Rob Frydlewicz: Recalling My First Visit to Provincetown, May 23-26, 1980

My first trip to Provincetown was during Memorial Day weekend 1980, a week after my 23rd birthday. I went with my boyfriend, Gordon, who I had met in March at the Everard Baths. He was in his early 30's and lived in Poughkeepsie where he managed a Best Western motel.

After work on Friday I took the train up to Poughkeepsie from New York and we drove to the Cape that night. Rather than stay at one of the charming and much livelier guest houses in town, we stayed at a sterile Best Western (Gordon got a discount). It was a bit secluded but at least it was close to the beach.

Although Friday's weather in the City was hot, these summerlike conditions didn't extend to Cape Cod where it felt a bit like autumn. Still, skies were sunny throughout the weekend and we spent time on the beach on Saturday.

Two popular dance tunes I remember dancing to at the A-House were Funkytown and Blondie's Call Me. The weekend was also memorable because it was the first time I tried marijuana - but it wasn't a great experience. Rather than smoke it Gordon put the pot in a Pepperidge Farm chocolate sandwhich cookie (which they don't make anymore).

After ingesting it I became paranoid and was convinced that two female friends of Gordon's who we went to a lesbian bar with were witches. Later, Gordon wanted to bring someone back to the hotel with us but I was still feeling out of sorts and nixed the idea, which annoyed him.

A news event I associate with this first visit was the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in the Pacific Northwest. It monopolized news headlines that entire week - and there was another eruption over the weekend.

The drive back on Monday was very trying due to heavy traffic on the only road leading off the Cape. (It wasn't a good idea to leave at noon.) Then there was another major bottleneck around Hartford. This resulted in Gordon becoming testy and we barely spoke for the rest of the trip. In total it took seven hours to get back to Poughkeepsie, 3 hours longer than Friday's stress-free drive to P-town.

Between 1980 and 1995 I vacationed in P-town seven times (the other visits were a lot more fun than my first). Then, beginning in 1996, I took a share out at Fire Island and began spending summer weekends out in the Pines; I haven't been to P-town since.

For more content like this, Rob also has a blog called ZeitGayst

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