As Richard Nixon learned and John Ensign may soon learn, you are usually better off admitting to something early on rather than trying to cover it up.
Thus, I am going to admit it right up front in this post; we left Delaware again yesterday, this time to ride our bikes to New Jersey.
Having said that, I am reminded of another lesson – this one about parsing words – that I learned from Bill Clinton.
So let me clarify that, while it is technically correct to say that “we rode our bikes to New Jersey” it might be more forthcoming to say that we "rode the ferry to New Jersey." The ferry runs pretty much on the hour between Lewes and Cape May, New Jersey and the Lewes terminal is just a mile or so up the road from us.
Because the ferry landing in New Jersey is six or seven miles from the town of Cape May, it is probably more accurate to say that we rode our bikes "in New Jersey” than "to New Jersey".
Regardless, now that we have the “what” clarified many readers are probably wondering about the “why”.
The answer is very simple. Because Betsy wanted to. Since the day we arrived she has been standing on the porch watching the ferries depart for Cape May whining; “I want to go to New Jersey.”
So today we went to New Jersey and, I must admit, it was a very pleasant trip.
Cape May is similar in many respects to Lewes and Cape Henlopen; maybe a little more touristy.
There is a very nice state park nearby with a quaint little museum and an iconic lighthouse that is the symbol of Cape May and can actually be seen (if you know what you are looking for) from here in Lewes.
The park is a major spot for bird watchers and they have several miles of boardwalk trails through the marshes. We walked some of those trails and did some bird watching of our own.
As we were riding down to the park we noticed a “bird conservancy” sign and stopped, expecting some sort of aviary. It turned out to be a nice shop operated by a non-profit and they were busy preparing for the “World Series of Birding”, a 24-hour competition among three-man teams to see which team can spot the most birds in one day. Apparently winning totals in past competitions have numbered in the several hundreds.
The lady at the store described it as “full-fledged combat”.
By the time we arrived in “downtown” Cape May it past noon but we were really hungry for a late breakfast and found the perfect spot at a beach front café with a lovely covered patio, a friendly waitress, excellent corned beef hash and a policy of serving breakfast until 1 p.m.
The weather was near-perfect, the kind where you need a jacket in the shade and a t-shirt in the sun.
From the cafe on the "promenade" along the beach we went a few blocks inland to a pedestrian mall the town has created by closing a street. It was clearly the hot spot for tourists and I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that 80 percent of them were middle-aged White women from suburban New Jersey. I'm convinced the real housewives of New Jersey hang out in Cape May.
The pedestrian mall is anchored on one end by a fabulous Catholic Church built in 1911, Our Lady Star of the Sea.
From there is was out to the park, which is technically in the town of Point Cape May (as opposed to the larger, more touristy Cape May). Point Cape May was founded as a Presbyterian Church retreat in the 1850s. Cape May began developing as a summer resort for wealthy folks in the early 1800s.
The same 1962 nor’easter that tore up much of Rehoboth Beach in 1962 also did a lot of damage in Cape May. The erosion in Point Cape May, as depicted in aerial photos in the park museum, is quite dramatic and it makes one wonder if the iconic lighthouse will survive another century.
From there it was back to ferry terminal (which entails riding on the shoulder of a fairly busy highway). They had a nice selection of draft beer at the very nice terminal building (Betsy chose Flying Fish, a New Jersey product) and we sat in the sun at a table outside and waited for the ferry to arrive from Lewes.
The crossing takes a little more than an hour and we were home and cooking supper before dark.
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