Daily Destination: Provincetown, Mass.

With the Northeast summer season winding down, there are still a few balmy weeks to get out of town — and out on the water. Provincetown, the last village on Cape Cod, is a magical, freethinking enclave that has long been a magnet for writers and painters, lobster roll aficionados and the LGBT community.

It is such a diverse vacation spot that you’re about as likely to see a grizzled sailor, a family that looks straight out of the suburbs, or a drag queen. Things quiet down on the town’s grassy, picturesque dunes and beaches.

Cruising on my rented bike down Commercial Street past craft galleries to the Lobster Pot is one of my fondest memories from two weeks I spent studying at the Fine Arts Work Center. The FAWC, a P’town institution, offers not only residencies to writers and visual artists but also lectures and readings open to the public.

The first week in September brings the Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta, a celebration of the village’s maritime history. It’s full of free public events. In addition to the races in which modern and historic vessels compete (in different classes), one must-see event is the Parade of Sails down at Provincetown Harbor.