While this blog has featured plenty of adventures to new and exciting places, sometimes it feels good to return to a favorite spot. While the last post invited our readers to join us to another adventure to Adirondack State Park, this post features one of my favorite beach resort towns: Cape May, New Jersey.
If you’re coming to this post for an epic museum tour, or a mountain climb, or a roadside oddity, you might be disappointed. However, if you just want to take in a few photos of the beach, some great food, a little bit of wildlife, and some cool architecture, this might be the post for you!
So come along then, as we return to Cape May once again. Afterward, we’ll also provide some updates from the garage, including a friend’s continuing million mile adventure, another friend’s update from a cross-country road trip, and a relative’s high mileage achievement.
Let’s begin:
A Day in Cape May
Longtime readers of this blog no longer need a map to find two places: Adirondack State Park in upstate New York, and Cape May, New Jersey.We set off for Cape May on a Friday evening after dinner, waiting for a series of strong thunderstorms to move past the area. One benefit of starting so late? Hardly any traffic. We arrived in Cape May in two and a half hours.The next morning we awoke bright and early and started with a takeout breakfast from Uncle Bill’s Pancake House.That’ll be an order of pecan pancakes with a side of bacon for me, and an order of gluten-free pecan pancakes for my wife… we could change up our breakfast order, but why mess with success?After lunch, we took a walk down to the beach… and stopped in our tracks when my wife spotted an unusual visitor hanging out on the fence.An osprey was just sitting on a fencepost, watching the waves. I kept creeping closer to take a photo, and got within 15 feet of him, and still he didn’t seem bothered by my presence. Not wanting to stress him, however, I snapped a few photos and then slowly backed away.A few minutes later, the osprey took off and headed out toward the ocean. It was a very cool encounter!After our walk, we drove into downtown Cape May. One of the benefits of being a pair of early risers? We beat the crowds to the beach. A few hours later when we left, this lot would be full.When it comes to favorite eating establishments in Cape May, Louisa’s Cafe is near the top of our list! Open since 1980, this small restaurant features all locally-sourced ingredients. We haven’t been there in a few years – we will have to fix that sometime soon!The Washington Street Mall is always a fun place to enjoy some shopping and people-watching. On the morning we visited, a large delegation of sailors from the nearby Coast Guard training base were making the most of their day off (right).We fueled up for a walk with a visit to Out There Coffee, our favorite independent coffee shop in Cape May.Our walking-around-fuel was an iced almond milk latte (left) for my wife and an iced oat milk latte (right) for me.Coffee in hand, we took a stroll along Beach Drive. It was a gorgeous morning!People weren’t the only ones enjoying the beautiful weather – a pod of dolphins swam right past the shore! Unfortunately, I left my big camera at home, so I was only able to grab this shot with my phone.Unlike many other beach towns in New Jersey, strict zoning laws in Cape May have kept the city’s historic architecture largely in tact. Fun fact: Cape May has the nation’s largest surviving collection of Victorian-era buildings outside of San Francisco.The John F. Craig House is one of my favorite examples of Victorian architecture in Cape May. Built in 1866, this home is now a rental property that can accommodate up to 25 guests at a time.Even newer hotels have some cool architecture – check out the rising (or setting?) sun painted on the front steps of the Lokal Hotel!For lunch, we made two (!) stops to some local favorites. First up? The Cape May Winery. A swanky winery deserves to be visited by a swanky car. Or maybe it’s the other way around?Sitting in the enclosed (and air conditioned) patio, we enjoyed some local wine! The unique climate and soil of the Cape May region has caused it to become a hub of wine growing over the past 50 years.Lunch, please! Cape May Winery now has a small tapas kitchen, offering small plates and appetizers made fresh. We enjoyed a barbecue chicken flatbread and a grilled octopus, served with olives, potatoes, and andouille sausage. It was excellent! The menu changes daily, so if you visit, ask what’s new!After departing Cape May Winery, our next stop was to another favorite: Hawk Haven Winery in nearby Rio Grande, NJ.Hawk Haven does not have a kitchen, but instead hosts different food trucks during the weekend. These two AMAZING fish tacos were from Hit the Road Jack’s, a food truck connected to Jack’s Shack, a restaurant in Stone Harbor NJ. Lunch Part II was just as good as Part I!After a leisurely afternoon at my family’s shore house, we had one last stop: dinner in Sea Isle City!If you read my post from this June detailing our vacation to Sea Isle City, you might remember Mike’s Seafood! While many come to Mike’s to shop at the seafood market, Mike’s Dock offers excellent meals and friendly service.We arrived at 5:00 pm and had our choice of open tables. By 6:00 pm, every table was filled and a line of people waiting to be seated stretched out to the road. The moral of the story? Come early! Despite my stomach demanding crab cakes, my head won out, as I ordered the grilled wild salmon with rice and vegetables? Maybe not the most exciting dish I’ve ever ordered, but it was excellent!At least one of us was adventurous! My wife ordered the Alaskan snow crab legs, served with corn and coleslaw. She was even kind enough to share some of her meal with me. How was it? DEEEE-LICIOUS!! After we licked our plates clean, we headed back to the car for the drive home.Heading northward on a Saturday night, we encountered hardly any traffic on our drive home.We arrived back home a little over two hours later. The TLX was an enjoyable, comfortable, fun car for our Jersey Shore journey. I bought this car last September with 18,697 miles – less than a year later, 50,000 miles is fast approaching! A rolling Acura gathers no moss – onward!
Garage Updates
My Dad’s 2017 Honda Accord Touring recently passed the 90,000 mile mark. I had an opportunity to drive it a few weekends ago, and it feels as good now as when he bought it two years ago. The big 100,000 is fast approaching – onward!Meanwhile, my mom’s 2021 Honda HR-V recently made its first visit to the town of Princeton, New Jersey for a very special occasion!We took Mom to celebrate her birthday at Blue Point Grill, one of our favorite seafood restaurants. Along the way, my Mom’s HR-V crossed the 7,300 mile mark! Onward!!Meanwhile, my friend Justin’s ageless 2003 Honda Accord coupe continues its epic journey across the highways and byways of Texas – it now has 1,042,001 miles on the odometer. Onward!!!My friend Josh, whose high mileage courier activities have long been featured on this blog, is in the midst of an epic cross-country adventure, driving from Pennsylvania all the way to California and back! I’ve invited Josh to share his adventures with us, as he did a few years ago. We’ll definitely tune in for that adventure… onward!!!!Finally, back by popular demand… Betty, who remains as cute as ever.
Wrapping Up
While I love a road trip to a new destination, sometimes the best adventure is to return to a familiar place, to enjoy, once again, the sights, sounds, and tastes of a old favorite. Despite having visited Cape May countless times, each trip is a new journey, where new memories are made.
Thanks, once again, for coming along on this journey down the open road ahead.
The Open Road Ahead 
I’m glad you had fun and the food looks delicious. My favorite spot is cape may.
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We had a lovely time!! We definitely need to meet up at the Cape May Winery!!
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