Labor Day Weekend is typically the last gasp of summer – a chance for families to get away for a few days before the beginning of the school year. It’s also a last opportunity for businesses at beach towns to cash in before the quieter fall season begins. This year, however, Labor Day was on September 7, which is the latest day the holiday can fall on the calendar. Most schools had already started, calendars were already marching inexorably toward autumn, and on a recent visit my wife and I found a much quieter Cape May than either of us had ever experienced during a summer weekend.
With sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 70s, no rain in the forecast, and hardly any crowds, we enjoyed a lovely weekend in one of our favorite shore towns. So come along with us, then, as we amble through Cape May, take a ferry ride to get lunch in another state, capture some wildlife on camera, enjoy a gorgeous sunset, and soak in the last few days of summer!
Let’s begin:
Labor Day Weekend – Cape May, NJ
Our destination? Cape May, New Jersey, which should be familiar to any longtime reader of the blog.We departed at lunchtime on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. GPS routed us away from a bad traffic jam on the Garden State Parkway, instead directing us onto a series of quiet, lonely two-lane roads through the Pine Barrens.About two-and-a-half hours after leaving home, we were in Cape May! Upon arrival at our family’s home, I immediately drove to the end of the block to make sure the Delaware Bay hadn’t moved.Our dinner destination was The Local Tavern. It opened last year in what was formerly Jake’s, a beloved neighborhood pub.My wife had the grilled salmon, served with mashed potatoes and charred green beans.Meanwhile, I totally indulged with the Backyard Special – a burger, a hot dog, and potato salad. I felt like I was at a Labor Day picnic! My meal was a bit unhealthy, but totally delicious! Afterward, we decided to head into downtown Cape May for dessert.As we neared downtown Cape May my wife and I agreed that if we could not find parking easily we would head back to the house, as neither of us wanted to fight the crowds. Upon arriving at the municipal parking lot off Jackson Street, we had our choice of open spots. Open parking spots? On a Friday night? I felt like I was in an episode of The Twilight Zone.Did I mention that we were afraid of having to fight the crowds?In many beach towns it’s not uncommon for residents to also own street-legal golf carts for local driving. This owner seems to have gone the extra mile.For as long as I have been coming to Cape May, I enjoy when I try someplace I have never visited before, and in this case it was King’s Ice Cream Parlor.While my wife loved her salted caramel vegan ice cream, I thoroughly devoured my order of Cookies and Cream. We will gladly return to King’s in the future! After dessert, we headed back to the house for an early night. The next day promised to be chock-full of adventure!Saturday morning we were up bright and early for breakfast at our local favorite – Uncle Bill’s Pancake House.That’ll be an order of buckwheat pancakes for me and gluten-free pecan pancakes for my wife (pictured). Fueled up with delicious food (as always at Uncle Bill’s), we were ready to begin our day.We decided to try our luck again in downtown Cape May, and found even fewer occupied parking spots than the night before! I chatted with a few store owners who seemed to uniformly ascribe the lower attendance at the shore to a mixture of schools starting earlier than usual, as well as higher fuel costs.We were saddened to discover that Out There Coffee, our favorite local coffee spot, had been replaced by The Buoy Coffee Shop. Sadly, neither of our lattes were very good. We ended up throwing them out after only a few sips. The Buoy is a recent addition to Cape May, so hopefully these two bad drinks were just the growing pains of a new store.We took a brief walk around Cape May, as always enjoying the Victorian architecture. The Christopher Gallagher House is a great example of the types of homes you’ll see in the city. As I have shared in previous posts, Cape May is second only to San Francisco for having the most Victorian buildings in the nation.The next phase of our weekend would take us to sea!We were heading to the terminal for the Cape May – Lewes Ferry. The ferry connects New Jersey and Delaware through a 90-minute boat road across the Delaware Bay.We have sailed aboard the ferry several times (most recently during our trip to the Outer Banks this past March). Unlike previous journeys, this time we would be leaving our car in New Jersey and traveling as walk-on passengers.After we had boarded the ferry, there was a commotion – a bald eagle decided to pay us a visit. Before we left, I had toyed with the idea of leaving my big camera at home. I was suddenly quite happy I brought it! My first shot was a little blurry, as my camera was set for landscape mode – I had planned to photograph lighthouses, not birds in flight!I’ve been