Monday, August 22

We left Bayville at 7:45 and after cruising on the ICW with lots of shallow water, we came thru the Barnegat Inlet out in the Atlantic - going thru the opening was like riding a wild roller coaster (I'm NOT into roller coasters).    Mark said this was a combination of the tide coming in and the wind going out which made for slow, high rollers!    But shortly after that little adventure, we turned south and had much improved (we were surfin' along) conditions off the Jersey Shore.

The lighthouse at Barnegat Inlet is one of the tallest in the country (book says 2nd tallest; internet, says it ranks #4) - at any rate, Cape Hatteras, NC is the tallest at 200 feet or 268 steps for incredible views (haven't done that)!   The locals at Barnegat affectionately call their lighthouse "Old Barney".
Old Barney
Atlantic City skyline
Para sailors came very close to Catrina

In September of 2000, Mark, Ryan, Philip, Jason (friend) and I did a boat delivery for Philip from Boston to Baltimore.   We stopped at Cape May arriving late at night and leaving early the next day (we were on a mission).    Today we are back and what a charming town!    We settled in at  Utsch's Marina, a family-owned operation since 1951.   When Mark returned from checking in, he had a goodie bag with a bottle of wine, package of 3 different flavors biscotti, bar of scented soap from a local soap company along with all kinds of brochures (my kind of marina)!!!    We grabbed our map and took off....we found the trolley and rode it downtown and along the promenade.    Had good dinner at Carney's overlooking the water and then found the mall - what a neat place with many shops and restaurants all outside on a brick street.    Mark had some ice cream ("chocolate therapy") while I browsed the shops and then we headed to Columbia Street which was filled with so many neat B and B's, inns, private homes, etc.    The architecture is just wonderful (lots of gingerbread trim) and these folks are very patriotic as so many proudly fly the American flag and/or have the red/white and blue bunting out.

One of many B and B's 
Charming home
Sweet and colorful

Cape May has a population of 3,600, but swells to 50-60,000 in the summertime and is known as one of America's original premier resort towns and still going strong!

We walked a total of 5 miles, but such a beautiful evening and so much to see and oooh and aaah over!
We cruised 74 miles today and tomorrow, we'll go up Delaware Bay onto the Chesapeake.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pat: When we were up in Maryland in the Spring we were going to take a ferry over to Cape May, but the ferry schedule did not coincide with our schedule so did not get to do that. Soooo sorry we missed this quaint charming town now. Anyway, we did stop at Ocean City Maryland, but it was so very touristy did not tarry there and did not care for it at all. We did stop at Rehobath Beach and it was quite lovely. Great little shops and nice places to eat. We spent the late morning and afternoon there. If you get a chance on your way out of Delaware Bay, it is right on the tip across from Cape May, you might want to visit for a quick lunch, lots of ice cream places too. Sounds like the Atlantic Ocean area with all the tides and winds. Every time we have cruised in the Atlantic we have had some rough weather. Judy