When the second week is September comes and the Labor Day weekend is behind us, it is time for the NJ State Firemen’s Convention.
This was going to be a particularly long weekend for me as I was going to be extending my trip to include a series of visits to historical sites in Southern New Jersey to complete a blog on historical New Jersey. Most of these little sites are NEVER open.
My street was being ripped up with replacing the morning I left and with an 8:00am class, I decided to leave early for class and then leave for my mother’s right after my 11:00am class was over.
I had never planned a trip like D-Day before. The laundry had to be done, the house cleaned, the bills paid, the dishwasher run and I had a series of repair work being done around the house. Plus knowing I had to be out of the house early meant that I had to wake up at 4:00am to get out of the house then to work then to drive the four hour trip to my mother’s.
I was in the middle of perfecting my students resumes, which is always the toughest project in my class. It is a challenge every semester but worth it if it will help them get a job. So I had been extremely busy at work.
After my last class was over, I decided to get on the road and head down to Rehoboth Beach. As I passed my house on my way to the New Jersey Turnpike, I saw the workers completely ripping apart my street and thank God, I had left early.
It was a really nice day as I traveled to Delaware. I had planned on visiting a new museums in Bethany Beach before my ferry ride to Cape May the next day, so the trip would be more of a working business trip and vacation.
Because of my schedule with work and the holidays, I take my mother to dinner for her birthday on Convention weekend. It’s less rushed and we have a good time.
I got down the Rehoboth Beach about an hour before dinner and was able to relax a bit. My mother chose the restaurant, Harvest Tide in Lewes, DE for dinner, which I had been before and enjoyed.
The Harvest Tide at 410 East Savannah Road in Lewes, DE
The food was excellent and we all enjoyed our dinner. I started with a delicious Caesar Salad with fresh greens and a homemade dressing.
The Caesar Salad at the Harvest Tide
For my main meal, I had the Lobster Pasta, which was excellent. The pasta was perfectly cooked and was loaded with pieces of sweet lobster in a light cream sauce.
The Lobster Pasta
For dessert, I treated myself to a giant piece of their Ten Layer Cake. I forgot how big these slices were and I just about finished it.
The Ten Layer Cake at the Harvest Tide is a treat
I was a very laid back evening and we had a nice time catching up. It was going to be a quick trip this time and I had to be in Bethany Beach at 11:00am the next morning so I had to be out the door early. I slept like the dead that night.
The next day over breakfast, my mother and I spent the morning catching up and laughing at past holidays. It was a really nice overnight stay and it was fun to have that time together.
I left after breakfast and headed to my appointment at the Dinker-Irvin House Museum in Bethany Beach. Who knew the whole morning would be spent visiting cultural sites in Bethany Beach.
The Dinker-Irvin House Museum in Bethany Beach
The front of the Dinker-Irvin House at 318 Garfield Parkway
I toured the house and the grounds with members of the Board and they gave me the full history of the house and its place in Bethany Beach. It really is an excellent little museum representing town history.
The history of the shore
The shore kitchen with some of the original items
The front gallery of antiques
The museum was really unique and the Historical Society does a nice job displaying and interpreting all them.
After my tour was over, I had plenty of time before taking the ferry over to Cape May, so I visited both Bethany Beach History Museum and the Bethany Beach Nature Center. I did not know that either of them even existed.
The museum is located in the main floor of Bethany Beach City Hall. It has some interesting displays on the towns’s history. There are also displays on artifacts from different aspects of the town’s past.
The displays of the museum and shelves of artifacts
The displays of town artifacts on display
The main exhibition was the history of their Life Guard Squad
After I finished up in the two museum’s, I walked a bit of their downtown and saw the statue of Little Owl at the entrance to downtown.
The statue of Little Owl at the beginning of the Bethany Beach downtown
After that tour, I visited the Bethany Beach Nature Center. The center consisted of the main building which was a historical home and then the gardens and grounds.
The inside of the Nature Center there were all sorts of displays on turtles and fish and tables for students for games and drawings. The real draw are the gardens and nature trails in the back of the building.
The entrance to the Baldwin Trails
The entrance to the gardens
The gardens in full bloom
The back trails led to the marshes and to the wooded areas. The views were breathtaking.
