Hip on the Cape means home at 1 a.m.

Hip on the Cape means home at 1 a.m. - CCO

Published on Sunday, December 21, 2008

From Cape Cod Online - Click here for full story

By MATTHEW M. BURKE

At 1 a.m. on a Saturday night in late November at the British Beer Company in Sandwich, the town's own Tripl3Crown, a popular three-piece band, finished up a heavily reggae-infused set to match their usual blues, funk and classic-rock repertoire.

The crowd ranged from couples in their 40s to fresh-faced 21-year-old college students, all energetic after a night of dancing and singing.

As the lights came on to signal closing time and the packed house cleared out, Kevin Haynes, 27, of Harwich shifted uneasily back and forth in the cold, smoking a cigarette and deciding with his friends what to do next.

For Haynes and his peers, the night was still young, but unlike Massachusetts cities, bars in all Cape towns have a 1 a.m. closing time. And once the bars close, there are very few places to go for a drink, food, or even a gallon of gas.

In Hyannis, the center of the Mid-Cape's night life, all businesses — even convenience stores — are required under a town of Barnstable ordinance to close down between 1 and 3 a.m.

Cabs — expensive for long distances — are the only late-night public transportation option across the region, and in some outlying towns, much of what little night life there is dies during the winter. Young people say even if they wanted a social life beyond the bar scene, local event planners ignore the younger demographic.

It's just one more way, besides the lack of affordable housing and well-paying jobs, that young people say the Cape fails them.

"I don't go out that much," Tanika Beaver, 29, said as she tended bar at Sam Diego's Mexican Cookery & Bar on Route 132 on a Thursday night in early November. She took stock of the Cape's night scene as six people either ate dinner or enjoyed a drink with friends, quietly sticking to themselves at the bar in front of her. Sam Diego's serves food until midnight. "There's nothing original. It's very scattered," she said.

"There aren't a lot of options," Matt Cutler, 25, of Charlestown said last month in a phone interview. Cutler grew up in Yarmouthport but, after graduating from Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School and Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., he chose the city over the Cape. "There are so many more people you can meet off-Cape. (Here) people go out to the Roo Bar and to Pufferbellies, but it's the same people week after week. You're limited in the people you can meet."

There are more attractive options off-Cape for everything from networking to job opportunities to night life, he said.

Haynes agreed.

"It's unfair that it doesn't stay open until 2 a.m. like in Boston," Haynes said. "It's the same state. ... But we're all here in the same boat. It goes dead in the winter but at least we have each other."

Barnstable Town Councilor J. Gregory Milne, 40, who cast the lone vote against the town's curfew, said that as a young politician, he, too, wishes the Cape had more to offer a younger demographic.

"Cape Cod could do more to embrace the younger crowd," Milne said, adding that he does not necessarily mean broadening the flow of alcohol. "Connecticut has all-night diners and other family-oriented places. At least it's a place to go. It's unfortunate. If you work nights, you can't even stop for gas."

Leo's Breakfast Restaurant in Buzzards Bay, which is open until 3 a.m. on weekends, is one of the Cape's only establishments to stay open past 1 a.m. It attracts the post-bar crowd — drawing people of all ages — and offers a breakfast menu in a sit-down atmosphere.

Former Bourne police chief and current selectman John Ford said there have been a few incidents such as verbal or physical altercations at the restaurant over the years, but for the most part the staff at Leo's does a great job policing the scene.

The towns on the Cape, especially those on the Lower Cape, are particularly isolated by geography, said Wellfleet Selectman Dale Donovan. Young people in his town go to the Bombshelter Pub or drive all the way to Provincetown or Orleans for entertainment, he said.

Besides the night scene, there are few activities, young people say. Local bowling alleys have seen more young people turning out in the past few years, but other places, such as museums and other cultural or religious institutions, have not.

"We don't see that age group a lot," said Patricia Clock, a pastoral associate from the Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, which does not have organized groups dedicated to the age group. "They don't come out in great numbers."

Some urban institutions, however, do have luck attracting a younger demographic. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has wine-tasting events, cocktail parties and mixers, all centered around the arts and young people. The Museum Council is made up of museum supporters ages 21 to 45.

In comparison, the Art Association of Provincetown welcomes young people, but does not target them specifically because their numbers are low, said Lynn Stanley, curator of education.

Milne and Ford both suggested the Cape could use its strengths, such as its natural beauty, to help plan programs and events for young people. Milne suggested offering first-come, first-served moorings in Hyannis harbor allowing boaters to tie up and enjoy a meal or have a drink. Expanding offerings at the harbor by making it a hub might help sell the Cape to the younger generation, he said.

Haynes, who plays guitar and sings in the local band "The Foxymoronz," holds out hope in the local music scene, which he said is growing and attracting bigger and bigger crowds.

"There is a good music scene going on," he said. "It's starting to become bigger, but you have to seek out and find them."

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