Day 123 - Beautiful Beaches but only if you want to PAY!?

Cape May, NJ, is reputed to be the nation’s oldest seashore resort, established in 1812.  The entire town is a National Historic Landmark and it claims to have the largest collection of Victorian houses many of which are now B&B Inns.  The homes have interesting dormers and trim painted in multiple colors for accent.   The Captain and I rented bikes (no gears and no hand brakes like in Solomons Island) from the marine to provide transportation for the day.

We rode down to Beach Avenue which runs along the boardwalk, parked the bikes and started towards the beach.  The beach is fenced with access points every block or so and there is a booth at each one with a sign that tells you the FEES for accessing the beach.  That’s right, you have to pay $6 per person for a 1 day pass, $15 for 3 days and $28 for a season pass.  We had visited many ocean beaches in 7 states so far and this is the first time we were asked to pay.  We refused to do so and walked a little on the boardwalk instead.  It’s not that we can’t spare the $12, it’s just that we believe the beaches should be for everyone to enjoy.

 

 

 

The boardwalk shops were mostly “T-shirt” type but there was a very nice pedestrian mall a few blocks away on Washington Street that had more to offer.  We wandered the mall and had lunch (more yummy crab) at the Fish Market, sitting outside on the mall.  There was an old Colonial House Museum nearby, but it was closed.  We did stop in the small Firehouse Museum.

The Victorian homes/inns are beautiful and the town is very attractive and well-kept.  We could understand why it has been so popular for so long.

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the bikes, we rode 2-3 miles to the Cape May Lighthouse.  The area is also a state park and the NJ Audubon Society has a Bird Observatory here.  Over 360 species of migrating birds stop here in the fall, waiting for favorable winds before crossing the Delaware Bay on their way south.  We ducked in the small museum (thankfully air conditioned) and walked over to the beach.  Since it is a state park, the beach here is free – hooray!  Remember this if you come to Cape May and want free beach access.  We could see an old WW II Bunker on the beach.  Another section of town, South Cape May used to be located here but has disappeared due to erosion. 

 

We stopped into Acme Grocery on the way back for a few things that would fit in the one bike basket we had.  Hot and tired, we turned in the bikes and took much-needed showers.  We walked back to the Lobster House to get some smoked fish, then to another nearby restaurant, Lucky Bones.  The marina staff had recommended the clam-boat pizza – thin crust pizza with cheese and clams on top (no tomato sauce), so the Captain had that.  I opted for the steamed Cape May Little Neck clams and thoroughly enjoyed them.

Back at the boat, we saw on the Weather channel the news that a tropical depression was forming in the south Atlantic off the Florida Coast.  We will be keeping a close watch on that as we continue our journey along the east coast!

Day 122 - Cape May, a New Jersey Gem

Our weather on this leg has been fantastic, sunny and warm every day and today was no different.  Captain Randy wanted to wait to leave Delaware City until high tide, so we had a leisurely morning and a couple of omelets.  The Captain called BoatUS for some local knowledge about the Cape May Canal.  We left at 10:42 am, passing a nuclear power plant as we headed down the Delaware River to the Delaware Bay.

 

We travelled through a major shipping channel with huge freighters from Honk Kong, Singapore, Nassau, Bermuda and Monrovia.  These big boys create rolling wakes that the Captain has to pay attention to.  In addition to the wakes from the freighters, the water in the Bay had about a 2 foot chop.  In addition, there were several lights warning of shoals along the way.  The first to the port was the Ship John Shoal Light.  The river widened into the Delaware Bay with beaches on both sides.  There were 2 more shoal markers, the 14 foot Bank Light and the Brandywine Shoal Light.

 

Listening to the radio, we heard reports of boats in distress many of the days we are on the water.  Today we heard about a fishing boat near the Cape May Inlet on the Atlantic that was taking on water.  These reports serve as constant reminders of the need to keep vigilant in monitoring your boat and sea conditions.  Things can get out of control quickly.

By 1:10 pm we could see Cape May off the port side.  The Cape May Lighthouse sat on the point and people were enjoying the beaches.  We went through the Cape May Canal which had the Captain watching the depth very closely again.  We arrived at Utsch’s Marina at 2:10 pm and fuel up before going to our slip.  Utsch’s is a huge operation, with 300 slips and a boatyard with full service operations.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on board.  For dinner, we went to the famous Lobster House, a couple of blocks away on Fisherman’s Pier. Getting there was not as easy as it sounds because you have to walk through the boatyard parking lot and on a busy road with no sidewalks. Once there, we see that the Lobster House is another huge operation!  Besides the indoor main dining room, there is carryout service, a smaller casual restaurant, and a bar on a sailboat, the Schooner America Cocktail Lounge.  In addition, there is a seafood market selling local and imported seafood.  We sat in the main dining room and tried local Cape May “Salty” oysters as well as 2 other types.  I had the local scallops which were delicious and the Captain had an assorted seafood platter.