The back pathways to the marshes
Looking over the watering hole
To end my tour of the Nature Center, I toured the front gardens of the building which had a Butterfly Rain Garden.
Part of the Rain Gardens
I was touring the garden when a Monarch Butterfly flew in and landed on a flower. It would not open up and I wanted to take a picture of it so I yelled at him to open his wings so I could take a picture. He did!
The butterfly landing in the garden. I yelled at him to open his wings for a picture.
The butterfly must have heard me and opened up his beautiful wings
After I took the picture, I showed it to him and he flew away. Everyone is a critic! Still, it was a beautiful butterfly.
I really had a nice time not just visiting the Nature Center, but the other two museum’s as well. I could not believe all these hidden gems in such a small town of Bethany Beach. They really have a nice selection of museums and cultural sites for such a small town.
Before I headed to the ferry to Cape May, I stopped in Ocean View to visit their Historical Village. This tiny historical street of had many historical buildings but the complex was closed so I just took some pictures around the neighborhood, stopped at an antique store across the street and then headed to the ferry.
The sign for Historic Village in Ocean View at 40 West Avenue in Oceanview, NJ
The historic buildings on the edge of the property
Ocean View Park in the summer of 2025
What I love about the Cape May-Lewis Ferry on a nice day is the ferry complex on the Lewis side has some nice restaurants that are partially outdoors and on a calm day, the views are amazing. Because the waters were so calm, we got over to Cape May fifteen minutes early and that meant I could check into my room by 5:00pm and relax.
Checking out the snack bar on the ferry on the trip to Cape May
I got to the Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May in a half hour and checked in. The hotel was preparing for that night’s entertainment which was ‘The Ramble’, a local group who performs there every Thursday night during the warmer months
My room for the next four nights was a tiny room on the second floor with a shared bathroom, perfect for someone who is never in his room.
Parts of the Chalfonte Hotel look like the ‘Overlook Hotel’ in ‘The Shining’
My home away from home for the next four days
I rolled into bed and had a long nap before ‘The Ramble’ started. When I woke up later, the crowds had swelled all over the front lawn and street and they closed the side streets off as well. I never saw crowds like this before for the concert.
Joining the rest of the crowd for the weekly ‘Ramble’ on the Chalfonte Hotel porch
Part of ‘The Ramble’ concert that evening
The Ramble on the porch of the Chalfonte Hotel
The concert on the porch
After the Ramble was over, I walked into downtown Cape May for dinner. This particular weekend was all about the pictures. I had to go back in time and retake pictures of all the meals and places I had been to on previous trips to update older blogs. So on top on my duties for the fire service, I would be working to update all my older blogs.
So all my meals and museum visits my this a ‘working vacation’ on top of visiting new places to add to the treasure trove of great hidden spots to visit.
I would be having several meals at the Ugly Mug and Uncle Bill’s in Cape May and the Ravioli House in Wildwood. I even stayed an extra day in Cape May to complete my pictures with breakfast at the Magnolia Room dining on the porch.
My return meal at the Ugly Mug at 426 Washington Street in the Washington Mall was a favorite of mine and a specialty of their’s, the Cheesesteak.
I sat at the bar watching the Mets and Philly fans duke it out watching the playoff game. Even though we are all from New Jersey, you see the difference once you pass Long Beach Island. South Jersey is all about Philly not New York.
The inside of the Ugly Mug’s bar area
I just ordered my Cheesesteak and sat back and relaxed and enjoyed my meal and my time off. It was fun watching the exchange from people from North and South Jersey and see how the alliances change at the border of Hunterdon County.
Now this is a Cheesesteak!
You can not get this in North Jersey
It was a nice evening talking with the bartender and watching a game I couldn’t care less about. After dinner was over, I worked off dinner by walking around the Washington Mall and walking by the beach. The weather the whole weekend was amazing and we had sunny days everyday.
The beaches of Cape May are amazing at night
After a good night’s rest, it was off to the Convention meetings. Our meetings don’t start until 10:00am, so there is enough time for a good breakfast. That meant two mornings at Uncle Bill’s.
