4th of July at Cape May

We really enjoy visiting the local places wherever we are. When in Baltimore, we trolled all the Inner Harbor and neighboring towns. In NYC, we have started exploring each neighborhood and sub-neighborhood. To put it simply: we are explorers. But even explorers with open minds can have a bit of disillusion. Since we have been in NJ so many people from NJ have told us, "You have got to go to Cape May." "Cape May is niiiiiiiice." "The Victorian houses in Cape May are unbelievable." Ok, we got it that we had to go to Cape May. So far we accepted the beaches in NJ as being good for what they are but always aching a bit for the crystal clear salty water of the Mediterranean.

Vernazza, Italy. To think that used to be where we swam...sigh

See, it is really hard to thoroughly enjoy something when you have had something way better. Think of your favorite sandwich. What is it? Mine would be piled with fresh cheddar cheese, roasted tomato, spinach and rosemary turkey slices with a smear of mayo. Going from digging my teeth into that to...having a plain chewy piece of old bread is sort of what it has been like for us to go from the Mediterranean to...the Jersey Shore.

Snooki and The Situation Christmas decorations at Cape May

Bleh. Naturally, we were expecting the architecture of Cape May to outdo the water that was 'bleh'. Once there we walked the entire town and discovered, well nothing really, other than a lot of moldy smelly Victorian houses that charged double the price of Italian Villas for a bed-and-breakfast. The high cost of Cape May was astounding considering that for the same pennies I could book twice the nights in a Villa on the Mediterranean for twice the number of days and have a massage included. Unbelievable. Yes, the cost of a plane is expensive to Italy but if I didn't buy another $3 Starbucks, that $10 shirt that I really don't need, grouped driving trips together I guarantee that I would be halfway to a ticket to Italy and that villa in no time.

Alas, I regretted booking the trip to Cape May. Nevertheless we did enjoy walking on the beach, and seeing all the people that come to the beach. The water has such a magnetic force that just pulls people to  come to it. People of all ages and backgrounds are drawn to the water. Some of the people reminded me of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea". Here are some of the people we saw:

Count how many things she has stuffed in there! I see....a hotel key, cleanex, there was lip gloss and then the 3 day pass...

The town of Cape May also had a sweet little "downtown" street the size of a NYC. We strolled into one of the year round Christmas shops that all little Victorian towns are required to have and marveled at the "decorations" they had:

scary

wow

should we enter?

purrrr

Oh yes, this is totally what Italy is like. You would NEVER dream of seeing this in an Italian home. 

yikes. My favorite, I have to say, is the Santa on the left hugging the tower of Pisa. 

Food. What is this about? French onion Christmas tree decoration...

huh?

getting out of control!

please tell me we are going in the direction of "Eat the fruit Vinny! Just eat the fruit!"

Yes, we are. Oh, Jersey Shore how marvelously scandalously tacky you are!

These are all tree decorations, mind you.

LOL

For your Christmas tree!

Unbelievable!

And just for fun, once more.

So that is the famous Cape May. Here are some pictures of the trip including the out-of-control delicious fattening breakfast we had. It was enough fat for a month!

My thoughts exactly. Street signs are so fascinating, they really point out the local surroundings. 

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high....there is a land that cooks manicotti and doesn't hang it on their Christmas tree. Somewhere over the rainbow, people use the bidet....and it really helps them especially on hot summer months.

An old motel. Old as in 80 years old. In Italy "old" hotels mean the 12th century...Can we please start building more resilient long-lasting buildings, America? Let's start with stone. The wise man built his house on the rock after all.

I give this million dollar listing two hurricanes before it comes down.