Carolina in the Morning

June 30, 2011

After 803 miles and a pleasant 90 minute ferry crossing I am finally in Cape May, N.J. esconced in my in-laws summer home two blocks from the beach. The trip was uneventful with one exception. At about 5:40AM Wednesday the fire alarm went off in the hotel in North Carolina rousing us from bed. The alarm was a high pitched screech accompanied by strobe lights which lasted fifteen minutes and could be heard by every dog within miles. I yelled to my wife “Grab your jewelry!”  So you could see where my priorities were. She said “What about me?” The management calmed everyone by explaining that a waffle iron in the kitchen began smoking. And I wanted waffles for breakfast, too.

South Jersey is east of Jacksonville so the sun rises about a half-hour earlier. We have the luxury of sleeping with the windows open but with such an early sunrise the birds start chirping around five A.M.. And on the first night we were welcomed by a skunk who wafted his aroma at the house around three A.M. – welcome to Cape May! But the real pleasure is listening to the surf at high tide when the wind is right. There is nothing quite so soothing after a long drive.

tjs

Next - TBA
 PS - See NYTimes travel section Sun. July3 for 36 hours in Cape May.