Uncle Bill’s Pancake House in Cape May at 261 Beach Avenue
I love coming to Uncle Bill’s. The service is always so friendly and the food wonderful. This weekend was about the picture and I was eating the meals of the past that I needed photos of for past blogs so that meant ordering the French Toast special (I so hate my job as a travel blogger).
The French Toast special at Uncle Bill’s
The French Toast and Sausage here should not be missed
After a good breakfast and walk back to the hotel, I headed to Wildwood for the first day of meetings. It was a spectacular sunny day and since I got there so early, it gave me the opportunity to walk on the boardwalk and get some ocean air before our first meeting.
Walking on the Wildwood Boardwalk before the morning meetings
The Wildwood Boardwalk would not look like this for long
The first day of meetings for the NJ Jersey Firemen’s Convention is full of pump and circumstance, but with 9/11 being the first day of the Convention, we respected our Brothers who gave their lives that terrible day. There was a lot of emotion in the Convention Hall as a lot of these members are of the age where a lot of them volunteered in New York to assist and still have lingering health issues.
While it is a somber time for firefighters when we remember the 24th Anniversary of 9/11 we still have to carry on the traditions of the fire service. Time has a way of marching on and while we remember our fellow brothers with dignity and respect, we can only honor them by continuing our craft and building on the things that made them successful at their jobs. So delegates from all over the State of New Jersey met from September 11th to the 13th for the annual NJ State Firefighters.
Getting to the Wildwood Convention Hall early
I am starting to see some of the same faces over and over again as I have been attending these meetings. What I am beginning to notice is that the crowd is getting older and thinning out. The younger firefighters don’t seem to be taking over from their predecessors. The average age of the people in that room had to be at least 45 years old.
Still we carry on with our mission of making the first service the best it can be. This means a lot is going on the State organization. We started the morning out with the Bergen County Pipe & Drum performing with the Wildwood Fire Department’s Color Guard.
We stand for the performance
The performance as they entered the Convention Center
Then the welcome from the Executive Team to the Convention started. If you ever want to see a prouder group of Americans it is fire fighters. When do the Pledge of Alliance, you never saw a whole convention center do it in unison. That is where I am very proud of being a firefighter. Is the dedication these men and women give to their communities that mantle people do not appreciate.
After the initial introductions and welcome, the Pipe & Drum and the Color Guard left. It’s pomp and circumstance when they leave as well.
The closing ballad before they left the Convention Center
It was an afternoon of business talking on current issues of the fire service and items that we were dealing with the state. There were many bills on the Governor’s desk to be signed and line items we were fighting for our membership. There would be a lot of State and local issues to vote on the next day.
After the first day of meetings were over withI had to travel around Cape May County to visit various cultural sites and revisit farms for my picture taking mission. The first place I visited was the Sam Azeez Museum in Woodbine, NJ.
Touring the fire equipment displays at the Convention after the first meeting
During my four day stay in Cape May, I had appointments to see many historical sites that are normally never open or open at specific times where I can never visit. So I either made appointments to meet people or set my schedule to meet with the precious hours these places were open. I planned this trip like D-Day. You had to hit each spot at a specific time or else the window closed.
The Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage at 360 Washington Avenue in Woodbine, NJ
The Sam Azeez Museum is a look at the Jewish community that was established well heeled Jewish businessman that established for new immigrants. They built a successful community assimilated the population to become Americans.
The history of the Jewish community in Woodbine, NJ
The museum was an interesting look at the successes and failures of the community but the museum shows a community that keeps changing. I thought this was fascinating that a community like this once existed.
There is a synagogue on the second floor
The Americanization of children through baseball
I thought this was a fascinating museum because the museum itself does not tell this story in its website. It is such an interesting look at a community and it asks the question ‘how do you become an American?’ It is a rich history that most of New Jersey does not know.
A self sustaining community
The new Americans playing America’s past time
After I returned from my tour of the museum from Woodbine, I relaxed and walked along the beach near the hotel. We really lucked out with the weather that weekend and it was sunny and clear. It was starting to cool down a bit but it was still nice to be outside at night.
Meals on this weekend trip were all about the pictures so I headed to The Ravioli House at 102 East Bennett Avenue in Downtown Wildwood, NJ for dinner. This is my favorite place during the Convention to eat and is one of my popular sites on my blog, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com.
