture and the forms and materials of Cape Cod vernacular. (Plus, I love that the museum goes by the name PAAM.) There's also a swell Walter Gropius house, which, like the museum, makes a solid case that modern architecture can live happily on the swinging Shingle scene.

And when you've had your fill of art and design, there's always plenty of high-brow theater to be had in P'town. I was particularly intrigued by a new production called Willie Wanker and the Hershey Highway. It's everything I ever wanted in a play....and so much more.