John's World: The Gay Real World, P-town - Climbing the Tower; Frat Party

Sunday, August 18, 2013

The Gay Real World, P-town - Climbing the Tower; Frat Party

The last two days in Provincetown were as good as the rest, only as the week wore on so did our bodies. After suffering the after-effects of the Planter's punch the night before, I was ready to do something tame on Thursday. Al, Kyle and I were the only three who hadn't ventured up the Pilgrim Tower, which is an iconic feature of the P-town landscape, and so that was the plan for us that afternoon.

We can see the tower! The traffic is worth it.

Shangrala straight ahead

The Tower

That was Eric, in a mass text to all of us who were traveling towards gay Disney. Before we even went on the trip, I'd heard all about the famous "tower" from a couple of the elders. They said that it can be seen from far away and that there was a spot on the road where it suddenly appears, telling you that bliss is just around the corner.

Prior to this trip, all I knew about Provincetown was that is was a gay mecca and little else. I hadn't really thought about it much, but it's pretty damned historic, too. The tower, or Pilgrim Monument, stands 252 feet tall, and can be seen from all over P-town proper. It was erected in the early part of the 20th Century to commemorate the first landing of the Pilgrims here in 1620. The tower was very close to our house, and it provided a nice backdrop in the sky from our deck. By Thursday, all of the housemates had taken the journey up and now it was our turn.

One of the best parts of this trip has been getting to know the people I was traveling with and one guy I'm happy to know is Al. Not only is he the food provider of the group, but he's also a heck of a funny guy. Al's a teacher like me, but he was once a Ringling Brothers' clown and is also a veteran of The Amazing Race, so you can imagine what kind of sense of humor he has.

He was at his silliest during our little jaunt up the monument, cracking jokes and playing around with people. You can see from the pictures what kind of mood we were all in. The walk up was long, but it wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. We stopped for silly photos on the way up and on the way down Al was teasing those on their way up.

Ooh, I left my camera all the way up there. Would you mind getting it for me and I'll wait downstairs for it?

Boy those were good drinks they were giving out up there, weren't they?

We laughed almost all the way down. Then he went after Kyle and I by making noises with his water bottle along the wall. It took us about three or four flights to realize what he was doing, and it was his chuckles that finally let out what he'd been doing.

The view from atop the tower was spectacular, and we could see all the way to Boston from up there, it was so clear.

Frat Party

After climbing the tower, the three of us went back to the house, where Al started to prepare for our party that evening. As it turned out, we weren't going to be having any toga party. J.C., Sean and Leo hosted all of us at their place on Monday for a luau, but that whole theme thing was just an elder joke and so ours was just going to be a partay!

After Solid Gold Tea (which was way too crowded), all of the housemates ran back to the house to help get ready for our get together. Al was preparing food, Steve and I put up balloons, and everybody else just kind of cleaned up. I also took care of the music (oh, I miss deejaying!). By 8:30 our guests had arrived and it was on.

Everyone was there and the evening was full of good friends, great laughs and great times! Of course the party ended a little early for another trip to Wave bar (there'd be only one day left...), but I think it was a nice time for all.