6-18-11 Cape May

After going to the Farmer's Market in the Alexandria square, we got on the road to Cape May at about 10am. We had decided to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and go northeast through Maryland, so Sue could see the countryside (as opposed to taking the ferry from Lewes). I had gone this way on my road trip to the lighthouses of the Delaware River. Maryland is very agricultural and it was a good drive, though the bridge crossing was very slow due to traffic to the beaches, I guess. We had lunch in Middletown, MD ( huge deli sandwich - we split a 12 inch and thought we were doing good until the sandwich came out with a pound and a half of meat in each 6 inch half - burp) and had a custard later - Oh my, my weight is up after the trips to California and New Mexico and this is NOT helping!

Sue wanted to stop at a fabric store in Vineland NJ. After that we pushed for Cape May - it was about 3:30. But I talked Sue into a detour to the East Point Light House on the Delaware Bay. Second oldest standing lighthouse in NJ and the first of several I hope to capture on this trip. We got to the B&B in Cape May (Buttonwood) at about 5. We got settled and then headed down to the beach to walk along the boardwalk, Huge old hotels, new hotels, lots of big houses, many really nicely fixed up Victorian houses also. We walked back through the boutique-laden downtown and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant the lady at the B&B had recommended. Determined not to overeat, we were going to have small pizzas until we heard the special and we both wound up having a grilled chicken breast in pasta with red peppers and it was ever so good! But a lot of food. Oh well.

On Sunday morning we slept in since breakfast was not until 9am. After French Toast we headed out for a long day walking. We first went to the Beach where we found we had to pay ($10) for an access badge. We walked west along the beach towards the Cape May Light. When we got there we got stopped at the boundary of another community beach and headed in to see the Light. For Father's Day I got to go up for free. I found that, up until 4 weeks ago, the Cape May light was the longest continuously operating light in the US. The managers had to send to China for the part to fix the mechanism - Boy! Sue and I walked the nature trails - it was a very pleasant day since it was overcast and relatively dry. We walked back into town for a late lunch and drove out to the WWII observation tower where we learned about the submarine war off the East Coast. Then went to Mass at 6pm. After, we walked down to the Martini Beach restaurant for a dinner of tapas and salad. Our kids called and we got the Birthday-Father's Day-Anniversary wishes.

Unfortunately, as I got back to the B&B, I crashed - with chills, aches and then fever. This was a relapse of the illness I had had since the 6th, before we went out to Sacramento. It was a bad night.

In the morning I felt better but not a 100% - more like 60%. We had a pancake breakfast (really good pancakes) and then headed up the Atlantic coast of NJ, first to go to the Hereford Light in Wildwood (the common man's beach town) and then Atlantic City to see the Abescon Light. The Abescon Light seems doomed - it is surrounded by development. We did find a spot of the boardwalk and stood on it, but it was very hard to get to beach access for all the massive casinos. It seemed like the casinos were being built out of a slum area that had a few dilapidated old houses still standing - we did not want to stop. But we drive down Baltic Avenue to celebrate being near the origin of Monopoly.

We drove to the bridge across the Delaware and then stopped at the fifth light of the trip - Turkey Point. My long suffering wife OKed the trip and we walked a mile to the light. It was a beautiful light in a beautiful setting, on a bluff overlooking the water. We got home at about 7pm.