Cape May in May

Congress Hall - Cape May, New Jersey

http://www.congresshall.com/

Given the fact that I was Maid of Honor in my cousin's wedding, I was stalking weather.com in search of the perfect forecast for May 8th for about a month before Nadia's wedding! 

Drew & Nadia Nielands ~ May 8, 2010

Once that amazing wedding weekend came to a close, I was excited to relax and enjoy a weekend away with Jerome.  The weekend weather for May 15th continued to impress me, so I called Jerome at work on Friday morning and said something like...."So remember we wanted to take a trip to the shore before the weekends got to be too hectic and....?"   With that, he let me know just happened to be looking up information for Congress Hall in Cape May NJ...for that very weekend, just as I called. 

These types of  things happen to us.  A lot.

Since about 2000-2001, when I think of the shore, I think Avalon.  I loooove Avalon.  Until this past weekend...

Cape May was not just a last minute, pack one bag, quick trip, to the Jersey Shore.  It was a vacation. 

We stayed at Congress Hall, near Cape May Point.  About an hour and 10 minutes from Philadelphia.  We left Saturday morning...crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge at exactly 11am.  Since I still cannot completely let go of Avalon, we pulled off Rt 9 and drove through Sea Isle, then Avalon, then Stone Harbor on our way to Cape May and made a few stops.

We made what is now our traditional and always necessary stop at  Hoy's 5&10 in Avalon for all of our beach trip necessities:

http://www.avalonbeach.com/webads/shopping/hoys.htm 

1. Kite  

2. Sunglasses -- Jerome  

3. The biggest beach hat I could find  -- Me - I wore it ALL weekend

4. New paddle ball set!

Next, we stopped at The Windrift on the border of Avalon and Stone Harbor for lunch and a Corona with a view.  This is one of my favorite spots for doing just that!  It's right on the beach, overlooking the ocean.

http://www.windrifthotel.com/

Our next stop was Stone Harbor.  We just HAD to go to Fred's Tavern for:

1. Cheap chilled champagne

2. The largest bucket of pretzels on the Jersey Shore
3. A new, non blue, non gray, non white Fred's T shirt
4. A beer coozie, of course

Once we got to Congress Hall, I noticed the displayed itinerary for the weekend.  There are 3 weddings in three days!  Too bad we were only staying 1 night. 

I remembered the itinerary and made sure we were back at the hotel for each ceremony that was held outside on the lawn by the pool.  Each one so beautiful, and each one so so different.  The first wedding was about to start in about 2 hours.

We walked around Cape May for a while, stopped by the Promenade which included an arcade

and my favorite shore tradition...black and white boardwalk photo strips.

We had some drinks by the pool while we watched the wedding before getting ready for dinner.

We went to FRESCO's which is a small BYOB on Bank St.  It was absolutely delicious!

That night, we were having so much fun, we decided to stay an extra night (Sunday night) and enjoy the next day without rushing home.  We got up early and went to Uncle Bill's Pancake House, which was on the property of where we stayed.  How convenient.  I won't talk about Jerome's "What?  I'm on vacation." breakfast. 

We rented bikes for the day right at our hotel.  We bought 2 waters and a map and were on our way to the Lighthouse about 1.5 miles away, right on Cape May Point.  

Not far from the lighthouse is one of the old WWII bunker which fascinated us both.

This bunker was part of a coastal defense system during World War II. The bunker was originally 900 feet inland. Coastal erosion had taken it's toll on the beach. As you can see in the pictures below, the bunker was in the surf. A plaque at the pavilion near the lighthouse says that the pilings were only meant to stabilize the structure, not support the structure with it's 7' thick walls in midair.

In 2005, a beach replenishment project restored the sand around the bunker.   On the day we were there, we were able to stand between the bunker and the ocean in about 100 ft of sand.

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

We had such a fantastic day exploring Cape May!  We headed even more south to the Point, which is also called Sunset Beach.  There we saw remains of an old ship off the coast, a great little store with everything from hermit crabs to fools gold, and a little beach bar where we had a quick snack before the ride back to the hotel. 

Our bikes!

We had to return our bikes in about 2 hours.  Good thing we opted for a full day rental!  We headed back, with detours through the neighborhoods along the way, some shopping on Washington Street, and returned our bikes right on time.  We rested for about 30 minutes and then headed to the beach to fly our kite and play a few games of paddle ball! 

Greenmarket ~ Union Square ~ New York City

Last weekend we spent 2 days in New York City to celebrate my 32nd birthday and Valentine's Day.  We stayed at the W Hotel ~ Union Square on Park Avenue S, which was beautiful.  We absolutely loved this hotel! 

The W Hotel Union Square

Union Square Greenmarket Farmers Market

Union Square is an amazing area to stay in Manhattan for many reasons but one of the best is the Union Square Greenmarket, which is right across the street from the hotel in Union Square Park.  The outdoor market is open all year on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (the busiest day) from 8-6pm.  The market attracts dozens of regional, small family farmers and gives them an opportunity to sell their goods.  During peak season, there is an average of 250,000 people who come to the market each week.  The median distance between the farmer and the market:  90 miles.  Nice!

The market is not only a great place to people watch, but to also stock up on fresh fruits, veggies, hot apple cider, meats, cheeses and fresh pasta.  We made an extra stop back at the market before the vendors packed up and we headed back to Philadelphia on Saturday evening.  We walked away with homemade spinach fettucini for our Valentine's Night dinner of sauted shrimp in a lemon garlic, white wine sauce that I tossed with diced cherry tomatoes.  The pasta was simply delicious.  I wondered how many local chefs from the city's top restaurants take advantage of the market?  Also, at the end of the week, much of the unsold produce is donated to City Harvest where the food is put to immediate use helping to provide food for New Yorkers in need.

Along with the delicious homemade pasta, we also purchased 2 photographs that we are going to frame and hang in our kitchen.  (Blackberries-Jerome's favorite and raspberries-my fav.)  Perfect photos for the kitchen and an even more perfect reminder of our lovely weekend in Union Square.  The pictures were taken of the fruit right here at the market by a local vendor.

Local vendor selling wheatgrass shots. Yum.

http://www.cenyc.org/

 

Location: Union Square West from 15 to 17 Streets, 17 Street from Broadway to Park Ave South

Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 8AM-6PM, year round. 2010 scheduled changes: 11/26, 12/25 & 1/1 will close for the holidays.
Union Square Holiday Market: 11/23/10 ~ 12/24/10