using Canon cameras even longer than I’ve been driving cars from Honda, so I was able to fix my camera’s settings without taking my eyes off the eagle. This shot was much better!The eagle landed on a nearby radio tower, offering me ample opportunity to take some glamour shots of it!The ride to Delaware was quite lovely. Taking your car on the ferry is rather expensive, but if you are looking for cheap entertainment, the ferry ride for walk-on passengers is affordable – only $16 per person round trip!After a 90 minute ride, we neared the ferry terminal in Lewes, Delaware.No car? No problem. DART, Delaware’s public transit system, has you covered. We took the 204 bus into downtown Lewes, purchasing all-day tickets for the grand total of… four dollars each.Lewes was founded in 1631 as a Dutch trading village. The modern downtown is a mixture of new construction and preserved historic buildings. One of my favorites was the Burton-Ingram House. Built in 1800, cedar planks covered walls made from the ballast stones from old sailing ships (via Historical Marker Database).Our lunch destination would be Striper Bites, a casual, nautical-themed bistro in downtown Lewes.The interior of the restaurant was very cool (I loved the nautical theme!), but with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s, we opted to eat outside.After we were seated, we ended up waiting nearly ten minutes before a server came to our table. The restaurant was not crowded, so we were confused as to the reason for the delay. We were almost ready to leave and try a different restaurant when our server finally showed up, apologized profusely, and got to work organizing our meal. The excellent service and tasty steamed shrimp helped to quiet our annoyance for the long wait.While my wife had the turkey burger on a gluten free bun (excellent), I thoroughly enjoyed (and demolished) an order of fish tacos. Fueled up, we explored a little more of downtown Lewes before returning to the ferry terminal.We caught the bus in front of the Zwaanendael Museum. Built in 1909, the museum is designed to replicate the town hall in the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands (via State of Delaware website).Gray skies for much of our ride to Delaware meant I was not able to capture great shots of the lighthouses in the Delaware Bay. The sun came out for our return trip, affording me a nice view of Harbor of Refuge Light (built in 1908).Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse (built in 1885) is one of my favorite lighthouses on the Delaware Bay.I took a timeout from photographing lighthouses to snap some shots of brown pelicans which had made this harbor signal their home.Of course, one of my favorite lighthouses anywhere is the Cape May Lighthouse, built in 1859.An hour and a half after departing Lewes, we arrived at the Cape May Ferry Terminal. The trip was a lovely way to pass an afternoon!After the ferry, we stopped by the Cape May Winery & Vineyard to enjoy a glass of wine and live music on a gorgeous summer afternoon.My wife and I decided to try out a new spot for dinner. The Mad Viking, located along Cape May Harbor, manages to blend Jersey shore vibes with a healthy dose of Viking/Norse culture.The Mad Viking is relaxed and comfortable. We started off with drinks, which were excellent. My margarita was tasty, while my wife had the Screaming Viking (grapefruit juice, lime juice, club soda, and tequila). Like I said, they lean into the whole Norse culture thing.The food was good, too. While my wife enjoyed the Caribbean Bowl (rice, black beans, street corn salsa, guacamole, and grouper) I thoroughly enjoyed my fish tacos. “Fish tacos twice in one day?” you might ask.. but when the fish is freshly caught, I have no complaints.The view from our table could not be beat!The restaurant is family friendly – if you have little ones, they can pass the time exploring the Viking Long Ship.We wanted to get back home in time for the sunset… of course, I may have delayed our return a bit with shot after shot of my car beneath this beautiful sky.We arrived just as the sun was nearing the horizon. This beach was the most crowded of any spot at the shore this weekend.Thank you, Cape May, for a lovely sunset, and an awesome Labor Day weekend!With blue skies and beautiful temperatures, we sadly got in the car on Sunday morning for our drive home.Home again! The Acura continues to gobble up the miles – 81,000 is now in the books. I’m going to have to start thinking about how to celebrate the upcoming 90,000 mile rollover – it’ll be here before I know it!
Wrapping Up
Beautiful weather, awesome adventures, and no crowds – that is how I love to spend a holiday weekend at the shore! We had a lovely time in Cape May, and as we drove back, my wife and I already began sketching out ideas for our next visit. If you are in the Cape May area and are looking for a fun way to pass an afternoon, I can’t recommend a trip on the Cape May – Lewes ferry strongly enough!
Thanks for coming on another adventure down the open road ahead.
