Spring Roadtrip, Day 5...On Into New Jersey

 Day 5

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

     After the weekend, I was grateful not to have much driving in store for the day.  The forecast was for cold and rain all day anyway.  When I woke up, there was no patter of rain on the windows.  Looking out the window, it seemed nice and calm.  I realized odds were pretty low, but I took a load of stuff down to the car and looked down the road towards the beach.  Yeah, no rain.  No sunrise, either.

      There was originally a full day of stuff planned today.  But first, I had to get across to New Jersey!  The ferry from Lewes, Delaware to Cape May, New Jersey is a personal favorite.  There's just something about it.  

     Lining up at the terminal for the eventual trip across.  

     Given a choice, I'd rather my car be in the middle of the ferry, under some cover, especially on a choppy day like this.  But no, I had to show up on time and be towards the front.  

     Yeah, not the most inspiring morning.

     Much to everyone's surprise, midway across the Delaware Bay, the ferry's engines shut down and we coasted to a stop.  Crossing our path were two whales.  We saw them come up and blow a few times before they were clear and we finished our journey.  

     Whales in the Delaware Bay are nothing new.  Swedish settlers established the colony of New Sweden in 1638, partially for the purpose of whale hunting.  The colony stretched up both sides of the future Delaware Bay.  The first settlement was Fort Christina in present day Wilmington, Delaware and named after Christina, the Swiss Queen.  

      The colony only lasted twenty-three years.  Dutch forced from New Amsterdam(soon to become New York) invaded.  With their forts overrun, the colony surrendered.  In 1669, the British arrived and took control of everything.  

     All that's left of New Sweden is the town of Swedesboro and a replica of Fort Christina in Wilmington.  

     The plan was to hit a few hiking trails in the general Cape May area.  The light mist put an end to that.  So, I drove down to the Cape May Lighthouse.  Sure it was closed today and there wouldn't be much of a view anyway.  But, they're still cool

      Seen on the way, a manatee mailbox...

      Not much of a view of the lighthouse today...

     The lighthouse sits in a state park on the southern tip of the state.  On the back side of the parking lot I saw this curious platform.  

     Due to its geography, Cape May Point is a major stopping point for migratory birds.  Click the link to the New Jersey Audubon Society page for some more detail.

     Even though it was a damp day, I couldn't resist a brief walk out to the beach.

     By now, I was thinking about an early lunch.  One of the great things about being back in Jersey are the diners.  There's one adjacent to the Cape May Airport called the Flight Deck Diner. 

     By the time I finished lunch, the forecast had changed somewhat,  No more rain for the day, just the damp, leaden sky.  The Wildwood Naval Air Station Museum was next door and I considered a visit.  In the rain, I definitely would have stopped in.  Instead, I did a search for hiking trails near me.

     The search brought me to a place called the Cox Hall Creek Wildlife Management Area.  The 253 acres used to be a golf course.  Now, it's another stop for migrating birds.  Daniel Coxe purchased the land in the 1680's but never left England.  A physician to the Court of  King Charles II, Coxe was even declared  governor for a year in 1687.

                               

     After parking the car, I started walking up a well maintained, paved path.  

     If I stayed on the outer loops, I'd do a little over three miles.  

     On the far side of the lake, I picked up the outer loop again.  Something you really don't want to see on the trail...

     Back around the lake I went.  While the trails are in great shape, the markings leave much to be desired.  There are no signs at trail junctures.  There are no blazes.  Every once in a while, you will encounter one of these on the pavement.  That's it.  At one point I did get turned around and was headed in the opposite direction from I wanted to go.  In the end, I have no idea how far I walked.  But, it certainly felt good.  

      My home for the next two nights was a stereotypical Jersey Shore motel, a place called The Waves.  No complaints, the place definitely felt clean.  

     After unloading my stuff, I walked the one block to the Wildwood Boardwalk.  Start to finish, it runs two and a half miles.  When I last visited, it was early in the season and most of it was open.  Today, I had it to myself and everything was closed.  

     Two blocks north, the boardwalk was barricaded and closed.  

    So, I walked south.  

     The walkway to the beach along the outside of the convention center.

     With some blue skies to the east, I was hoping for some sort of sunset, at least a little color.  Unfortunately, the sky to the west was still socked in by clouds.  It was still good to be walking the boardwalk again, even if I did have it do myself.

Spring Roadtrip, Day 7... Crossing Jersey

 Day 7

Thursday, 3/7/2024

     I really wasn't expecting much when I woke up.  There was no rain in the forecast, just more gray.  Always hopeful for a sunrise, I did head out to the boardwalk.  

     The original plan was to hit three wildlife and nature preserves along my route to see Mom.  The first was the Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve.  

   With all the rain, it was a roll of the dice over trail conditions.  The preserve has two loops. I chose the longer one at two miles.  It certainly started out well with plenty of packed sand.  But, take note of the lighter green area to the left.

      The last half mile or so of the trail was much like this, making for slow going as I looked for the least squishy route around the flooded sections.  

     Until finally solid footing.  

       It's a nice loop trail and easy to follow.   So, I started going around a second time, turning around  when it got swampy.  A nice four miles to start the day.

         My second stop of the day was the Eldora Nature Preserve.  The trails got great reviews and I was looking forward to checking them out.  It started out well enough.

      Things started getting dicey at that trail juncture.  The one I was most curious about included a boardwalk out over the swamp.  No surprise, the trail was flooded as far back as I could see.  Option two was muddy, but not too bad, at least to the viewing platform.  From there, it just looked like a mess. So, that's as far as I went.

    

     There's a state conservation area outside Glassboro.  I decided to go there next, which meant cutting through my old college.  Some of you have been back to your college numerous times.  I had only done it once, when my niece graduated their engineering school.  I hardly recognized the place.  There were new buildings all over the campus.  Some of the older buildings where I had classes, as well as my old dorm just looked gray and dated.  They've all been spruced up now and more facilities are still being built.  

     When I graduated in '87, it was still Glassboro State College.  Five years later, Henry Rowan donated $100 million to the college.  Glassboro State became Rowan State College and no, I didn't like the change.  As it expanded, it eventually became Rowan University.  

     One of the constants is still Angelo's Diner.  It's been in this spot for over seventy years.   The owners retired in December and sold the place.  The new owners vowed to keep it open and running.

     One of the sure fire ways to know you're back in Jersey, you see this on the menu...

     Disco Fries are your standard french fries, but covered with cheese and brown gravy.  
     Back then, it was a short walk into town from campus.  Now, the campus has expanded to right across the street, with some campus offices further up the street.  None of this was here back in my day.

    As for exploring the preserve, one site mentioned trails, another just said a dirt road.  I drove about a mile and a half in.  Between the potholes and sliding on the loose mud, I figured I had gone far enough.

     It was late afternoon when I left Glassboro.  I wasn't going that far, perhaps a half hour.  I was staying at the same motel I always do when visiting Mom, the Sonesta Suites in Mt. Laurel.  Since I was coming in from a different direction, the GPS took me in the back way past a gazebo and a small lake.

     After taking a few loads of stuff to the room, I walked out to that gazebo, hoping to get lucky.

    The first hint of colors...

     And just like that, it was over.  Not a bad way to end the day though.