 

 

 

The Lobster House was packed, clearly a very popular spot in town.  We looked forward to exploring more of Cape May in the morning.

Day 121 - Leaving the Delaware Bay

Today we were leaving Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay, going through the C&D Canal to Delaware City on the Delaware River.  As we were not sure how slow the C&D Canal was going to be, we left early at 8:06 am.  The sun was shining and the water was almost flat.  There were lots of fishing boats around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  Just past the bridge was a red lighthouse at the mouth of the Magothy River, then the red and white light at Sandy Point.  Soon we were passing the wide mouth of the Patapsco River which leads to Baltimore.  Here there is a large yellow light, the Craig Hill Channel Range Light. 

 

There are 4 more small rivers off the western shore over the next 20-22 miles before the Susquehanna River and the town of Havre de Grace, which lies at the northwest edge of the Chesapeake Bay.  South of the Susquehanna is the Aberdeen Proving Ground, where the army does testing on newly developed weapons.  Since it was Saturday, we didn’t have to be concerned about any testing. 

The eastern shore is a more sparsely populated farming area.  Small, shallow rivers and creeks can be explored by smaller boats.  We entered the Elk River which will take us to the C&D Canal.  Range lights in the river help to keep boats on course in the channel.  It was here where Captain Randy said that we had now traveled 3900 miles since leaving Chicago last August.  We passed another lighthouse to the port.  This is a very picturesque area, with beautiful shores and lots of small pleasure boats darting around the river and up the numerous creeks.  I was starting to feel like I was in the north again.

 

 

 

The river started to narrow as we approach Chesapeake City.  Just west of the Chesapeake City Bridge is a Coast Guard Station,  We went under the bridge and entered Delaware – the 12^th state we have visited (not counting Illinois or Indiana) on our trip.

 

The C&D Canal is a 12 mile long man-made waterway, connecting the Delaware Bay to the Delaware River.  It is 450 feet wide and 35 feet deep and used by commercial, military and recreational traffic.  There are 6 bridges and the banks are tree-lined. There were fewer “no wake” zones than we expected and we motored right along.  We turned into the Delaware City  Branch Channel and were docked at the Delaware City Marina by 12:20 pm.



 

 

There is not much of a town left here, as it is just off the C&D Canal.  Shopping is very limited so we got ice cream and strolled the shore until the 3:00 pm ferry over to Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware.  The Fort was built in the mid-1800’s to protect the River and Philadelphia.  No defensive shots were ever fired though and it became the largest prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.  It housed 33,000 over the course of the war in 52 barracks built outside the fort.  Each one had three levels of bunks and served as home for 200 men.  All of the outbuildings are gone, but there is a reproduction of one of the bunkhouses.

The fort is the most well-preserved in the US for its age which made it very interesting to tour.  There are rooms set up as kitchens, laundry, officer’s rooms, commissary and ammunitions procurement.  A set of actors demonstrates rifle and mortar firing and other programs.  It was a very interesting afternoon in military history (again).  We even saw an eagle!

 

 

In the 1890's, part of the inside of the fort was removed and a new type of fortification and a three gun battery were built inside the "front" of the fort. It was made of concrete and rocks (instead of bricks).  This area of the fort is not a normal part of the tour because bats use the area to roost.  We were fortunate enough to be allowed to tour the area and we quickly saw why bats like the area - it is very dark and damp.  

 

 

When we returned to the mainland, the park at the ferry dock was filled with old cars; a car show was in full swing.  We were tired and hungry, so we only spent a few minutes here before dinner at Crabby Dick’s.  We sat on the outside patio, listening to R&B by the Turner Brother’s Band.  The place was jumping, probably due to the car show traffic.  Captain Randy worked his way through a half dozen hard-shell crabs while I had mussels and crab/shrimp flatbread.

I still had laundry to do when we got back to the boat.  I met a friendly Englishman in the laundry room.  He keeps his sailboat at the Delaware City Marina but lives in England.  We enjoyed chatting for over an hour until my laundry was dry.