I was here so many times without a cellphone to take pictures of all the wonderful dishes that I had eaten and this weekend I was going to have them again. This is when my job gets tough!
I always enjoy seeing the owners daughter when I walk in. She is always in the same spot greeting people. I get one of the booths in the back and stretch out. I got there a little late so it was just starting to wind down. The service is always excellent so I got my food pretty quickly.
Tonight I had the dinner I had five years ago, the Manicotti with homemade meatballs with a fresh salad. It was just as delicious as I remembered.
The start of the meal is a fresh green salad with their homemade Creamy Italian dressing and the freshly baked bread
The fresh salad is always a treat
The freshly baked bread makes it is easy to devour a few baskets
The entree was excellent and all the pastas, sauces and meatballs are made in house. You can taste the quality.
The Manicotti with meatballs was excellent and I love their red sauce
The homemade meatballs should not be missed
The meal was incredible and I topped it off with a St. Joseph pastry with vanilla cream. It was from their pastry shop and was wonderful (see my review on TripAdvisor and LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com).
My dessert, the St. Joseph pastry
All the desserts are baked in house
After the amazing dinner, the restaurant was closing for the evening and I needed to work off dinner so I parked closer to the Wildwood Boardwalk and walked the length of it back and forth. I was so surprised that on the first night of the Convention it was so quiet. Many businesses were still open that evening to very little crowds. I think the merchants were surprised by this as well. When I got back to the hotel, I slept like the dead.
We did not have to be at the Convention Center to vote until 9:00am, so I could sleep in a bit. I planned breakfast on the Boardwalk so I was fine either way time. It was a beautiful sunny morning and I got up to blue skies and warm weather.
The Chalfonte Hotel in the morning
The Magnolia Room set up on the porch in the mornings. I would find here my last morning at the hotel.
I got on my way to Wildwood for voting and then breakfast. When I got to the bridge to get to Wildwood, I had to stop as a boat was passing by and I got the best pictures taken.
Getting to the bridge
The marshes
The boat was coming
The boat passed by so gracefully
The boat passed by so gracefully like in the movies
It only took a few minutes but I thought it was one of the most enjoyable things to watch in the morning. In this age of rushing around, something so simple as this could be so much fun to watch.
I got to the Convention Center, voted, signed in and talked with some other delegates. Then we were done with our meetings for the day and I left for breakfast to my favorite spot on the Boardwalk, Franconi’s Pizzeria at 3318 Boardwalk. All meals are excellent at Franconi’s.
My breakfast was amazing! Biscuits with Sausage Gravy, Hashbrowns and a homemade Cinnamon Twist (they did not get the Cinnamon rolls that morning). This feast was my breakfast and lunch for the day.
Don’t miss these decadent Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
The Cinnamon twist is not on the menu but the owners daughter made it special for me because there were no cinnamon rolls. What a delicious treat and I highly recommend ordering it!
After a meal like that and Voting over, I had to walk the Boardwalk again just to work some of it off.
The Boardwalk got busy after Voting was over
The weather was fantastic that morning and the amusement piers would be opening later that evening
There were many museums and cultural sites I would be visiting in the area and I did not want to spend my entire morning on the Boardwalk, so off I went again visiting museums. My first stop was just off the Boardwalk at the Doo Wop Preservation League Museum at 4500 Ocean Avenue.
The Doo Wop Preservation League Museum at 4500 Boardwalk
This unique little museum unfortunately gets drowned out by the fire department displays and beer garden and people really don’t appreciate it for what it is, a glimpse of Wildwood’s Motel past that is quickly disappearing in the wake of the real estate boom and gentrification. I don’t give the remaining motels more than five years before they all sell out.
The museum is bright and shiny
The museum shows the progress made after WWII and the optimism of the electric age after the war with foreign travel part of a dialogue that most people could not afford yet but wished to attain. So these motels brought that to them. As the era passed, these relics show the progress we had made and then what we left behind. I think it is one of the most clever small museums I have visited down the shore.
While searching for the Cape May Maritime Museum (which does not exist except in some of the members wanting for a physical space), I came across the Garrett Family Preserve, which was a large wetland preserve just outside Cape May proper.
