Ashore in...Cape May, NJ

(Note: I had intended to post this much closer to the time we were actually in Cape May. Don't hold it against me.)

If you're going to wind up stuck in New Jersey, you might as well seek refuge in the seaside town of Cape May. A relatively protected canal offers cruisers a decent anchorage (even for deep-draft boats like ours) and marinas aplenty, while the quaint town provides more than enough options for sailors to stretch their legs and stomachs (though not necessarily their wallets, since this is a resort town).

For our two+ days in Cape May, we enjoyed free dockage at the Coast Guard station, saving us from multiple sleepless nights on the anchor as a gale raged around us. Not only did the station offer access to showers and low-cost dining at "the galley," but we also got a unique glimpse into the life of a new recruit, many of whom we watched march by en route to one drill or another and heard hollering mysterious chants into the night. My only context for military training being the movies Top Gun and An Officer and a Gentleman, I kept expecting to bump into Richard Gere or see Maverick ride off base in a motorcycle, but all I got were freshly shaved nineteen-year-olds walking in step. Oh well.

Eager to put feet to pavement after four straight days of being underway, we got ourselves off base to explore the famous Victorian charms of Cape May. The architecture certainly did not disappoint (see my favorite house, above), with block after block of stately homes looming over tree-lined streets. Desperate for the sight of the sea, we traversed two miles of empty beach and wound up at the lighthouse. We passed on paying $5 for the distinct privilege of climbing some 200 stairs to the top.

On the second day, we returned to town once more and spent an afternoon strolling along the Washington Street Mall, a pedestrian thoroughfare with kitschy, beach town shops (most of which were closed for the season). I was delighted to find that the soda foundatin was true to its name, complete with an awkward teenager serving up milkshakes and egg creams (whatever those are) with a ridiculous paper hat perched atop her head. Unfortunately, my appetite got left behind at the Lemon Tree, where I devoured one of the better Reubens that has ever greased my lips. Jeremy and I warmed up for the 30-minute amble back to base with a tipple at the Ugly Mug, made famous for its annual froth-blowing contest. Naturally. This pub deserves particular accolades for getting into the spirit of autum with hot apple- and pumpkin-based drinks.  We tried varieties of the former, which positively floated us back onto Coast Guard territory. The next morning, a Coast Guardswoman on pre-dawn watch kindly cast our docklines and sent us on our merry way through the Cape May canal (and under it's scarily low bridges that cleared our mast by about 1.5') and up the Delaware Bay.

I certainly look forward to making Cape May a port of call on our way back north, though I do hope to make it out before the scads of tourists return. I'd like to think such a charming place (in New Jersey, of all places!) remains undiscovered by the masses, and I'm happy to continue deluding myself as long as possible.