The Garden State

We arrived in Cape May, New Jersey on Mother's Day. We set up for the week and then we headed downtown to celebrated Mother's Day with dinner. We went to The Mad Batter Restaurant, and it was pretty good. There were warnings of rain, but that didn't happen, I enjoyed the blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Downtown is so cute it is hard for me to put it into words. We walked around after dinner, and it was so much fun and so cute. I don't know how I imagined New Jersey, but it is totally beautiful.

Our site for the week.

It was a nice Mother's Day!

Lots of cute shops, homes and rentals in this area.

This is one of the rentals and it was being worked on.

Love this house!

Our Lady Star of the Sea circa 1878.

Inside the church.

Beautiful  stain glass windows.

The other side.

The Confessionals. 

"Keeping it real" as we were walking by the church a woman (who most likely had a little bit too much wine, but hey, it was Mother's Day) asked hubby where some place was, I couldn't hear what she said, but I heard hubby answer her, "I don't know, I am not from here, I am from Texas". Many things in life just cause one to chuckle. 

A little history of Cape May, New Jersey. The earliest inhabitants of the peninsula called Cape May were the Kechemeche Indians of the Lenni-Lenape tribe who mainly hunted these grounds. Following sighting by Sir Henry Hudson in 1609, and exploration by Cornelius Jacobsen Mey in 1621, the first residents purchased land from the Indians in the 1630s and developed a prosperous fishing and whaling industry. English colonists from Connecticut and Massachusetts, by the late 17th century, had further developed whaling and introduced farming to this area now known as Cape Island. 

It was more than 200 years ago, in 1766, that Cape Island’s development as a place where many resort for their health and pleasure began. The visitors came first from Philadelphia, by horse-drawn wagons, stagecoaches, sloops and schooners. They were housed in very rustic public houses, taverns, and resident homes. At the turn of the century, advertisement in the Philadelphia papers described the beautiful situation of Cape May, the sea-bathing, and the fish, oysters and crabs to eat and enjoy! 

The 1850s included grand renovations of Congress Hall, visits from Presidents Franklin Pierce and Benjamin Harrison, another hotel fire, the Mansion House in 1857, and the construction of a new lighthouse in 1859, that still exists today. The Civil War and Cape Island’s pledge of support for the Union in December 1860, caused the southern patrons to disappear overnight. It was the completion of the railroad from Philadelphia to Cape Island, in 1863, that signaled the next development of the resort island - the Cottage Era - the parceling of land into lots for Philadelphia families to build their own summer homes.

President Franklin Pierce

During World War I, the Cape May Hotel was used as a hospital and the eastern one-third of this tract of land was acquired by the Navy for a base. This base was taken over by the Coast Guard, in 1925. The hotel reopened in 1920, was sold and operated as the Admiral Hotel in 1931, until the city bought it at Sheriff’s sale nine years later for $900.

Cape May Hotel

The most devastating fire of all, in 1878, destroyed 35 acres of the city from Congress Hall over to Ocean Street. Cape May decided to rebuild itself as a smaller scaled-down version of its pre-fire era - homes and businesses were built in Queen Anne, Gothic and American bracketed styles. The decision not to compete with modern popular resorts preserved the town’s character so many find attractive today.

After the fire.

Happenings of note in the 40s include: continued growth of the Coast Guard base with more dredging; the re-commissioning of the air station by the Navy and the use of the Hotel Cape May as a Naval Annex; the construction of the Cape May Canal, 1942/43; and the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 that demolished the boardwalk and brought an end to the borough of South Cape May. 

In the 60s, two powerful forces blew into Cape May that helped shape the city’s future. The first was the March Nor’easter (Ash Wednesday Storm), March 7, 1962, that destroyed the boardwalk, beachfront, Convention Hall and severely damaged many properties. The second was the Reverend Carl McIntire, fundamentalist minister, who also changed the city’s landscape by purchasing many Victorian era properties and moving some of them in order to save them from destruction. The Admiral Hotel (formerly Cape May Hotel) was renamed the Christian Admiral and became the Bible Conference Center for Rev. McIntire’s Reformation Movement.

Ash Wednesday Nor'easter. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; 

not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, 

nor let it be fearful". John 14:27 (NASB).

