Another state!
Ship John Shoal Lighthouse
The crossing of Delaware Bay can be good or rough, but thankfully we had a great day. As we were prepared to leave at 7:30, Tim from the marina suggested we all stay until 9:30. So we waited. It would have been fine to leave but we just did the wait thing. As we left the Delaware River and entered the Delaware Bay I saw a big white cloud coming off the water which ended up to be a huge barge fire. It had been burning for hours when we were upon it. In the end the FDNY had to send a boat to help put out the fire. Chris Kelleher actually knew the guys on the fire boat that came.
Barge fire.
Not sure about the spelling of ship 💁
Arriving at Utsch's everyone has to bow in because it is so shallow. This made it a little tricky for us to get off the boat but we managed. We even had to deploy our secondary anchor on to the bulkhead because we were right under a little gazebo and didn't want to hit it. The marina is quite large and there are several gazebos around. They have a tackle and bait shop and sell fuel. When we checked in we were given a little goody bag. We have received these before from Oasis but this one had a bottle of wine, a bar of nice soap, and some biscotti. What a nice treat. The marina also give out the bathroom and laundry room key on a huge wooden lighthouse plaque. So you know who has a code brown (lol).
Diner at Lucky Bones.
Washington Street Mall.
Yes $25 !!!
There were several looper boats with us and more at the South Jersey Marina. We were all stuck here for almost a week. But we have to say it is better than being stuck at Deltaville. There were many things to do. The first night Jack and JoAnn from Jackpot, us, Chris, Mary and Skipper from Cashelmara, Kevin and Lisa from Skafos, and Dean and Janice from Blue Barnacle went to Lucky Bones. We all raved about our meals. (The mussels were amazing.) There is an Acme food store in the downtown area that had just about everything you need. There is also a liquor store there too. We spent some time walking around the Washington Street Mall, which had beautiful shops and nice restaurants. There was even a peanut butter store that had a 3.25 pound peanut butter cup. No, I didn't buy it, even though I thought about it.
Firehouse Museum.
I took many walks with Izzy through the area. Beautiful homes and a lot of them are vacation rentals. We stopped in a great store near the marina that sells boating gear and commercial level marine supplies. They even let Izzy in.
The Lobster House dinner.
One night we went to The Lobster House. Since we were going to be 12-14 people we had to get on line at 4:00 pm and they start seating at 4:30, They don't take reservations. We ended up 12 of us and waited online for the half hour. We all enjoyed the meal. The waitress was kind enough to do separate checks even though they don't like to on big parties. Jackpot, Cashelmara, Gemini, Skafos, Blue Barnacle and Pilar were seated together. The restaurant also has a back dining area to eat outside. There is also a fish market in the front with a great selection of seafood, soups, and desserts. After dinner we had some drinks on Jackpot and watched the Ranger game. Nice night.
Docktails.
Since there was a little gazebo near us docktails were organized several times. The first night docktails, it was pretty chilly so it didn't last long. Sunset, Next Chapter, Skafos, Jackpot, Cashelmara, us and Blue Barnacle all sat for about an hour. The second docktails was warmer and with different people. Next Chapter, Let Time Go Lightly, Mountain Mermaid, Skafos, us, The jackie B III, Dog House, See Life, Sunset and Blue Barnacle had some food and drinks on a nice night.
Fisherman's Memorial Statue
Hal and I rode our bikes a few days. We saw the Coast Guard Training Center and the Fisherman's Memorial Statue. We also went to see the Emlen Physick's Estate and wanted to take the tour but we arrived too late to take the last tour. Last tour was at 3:00 pm. So we went to the Washington Street mall again and rode around the neighborhood. Cape May is a good place for bike riding and walking.
Beautiful beaches at Cape May.
Since we kept extending our stay it was all dependent on the boats coming into the marina. We were fortunate that the boat coming to our slip canceled for Saturday night so we were able to stay. Skafos was also able to stay but had to moved slips. Unfortunately Cashelmara, Jackpot and Pilar had to find other marinas. Dog House, The Jackie B III and Mountain Mermaid came in that day.
After six nights though we were ready to go. We had been changing our reservations at Golden Nugget and were finally able to get there on Sunday.