The Garrett Family Preserve at 801 Wilson Street in Cape May Creek
The Preserve is acres of wetlands that is refuge for birds, butterflies and wetland creatures.
The Butterfly sculpture at the end of the paths
When you enter the Preserve, you have the option to follow several paths that take you through the woods, the wetlands or down paths of wildflowers. It was unfortunate that it had not rained in a month and the preserve was very dry.
The sign had said in the Spring that the preserve was alive with colors of flowers. Still it offers a glimpse into the mating areas and refuge for these insects and birds on the path to warmer climates.
Searching for the Maritime Museum, which will have a physical building in the future the President of the organization assured me when he called me later that afternoon, I headed back to Cape May to walk along the beach after a long day of meetings and cultural visits.
The beaches were busy on this warm late summer evening
It was a beautiful afternoon just walking the shoreline trying to get my mind off everything
Please join me for my walk at the shore
The views of walking that Cspe May shoreline
I am never sure where these tubes come from
The shore works its own magic
The view on the Boardwalk at Cape May Beach
It was still early in the evening so I decided to head to Sunset Beach in West Cape May and watch the sunset before going to dinner. That is always a treat to watch!
Sunset Beach in West Cape May arc502 Sunset Boulevard
There is nothing more beautiful on a clear night than seeing the sunset before set on this beach. The crowds were huge. Being Convention weekend, people were packed all over the place. I had to park about a mile up so that I could drive back out.
The restaurant that had once been a simple snack shop and was now a higher end restaurant with views of the bay and that did not help the parking situation. The crowds a families set up blankets and chairs all over the beach and then we stood back and let the magic take place.
Going
Going
Going
Going
Going
Gone
Gone
Then all the beautiful colors of the sun
The beauty of the sun set
I set on the beach with the locals while everyone else fought to get out of the parking lot and headed back to Cape May for dinner. It was such a spectacular night.
The Washington Street Mall was packed with people that night. With the Convention meeting now over, many fire companies were having their get togethers that night. A lot of the older firefighter couples though I could see opted for a quieter night strolling the Mall.
On the third night of my dining picture taking it was back to the Ugly Mug for dinner and for the elusive Bacon Barbecue Cheese Burger (dinner four years ago).
My dinner at the Ugly Mug, the Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger (and yes, it is as delicious as it looks)
After the wonderful dinner, I took a long walk along the Mall, the Boardwalk and beaches to work the dinner off. What spectacular views of the town.
The Washington Mall later that evening
I went back to the room and slept soundly as I had a long day of work ahead of me. After the Convention was over, I had arranged an extensive day of touring with members of the Board of the Upper Cape May Township Historical Society to tour all three of their historic sites, the Gandy Farmstead, the Friendship School and the Tuckahoe Train Station, plus an additional tour of the Endicott-Reardon Family Museum. It would be a long day.
Waking up to the sun the next morning
When I woke up the next morning and checked my schedule for the morning and afternoon, and then checked the weather report, I decided to extend my stay in Cape May one more night.
I arranged for the additional night and walked down to Uncle Bill’s Pancake House for the second day of picture dining. It was another sunny afternoon and I was going to need a lot of energy. I ordered an Omelet with a side of sausages, potatoes and rye toast (breakfast from Christmas time 2021). The breakfast was excellent.
The omelet with potatoes and sausage
The breakfasts here are amazing!
You can create two breakfasts from the meal
On the way back to the hotel, I had to walk along the shore just to work some of breakfast off before my roadtrip. They give you so much.
It was a beautiful morning and a perfect shore day
God creates these beautiful days for us to enjoy
After my walk, it was time to meet the Board Members of the Upper Township of Cape May Historical Society at the Gandy Farmstead, my first historical stop.
The Gandy Farmstead at 26 Tyler Road in Oceanview, NJ
I was met by two of the Board member who had just arrived and we did an extensive tour of the house, the outer building and the grounds.
The first floor kitchen, storage and wash area of the house
The kitchen and heating area of the house
The second door bedroom
The attic loft area
We then took a tour of the grounds that included the well, the smokehouse, the outhouse and extensive tour of the barns. The organization did a nice job preserving the integrity of the home and life at that time period.
The back part of the grounds with the various buildings
We did an extensive tour and discussion of each building (you can see the full tour on my blog VisitingaMuseum.com). The barn was the most interesting.