The success of these early ventures gave impetus to others to invest. Other factors contributing to Cape May’s return to a popular seaside resort destination included: the creation of the pedestrian Washington Street Mall in 1971; ongoing beach restoration projects beginning in the 80s; the extension of the season into fall, spring, and Christmas with the offering of many cultural, historical, music, arts, nature and water-related activities and events. As of the 2021 Census Cape May has a population of 95,661.

The Washington Street Mall.

Tuesday, we went to explore the Cape May lighthouse and a WWII Watchtower. Very interesting. Unfortunately, they were both closed, but we were able to look at them and learn a little bit about them. We also saw the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware River. The Atlantic was where the lighthouse was and the Delaware River was by the WWII Watchtower.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of 

Historic Places on November 12, 1973

"A lighthouse is not interested in who gets its light. It just gives 

it without thinking. Giving light is its nature." Unknown

Fort Miles Battery 223

Atlantic Ocean 

I promise I didn't write this nor did hubby, but I looked down at the rail 

while we were looking out at the ocean and it was so cute. 

A+S with hearts. God is so amazing!

This was the third lighthouse to be built on Cape May. The first was built 

in 1823 and the second was built in 1847. The first two lighthouses

 are now under water due to erosion. 

You can see the Triangle Park on your way to and from lighthouse.

Fun fact: here is some information about Fort Miles Battery 223. In the years before the U.S. was involved in WWII, the belief was that America's shore defenses were inadequate and it resulted in the 1940 Modernization of the Coastal Defense program. Battery 223 was part of the effort to address the advances of offensive and defensive technology in the 1930s. The Battery has six-foot thick reinforced concrete walls and a thick blast proof roof, allowing it to survive a direct hit from battleships and aircraft. The entire building was covered with earth. Also, the 6-inch guns had a nine-mile range. Battery 223's guns were never fired at an enemy, though there were drills and live fire tests. It was decommissioned in 1944; and had been scrapped by 1948. 

As we drove over to see the WWII Watchtower imagine our surprise to see a sinking concrete ship. This is the S.S. Atlantus and was one of twelve experimental concrete ships built during WWI. It was proven impractical after a few transatlantic trips due to its weight. In 1926, the Atlantus was purchased by Colonel Jesse Rosenfeld to be used as ferry dock in Cape May, New Jersey for a proposed ferry between Cape May and Cape Henlopen, Delaware. On June 8th, a storm hit, and the ship broke free of her moorings and ran aground 150 feet off the coast of Sunset Beach. Several attempts were made to free the ship, but none were successful.

Built in just weeks in 1942, the tower was one of the 15 towers in Delaware 

and New Jersey used as observation posts to detect enemy vessels and direct the 

artillery fire from nearby coastal batteries.

After WWII was over, the tower became Fire Control Tower No. 23. It opened 

for tourist in 2009 after a 1.3 million restoration project was completed.

Wednesday was a truly wonderful day. We were able to have dinner with friends we met in Hawaii twenty-two years ago. We never imagined we would be able to see each other again, but we did. We have kept in contact via Christmas Cards. It was truly a blessing. Hubby and I thought that no time had passed the way we just talked the two hours away. Thanks Alan and Joan for meeting us halfway at The Old Causeway Steak and Oyster House in Manahawkin, New Jersey.  

Myself, hubby, Joan and Alan.

Thursday, we went back to the lighthouse to make sure we had a picture of New Jersey for our map. We have the picture, but the size of New Jersey didn't allow for the lighthouse to be a part of the picture. That was a little disappointing. 

So, if you take away the lighthouse that is the way it will appear on the map.

Friday, we went out to dinner, ran a few errands and made sure we could find the cheapest diesel to fill up for the next step of the journey. We needed to leave earlier than usual, so we also packed up the living room area, brought the bikes in and closed the slides. We left Saturday for a Harvest Host in New York; we stayed the one night and today we are on our way to Connecticut. We will stay in Connecticut for two weeks, that way we won't have to travel over Memorial Day weekend. Can't wait to bring you more adventure in Connecticut. 

Our site at Orange County Distillery.

Another new state! Here are the state bird, tree, flower and motto for New Jersey. 

 
*New Jersey: American Goldfinch (Bird), Northern Red Oak (Tree), Common Blue Violet (Flower), and "Liberty and Prosperity" (Motto). 

If there is something special you would like me to take a picture of, please let me know!
 
Drop a comment for me and let me know your thoughts on the blog.
 
God, the RV & me...