DAY 96-97: OCT 13-14 ~ NEW JERSEY
In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano makes landfall in this region. Henry Hudson claims the region for the Netherlands in 1609. In 1664 England seizes control of New Netherland, renaming it for the island of Jersey that lies in the English Channel. In 1776 George Washington crosses the Delaware to defeat the British at Trenton. In 1787 New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the US Constitution. In 1870 the boardwalk is invented in Atlantic City. In 1937 the Hindenburg crashes at Lakehurst. In 1998 the US Supreme Court rules that most of Ellis Island is in New Jersey. The population of New Jersey is 8,414,350 and is 7,417 square miles.
Other facts for NEW JERSEY are: Nickname; "Garden State", State Motto; "Liberty and Prosperity", Funny Motto; "What Smell?, State Flower; Purple Violet (1913), State Bird; eastern Goldfinch (1935); State Animal; Horse, and State Tree; Red Oak (1950).
We had to drive through New York to get to New Jersey. We will be spending a very short time in the Atlantic City area; only two nights and one day. So we will make the most of sightseeing. After 5 hours and 246 miles we arrived at Bakers Acres Campground in Little Egg Harbor.
BAKERS ACRES CAMPGROUND
This is a very large campground with about 300 sites. The place is dense with trees and the roads are narrow and all sand. The map clearly marks the roads, but the roads are narrow and blend in with the sites, it’s hard to find the road. All roads are one way and it is confusing as to which way the road goes. We actually got lost trying to find our way out. We did not even attempt to check out the rest of the campground as it really goes deep into the forest. We did see a lot of permanent trailers that were empty. It was a nice relaxing campground. However it is probably really crowded and busy during the summer.
LONG BEACH ISLAND
After we settled into our campsite we had a few hours left in the day so we drove over to Long Beach Island and looked for a place for dinner. We drove all the way to the point of the island to Barnegat Lighthouse to just take in the sights. This is a narrow strip of land with views of the beach on both sides of the main road. Most of the accesses to the beaches are private roads. There are a lot of “rich” looking homes on this strip; large and very beautiful. There was no traffic on the main road and the towns we drove through on the strip looked dead. These must be summer homes and most people who are seasonal have left. We found a place called The Plantation to have dinner. The food is pricy, but excellent! It was after 6pm when we walked out of the place and it was very foggy (pea soup thick), but it was warm. Around 68 degrees. The fog felt more like humidity than cold fog like San Francisco. And it was windy. You cold see the fog moving past you, but it was warm and sticky. Weird.
ATLANTIC CITY
Atlantic City is about a 30 minute drive from where we are staying. The “Queen of the Coast” emerged in the mid 1800’s as a popular seaside summer vacation playground. In the late 1900’s Atlantic City grew to become one of the hottest year-around gambling destinations in the East. This place is what Las Vegas is to the west coast. Except, Atlantic City is next to the ocean, where Las Vegas is out in the desert. The boardwalk alongside the casinos and hotels is a couple of miles long. We walked part of it. In between the casinos are shops and restaurants. Most of the shops are tacky souvenir shops and the restaurants are fast food places. The nicer shops and restaurants are inside of the casinos. We visited Caesar’s and Bally’s. In Caesar’s there is a large fountain where there is a light show every hour. We had walked upon that fountain just in time to see the show.
I was not impressed with the boardwalk area. It was very dirty, trashy, seedy and very uncomfortable. We walked out onto the beach a few times and when you looked back you could see under the boardwalk. It was full of trash. The homeless must hang out there. We saw some homeless wondering around the boardwalk. I also saw some vendors slipping trash in between the boards on the boardwalk. You can just imagine how much trash is underneath. I wonder how often they find dead bodies under the boardwalk. The area also smelled. Yuck. We will never return to this place. But now at least we can say “been there, done that”.
 |
| The Boardwalk from Caesar's |
Trivia note: Did you know that the original game “Monopoly” was based on actual streets in Atlantic City? Charles Darrow, the game inventor, had a fondness for childhood vacations spent in the beachside city. He originally called the game “The Landlords Game”. The game board reflects the actual condition of the real streets in Atlantic City with Boardwalk and Park Place being the nicest and most expensive and Mediterranean and Baltic being the slums. Atlantic City gladly embraces its Monopoly heritage and there are Monopoly landmarks, photos and plaques located throughout the city.
