Out Spokin'…

New Jersey

Friday, May 13 – Sunday, May 15, 2022

After leaving our Warm Showers hosts Friday morning we took some time to bicycle through random streets of Cape May. We admired the many beautiful Victorian homes.

Not one of the old Victorians, this is the home of our Warm Showers hosts. The small urban backyard is filled with raised garden beds. Our dinner included greens from the garden.
Downtown Cape May has a pedestrain mall filled with local shops and restaurants. It was pretty quiet in the morning when we walked our bikes through.
One well-cared-for Victorian after another.
I noticed people sitting on the porch eating breakfast and saw that it was an inn. Depending on when you stay a room at the Virginia Hotel can cost a thousand dollars. For one night.

We were now off the Adventure Cycling routes and had to figure out our own way through New Jersey. We decided to head inland to avoid a bridge crossing that might not allow bicycles. Unfortunately we didn’t do enough research and missed a bike trail out of Cape May, taking Route 9, a two-lane highway, instead. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun, with too much traffic, uneven shoulders, and random businesses on either side.

The wind had finally quit, the sky was overcast, and it rained for a short bit. But what made the day rough was that I was fighting an uneasy stomach all day. All I wanted to do was find a place to lay down and rest. We did stop once by a church and I found a place to lay down on the grass and rest for a while. I managed to eat a chocolate croissant we’d picked up at a bakery in Cape May that morning.

After 52 miles we came to the little town of Egg Harbor City and the home of Doug, a Warm Showers host. After a shower I went straight to bed. Rob visited with Doug and had a tuna salad he’d picked up at the grocery store in town. (Doug explained that he didn’t cook for himself since his lady friend was such a good cook. He ordered out for his dinner.)

Doug, our Warm Showers host Friday night, lives in a century-old house on a large piece of property and has a family history dating back before the Revolution. He was so kind, offering to let us stay another day if needed.

Saturday we woke up to rain and I woke up to a stomach that was still unsettled. The plan had been to ride another 50 miles to the seaside town of Ocean Gate where Rob’s high school friend Doug keeps his sailboat. We’d sleep on the boat and then Doug would meet us on Sunday for a sail. It was a good plan and would have been fun had the weather and my stomach cooperated.

Instead Doug came and picked us up and we drove to Ocean Gate where we had a leisurely lunch. Doug had planned to put the sails on the boat after lunch, but the rain showed no signs of letting up. He dropped us off at a Quality Inn with plans to pick us up first thing Sunday morning when the weather was supposed to be fine for sailing.

We sat outside next to a heater with plastic walls protecting us from the rain as it poured down. What better way to spend a rainy day than sharing beer and lunch with a good friend?

Sunday morning we went for a short sail on Doug’s boat. Once the fog lifted it was a beautiful day.

Sailing on Barnegut Bay in New Jersey

We took Doug up on his offer to drive us up the coast another ten miles, to Seaside Heights, to avoid having to cross a long bridge that my research told me we’d have to walk over. (Throughout our travels bridges have been one of our biggest unknowns – sometimes fun with a safe bike lane, sometimes scary with no shoulder or sidewalk and cars speeding by.)

Then it was smooth sailing for 30 miles. We rode through one beachside community after another, a blend of boardwalks, arcades, amusement park rides and very high-end residential communities. I knew that Rob grew up on the Jersey shore, but I never realized how extensive the beaches are in New Jersey. The riding was relaxing, a real joy after the previous week. We had a slight tail wind. Traffic lights slowed us down as did dodging pedestrians when we rode on brief stretches of multi-use boardwalk. We stopped for a game of mini-golf.

After a lesurely sail we had a leisurely ride.
We passed a few middle class homes, some older beach homes, but mostly high end homes like these. So many of the houses were enormous. It boggles my mind that there is so much money in these houses when we pass by so many downtrodden homes and communities.

We booked a room at a LaQuinta hotel with no restaurant or grocery store nearby. But we’ve discovered that sometimes local restaurants will deliver to local motels (or even campgrounds). The front desk person gave us a pile of menus and we ordered dinner from an Italian restaurant. Rob had his usual – lasagne – and I had eggplant parmesan, a satisfying meal to end a satisfying day.

On the news we saw forecasts of severe storms tomorrow, when we’ll be taking the ferry to NYC.

Connie

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