Cape May: Our Home Away from Home

Cape May: Sunset Beach

Every year around our anniversary (and sometimes in between), we head down to the southern tip of New Jersey for a stay in the lovely shore town of Cape May. We’ve been coming here regularly for over a decade now, to the point where we’ve come to think of it as our second home (I know the roads almost as well as if I were a resident). With nice beaches (including areas to take the dog on the bay side), beautiful Victorian homes, great restaurants, a charming pedestrian mall, and tree-lined streets, it feels like a small town that just happens to be on the beach rather than a town designed to be a beach resort like the other major shore destinations in the area.

If you stay in the northern end of town (as we usually do), with its neighborhoods full of well-spaced houses and green lawns, you can almost forget that you’re even at the beach. But you’re close enough to Wildwood that if you’re itching to spend a night on the boardwalk (and indulge in my favorite pizza, Mack’s), it’s just a quick drive up the coast. We enjoy staying in Cape May during the offseason, particularly in September when we can watch the Monarch Butterfly migration. Unlike other shore resorts that basically become ghost towns after Labor Day, you can pretty much have the same experience in Cape May as you would in-season, only with fewer people.  Our dream is to retire here.

There is so much to love about Cape May, but rather than describe it in words, I thought I’d just share some of my favorite photos taken over the last decade, starting with a few panoramas followed by a gallery of photos that vary in quality depending on the camera that was used. I know there are quite a few, but it’s hard to compress a decade’s worth of photos into one blog post. 🙂

Typical summer beach scene.
Higbee Beach
A view of some of the oceanfront properties.
Overhead view of the main part of town.
The canal that separates Cape May from North Cape May.
The Main Beach
Sunset Beach featuring the iconic sunken concrete ship
(which may not be visible much longer in light of how much it has sunk recently).

And here is the gallery. I had to keep the thumbnail images small so the page wouldn’t take too long to load, but you can click on any image to view a larger size.

Mexico Awaits

I have just booked my next big trip: a tour of Aztec and Mayan pyramids in Mexico that starts in Mexico City, moves to the Yucatan Peninsula, and eventually ends up in Cancun. I am also timing the trip so that I will be in Mexico City and Merida during the Day of the Dead festivities, which should be a neat experience.

This will be my first completely solo trip, which I now feel comfortable doing after my partially solo trip to Peru last year and my two days alone in Venice in 2011. I decided to treat myself to the deluxe tour package so I should be staying in some pretty nice hotels–my reward to myself after four days of roughing it in the wilderness of the Inca Trail last year. 🙂

Below is the rough itinerary according to the tour company’s web site. I don’t think I’ll have a ton of free time, but if anyone who has traveled to that part of Mexico has any suggestions about things to do, places to eat, etc., I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Day 01:

  • Arrival in Mexico City.  Free time.

Day 02:

  • All-day sightseeing tour in Mexico City.

Day 03:

  • Visit the Guadalupe shrine.
  • Guided tour of Teotihuacan pyramids with free time allotted for climbing.

Day 04:

  • Fly to Merida.
  • Short sightseeing tour in the afternoon.

Day 05:

  • Visit the Kabah and Uxmal pyramid sites.

Day 06:

  • Visit the Chichen Itza pyramid site.
  • Transfer to Cancun.

Days 07 and 08:

  • Free time in Cancun.

Day 09:

  • Depart for home.

Sounds like a nice tour.  The Aztec and Mayan pyramids have always been near the top of my bucket list.  I can’t wait!