June 23-25, 2017 Friday-Sunday
Friday, June 23: Today was definitely a work day on the boat: bills, cleaning, laundry, cooking – where did the day go?
A few interesting tidbits about the Utsch’s Marina: It was built in 1951-the year Rick was born, you can see hazards in the slips at low tide (those slip holders definitely need local knowledge), we received a lovely bottle of red wine and biscotti when we checked in, and we had to leave a $150 deposit for the bathroom keys.
Saturday, June 24: Today we walked across the Veterans Memorial Bridge to West Marine for a chart book and then walked down Washington Street, lined with gardens and Victorian homes, to the Cape May Hops Festival: Blues, Brews, & barbecue! The festival offered the usual fare of crafts, collectibles, music, food, and kids activities. We found a tree-shaded bench and spent the day eating, drinking, listening to the different bands, and people watching, one of our favorite pass times.
The festival was held at the beautiful Physick Estate. This 18-room Victorian mansion was built by Frank Furness for Dr. Emlen Physick in 1879. Emlen Physick’s grandfather, Dr. Philip Syng Physick (1768-1837) is known as the Father of American Surgery and although Emlen Physick followed family tradition by completing medical training, he never practiced medicine. Instead, he elected to live the life of a country gentleman and animal breeder. Today the estate is home to the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities, host of today’s activities.
Sunday, June 25: Tomorrow is decision day, we have to decide which of the two routes we will take from Cape May to Manasquan. The inside route travels through the marshland of the New Jersey Intracostal Waterway (NJICW) while the outside route follows along the New Jersey coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The inside is not dredged on a regular basis and you have to continuously worry about the water depth, no-one wants to get grounded, but then again, who wants to get caught in the ocean if the weather turns bad? After talking to the locals and studying several weather forecasts we are leaning towards the outside passage, the final decision will be made tomorrow morning.
In the afternoon we walked 4.9 miles to the Cape May Lighthouse, visited the World War II Lookout Tower, and ended the day at Sunset Beach to honor a veteran.
Since 1975, every summer night from Memorial Day through September 30, the Hume family of Cape May Point has honored a departed U.S. veteran in a flag ceremony at Sunset Beach. The veteran’s casket flag is flown during the day and 30 minutes before sunset the ceremony begins. Information about the honoree is read, “God Bless America” and the national anthem are played, and taps are sounded as the veteran’s relatives lower the flag. Very moving with a very special sunset!
