Cape May, New Jersey – June 8, 2008

It got very warm today, the temperature hit 100. According to everyone we talked to, this is very unusual for this time of year.

The downtown area of Cape May was about a mile away and we all decided we would get there in the morning, before it got too hot. Bob and Margaret left about 3/4 hour before us and they called and said that the walk was further than the mile that was advertised, so rather than walking to meet them we took our bikes.

We decided to take a 45 minute Trolley Tour to get an overview of Cape May. Cape May’s number 1 industry is tourism. Number 2 is commercial fishing. The tourism season runs from the beginning of March through the end of the year. There are about 3,700 fulltime residents in Cape May and that number grows to 45,000 in summertime. Cape May was once known as the Queen of Seaside Resorts and was “the” place to go.

We were told this is the #1 birding spot in the world. The Migratory preserve has a fresh water lake as well as saltwater marsh areas with a boardwalk and many observation platforms.

Many presidents vacationed here. The entire city of Cape May is in the National Historic Register, which means there are very strict guidelines for building and renovation.

Cape May offers many different events and week-end activities. There are ghost tours, food and wine tastings, a Sherlock Holmes week-end, Halloween activities and six weeks of Christmas tours and events. There are many more things to do and a lot center around a family, including a treasure hunt for children. There are many Victorian homes, which have been renovated into bed and breakfasts.

Downtown Cape May has a walking mall, a 3 block area of boutiques and stores without automobile traffic. After our tour we went into a dime store, which had an old fashioned soda fountain in the back. We had lunch there. Afterwards Margaret and Beth wanted to look in more stores and Darrell and Bob had had enough. So, Darrell and Bob took the bikes and rode back to the boat. Margaret and Beth did more looking around and got a taxi back to the marina. It was way too far and way too hot to walk.

There was still a lot of the afternoon left so the four of us played 500. Unfortunately, Bob and Darrell won all 3 games.