Provincetown

Another great day trip for families is Provincetown, at the very tip of the Cape. P-town is famous for being -- as my son once exuberantly put it -- "A real two-dad kind of town!" A two-mom one too. It's less famous for being the original landing spot of the Mayflower, a fact that's been crushed under the weight of Plymouth Rock. We love the town's layered historical richness -- it's been a Pilgrim harbor, a fishing village, and a family-friendly mecca for artists and eccentrics -- not to mention its miles and miles of pristine beaches. A surprisingly compelling diversion here is Pilgrim Monument, a soaring granite tribute to the courage of those journeyers. We climb up, up, up a combination of 60 ramps and 116 steps until we arrive at the windy top with its spectacular views of the boat-dotted harbor on one side and the bucolic landscape on the other. "I see our car in the parking lot!" Ben cries. Someone laughs: "You climbed up all this way because you couldn't find your car?"

Back on ground level, the adjacent museum has a ragtag feeling about it, but we're intrigued by the collection: a large old dollhouse, a display of glass milk bottles with a tiny replica of the glass-blowing factory, a re-creation of a 19th-century ship captain's quarters (the kids are fascinated by his hole-in-a-chair toilet), a knot-tying exhibit, and a room dedicated to the Mayflower's 1620 landing. This exhibit is simple yet moving. It neither glosses over the subsequent plight of the Native Americans nor underestimates the nerve of the Pilgrims. I alone am entranced by the life-size diorama "First Wash Day," which depicts the Pilgrim women tumbling ashore to finally do several months' worth of laundry. We're only halfway into a weeklong trip and already drowning in dirty towels and T-shirts, so I can only imagine.

From the museum, it's worth strolling downtown to Commercial Street with its colorful throngs, eclectic (and sometimes risque) shops, and many restaurants. A great lunch option is John's Foot Long, a bustling and inexpensive stand near the harbor that sells hot dogs, perfectly fresh fish rolls, and Birdy's favorite, grilled cheese. Score a table on the upper deck of the patio: our kids loved the trash chute that conveyed their garbage to the can below.

Provincetown is also a major whale-watching destination, and one afternoon we decide to splurge. As soon as we buy our tickets, though, the sky darkens and thunder rumbles, and I board the Dolphin VII with the Gilligan's Island theme song playing in my head. But the trip is, happily, wreck-free. "There's Pilgrim Monument!" the kids cry as we motor out to sea. "There's Race Point Lighthouse!" Soon, however, our attention turns to the water itself. Is that a whale? Everyone rushes to the side of the boat. Maybe. I'm wondering whether this is going to be like using a Ouija board -- a mix of faking it and collective hysteria -- when suddenly there are whales everywhere, surfacing and snorting and slapping the water with their tails. Our guide offers tidbits over the PA system -- "One whale's mouth can hold 15,000 gallons of fish and seawater!" -- and the kids, freezing but thrilled, listen and watch and cheer into the wind. When we spot a calf, the guide tells us that it nurses 50 to 75 gallons of milk a day from its mom, a fact that may be even more exhausting to consider than First Wash Day.

Afterward, we warm up at Clem and Ursie's, an excellent seafood-and-barbecue place on the edge of the downtown area. We order lobster rolls and fried clams (and, of course, Birdy's grilled cheese) from the humongous menu and eat out on the back porch below the collection of vibrant silk and paper lanterns. Clem and Ursie's is a super spot, but it's no Moby Dick's, our very favorite clam shack of all, back in Wellfleet. Route 6 is dotted with seafood restaurants, and opinions run high about the best bivalves and nicest seating, but Moby's offers both: crunchy, briny clams and a wide screened porch that's breezy on even the hottest days.

After-dinner options on the Outer Cape are also excellent. If you don't want to retire early to your motel, hostel, tent, or rental, you can go catch a movie -- and a blast from the past -- at the Wellfleet Drive-in Theatre. Or find a surfside spot to watch the sunset and light a bonfire (permits required). Wellfleet's Cahoon Hollow Beach is perfect for this. Hang gliders soar off into the pink sky, and when night falls, the stars twinkle over your s'mores and the ocean crashes in the dark. (Be sure to bring plenty of blankets, and a flashlight for the hike back up the dune.)

Driving home at the end of the week, I ask our son, who's been to the Cape dozens of times in his short life, what his favorite thing is about the trip. I think he's going to say something like "the gummy scorpions" or "Ratatouille at the drive-in." But he surprises me. Like his rose-smelling sister, he smiles, sighs, and says the exact same thing I would say: "I think it's just being on the Cape."