Marvelous Cape May NJ [Mid-Atlantic] (October 27-28, 2015)

Cape May has managed to keep the feeling of a genteel, Victorian seaside resort.  The old part of town is full of gorgeous, frivolous, over-decorated grand dames of houses and hotels.  Many of the former homes have been turned into bed and breakfasts.

We arrived on a grey and windy day, and drove through town looking for a free parking area that could hold a 30 foot motor home.  After a driving tour through town, we stopped a local cop who directed us to a neighborhood where the parking meters had been turned off.  [Actually they had had their innards taken out – they were eviscerated.]

We retraced our path and stopped to admire the lovely old buildings.  Most of them have been lovingly restored and cared for.  One street in town has been turned into a pedestrian mall with shops, and restaurants.  It was there we met a middle school photography class team taught by a science teacher and an art teacher.  Russ was very envious of the cameras and tripods the student’s got to use, provided by their school.

 

 We drove out of town to Diamond Beach where chunks of quartz washed down from rivers into the Delaware Bay wash up and sparkle on the beach.  We saw a serious collector looking through the sand for specimens.  After World War II several concrete boats were sunk off of this beach.  One carcass is quite close to shore.  Around the corner from Diamond Beach is the lovely Cape May lighthouse.  Sadly, it wasn’t open to the public.

The next day we took the ferry across the mouth of Delaware Bay from Cape May to Lewes, Delaware.  The ferry trip takes 1.5 hours.  It would take 3.5 hours to drive from Cape May to Lewes.  Besides we love ferries!  The crossing was choppy but enjoyable.

A Tale of Two Cities – Atlantic City and Ocean City NJ [Mid-Atlantic] (October 25-26. 2015)

Pirate fun in Ocean City

Atlantic City casinos

It is hard to imagine two cities more different from each other than Atlantic City and Ocean City.  They are located next to each other on the coast of New Jersey.  They both have famous beaches and boardwalks.  But that is where the similarities end.

We arrived in Atlantic City via the Atlantic City Expressway that brings you in front of the complex of bright new stores, including Bass Pro Shop.  We had wondered about where to park the motor home and had been told that Bass Pro Shop had an outdoor lot where customers could park.  We called them to verify and they directed us to an empty lot at the end of the Expressway.  From there we headed out on foot.  After passing the stores, we walked past Ceasar’s casino which was 3 blocks long and finally reached the boardwalk.  We wandered through several casinos but were never enticed to stop and gamble.  The boardwalk has casinos along the side, with a few restaurants and shops as well.  A few blocks inland from the stores and casinos, Atlantic City has small, rundown buildings.  The sidewalks are sticky.  A big contrast from the glamour of the stores and casinos.

Atlantic City boardwalk

Ocean City is an island of affluent homes.  It is clean and orderly.  The boardwalk has a Ferris wheel at each end and an assortment of shops and amusement areas in between.  Everything is family friendly with amusements for the kids.  The boardwalk is divided into separate lanes in each direction for joggers, bicycles, surreys and walkers. We had heard from several sources that we should visit Ocean City, so we took a detour on our trip south.  We really enjoyed Ocean City, with a leisurely walk along the boardwalk.  One of the best features – parking was free (in October)!

Approaching the Ocean City boardwalk

Ocean City boardwalk

Lanes in each direction

Yay, free parking!

Living the Island Life – Jersey Shore Barrier Islands [Mid-Atlantic] (October 23-24, 2015)

Island Beach State Park

Barnegat Lighthouse viewed from the North Island

 On the central coast of New Jersey are two long barrier islands separated from the mainland by the Barnegat Bay.  The northern island doesn’t seem to have a name, it is referred to on maps as the Barnegat Peninsula (though it is cut off from the mainland on all sides), and we saw it referred to as the North Island.  The island to the south is known as Long Beach Island or LBI.

When you cross over to the North Island you arrive at the town of Seaside Park and almost immediately see the amusement park Boardwalk that often represents the Jersey Shore in movies and books.  The rides and games were all closed for the winter while we were there, but it was easy to imagine it noisy and crowded with people having fun.

The beaches in the North Island were closed for renovation with earth moving equipment pushing sand from the beach up into the dunes.  So, we drove north along the central island road and looked at beach communities varying from rows of modest houses to towns with larger, fancier homes.  One thing every community had in common was that every parking spot has a number, and you pay to park at computerized kiosks that issue you a ticket to place on your dash.

The crown of this island is the Island Beach State Park which takes up the last 10 miles of the southern tip of the island.  Historical kismet caused this section of maritime forest and beach to never be developed, so the maritime vegetation is the same way now as it was hundreds of years ago.  The NJ Park Service has divided the park sections with some devoted to research and conservation.  You can drive through these sections, and we saw 2 small foxes on the side of the road watching the infrequent cars go by.  The beach here was wide and long with fine grained white sand.

Long Beach Island (LBI) is lovely with long white sand beaches lined by lovely homes.  At the north end of the island is the Barnegat Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is a New Jersey State Park and is open to the public.  You can walk up to the top without escort.  Once there you have a lovely view of Island Beach State Park as well as of LBI.  While we were on LBI we stopped off to check on a friend’s beach house there.  Afterwards we frolicked on the beach.

The view from Barnegat Light

Frolicking on the LBI beach