Next stop is Delaware. We will be spending two nights and one day here. This will be our very first visit in this state, and our first visit with the trailer; nine down, two to go.
Early explorations of our coastline were made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the sixteenth century, by Henry Hudson in 1609 under the auspices of the Dutch, by Samuel Argall in 1610, by Cornelius May in 1613, and by Cornelius Hendricksen in 1614. In 1631, 11 years after the landing of the English pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first white settlement was made on Delaware soil. December 7, 1787, whereby Delaware became "The First State" of the new Federal Union. Proud of this heritage, Delawareans continue to honor the traditions which made them the First State to ratify the United States Constitution, the document that continues to protect our nation's justice, strength, and liberty
Other facts for DELAWARE are: Nickname; “First State”, State Motto; “Liberty and Independence”, (funny); “Everything is Smaller Here!”, State Flower; Peach Blossom (1895), State Bird; Blue Hen Chicken (1939), State Tree; American Holly (1939), and State Gem; Sillimanite.
We drove to Cape May and took the ferry across Delaware Bay. The Delaware River flows into Delaware Bay and that bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The ride across the river takes about an hour. This is a small ferry and the car deck is open on both sides and you are allowed to wander that deck, stay in your car, or go up top. After 4 hours and 89 miles we arrived at Tall Pines Campground in Lewes, Delaware.
TALL PINES CAMPGROUND
This is not a campground, it’s a trailer park. It is huge with over 300 sites and 80% of the sites have either permanent or seasonal trailers parked on them. A lot of the trailers looked trashy. The roads wind through a forest of trees and the sites are odd shaped and every which way. There are no even, neat rows. None of the sites have sewage. There is a truck that comes around and pumps out the sewage tanks for all the permanent trailers. There is no internet at your site or cable TV. The shocker is the price overnighters are charged; $61. That is outrageous and you get nothing for that price. Most of the RV parks we have stayed at average $35 to $45.
LEWES
Historic Lewes is a small harbor town. We walked down 2nd street where all of the quaint shops are. These shops are great! No souvenir shops on this street. Good quality home décor, fine clothing (some very unusual and beautiful scarves, blouses, jackets, etc) and lots of Americana décor, beautiful jewelry and glass. We had lunch at a great place called the Buttery, a beautiful Victorian house converted to a restaurant.
REHOBOTH BEACH
Rehoboth is a short distance from Lewes. We drove down to the beach area and checked out the shops and boardwalk. Rehoboth Avenue is where most of the shops are. There are lots of souvenir shops; lots of T-shirts, shells, plastic lighthouses, etc. The restaurants are mostly fast food with lots of pizza places, hot dogs and French fries and many ice cream shops. Rehoboth Avenue ends at the beach and boardwalk.
Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk is another place similar to the Atlantic City Boardwalk, except there are no casinos. We walked the boardwalk for a short time. There were lots of shops and eateries along the boardwalk, but there was nothing different from the shops along Rehoboth Avenue. You wonder how they make money with so many shops with the same stuff and so many eateries serving the same foods. But with the crowds that must invade the area during the summer, you probably need all these places to support the hungry crowds. The beach along the boardwalk looked very inviting. It’s a wide beach with smooth clean sand. And the water looked enticing and relaxing. Although there were lots of signs warning of rip tides.
Tomorrow we leave the New England area and the east coast. We will turn westward and head for home. Twelve more days.
No comments:
Post a Comment