The barn on the Gandy Farmstead
The inside of the barn
The inside of the barn
The tour was really nice and what an interesting home. The displays were so well organized and laid out. Each of the buildings told their own story.
The grape arbor behind the house
We discussed the Gandy family whose ancestors live across the street and who had donated the home a grounds to the committee. We also discussed to upcoming “Apple Festival coming up in two weeks.
Please read my blog on the Gandy Farmstead Apple Festival:
After the full tour of the house and grounds, we headed to the Friendship School down the road and up the highway from the homestead. Another fascinating look at the areas past.
The school just showed me how things have not changed in over a hundred years.
The front of the Friendship School
The school has the most interesting look both inside and out. You see the way students lived and learned at the turn of the last century.
The old water pump outside the school for classroom use
The classroom reflects education of the various levels of students between the ages of Kindergarten and High School.
The classroom set up is still similar to today
Instead of computers and laptops they used slates, chalk and books
The Friendship School showed how much we have progressed in education but it also has stayed the same. The ladies explained to me that the school is open at certain times of the year to show children how the classroom still reflects its main purpose, to learn and to educate.
The Outhouse
On my way to the last historic site on the Historical Society’s list, the ladies took me to the Frog Hollow Bakery for the most mindblowingly delicious doughnuts.
The Frog Hollow Bakery at 140 NJ 50 in Ocean View, NJ
We just stopped in for a doughnut and I tasted on of the best fried sugar doughnuts I had had in a long time. Everything on the counter was made from scratch and looked so good.
The delicious looking buttery breads and cakes inside of the bakery
Do not leave this bakery until you have tried one of their fried sugary doughnuts
This is such a unique and wonderful little bakery. It has a nice selection of not just baked goods but a gift items and produce.
The next historical site I visited was the Tuckahoe Train Station in Tuckahoe, NJ. This Victorian structure was once the hub of shore transportation. Now it houses all its treasures of the past.
The Tuckahoe Train Station at Railroad and Market Street in Tuckahoe, NJ
The Board member who met me at the museum was an expert on the station and gave a very in-depth tour of both the inside and outside of the station.
The old Waiting Room and Gift shop
Most railroad museums I have visited in the past have been dark and dusty but the Tuckahoe Station, which is brightly lit, beautifully organized and has engaging displays.
Each display case showed a different aspect of life on the rail system from arrival to departure
We toured both floors of the station which showed not just the life of passengers coming to and from the shore but the life of the station manager. It was a very demanding job where you have to wear many hats.
The room of the station manager on the second floor
The station manager’s office
We then toured the Baggage Room and Receiving Room
Each room built on the other showed the day of the passengers as they arrived at the station with their luggage and then had to be transported to their destination at the shore.
Then we toured the outside rail yard where many of the old train cars are being or have been restored. We discussed train travel with some lines being very luxurious for the time and others just regular transportation.
The outside rail yard on the old tracks
The Blue Comet railcar was once the ultimate in luxury travel to the shore
The last place we toured in the complex was the Repair and Transport building next to the rails. This is where everything was maintained at the depot.
The Repair Shop
The station stop at the end of the tour
I was really impressed by the Tuckahoe Station with such an interesting and thorough tour. I could not believe almost two hours went by. I said my thank you and sang my praise of how organized and fascinating the museum was to tour.
My last museum tour of the day was the Endicott-Reardon Family museum at 3036 Shore Road in Ocean View,NJ. This brand new museum houses the artifacts of both sides of Endicott and Reardon families.
The front of the Endicott-Reardon Family Museum at 3039 Shore Road
The beauty of the museum is that the last direct family descendant never threw anything out and carefully organized things for years anticipating that she wanted to open a museum. It is a fascinating look at the life of an Upper Middle class family from the turn of the last century to today.
The beauty of the museum is that the last direct family descendant never threw anything out and carefully organized things for years anticipating that she wanted to open a museum. It is a fascinating look at the life of an Upper Middle class family from the turn of the last century to today.
The inside of the museum and its extensive collection of family artifacts
The curator of the museum met me in the late afternoon for the tour. Instead of a musty house, this recently built museum is bright and airy and the well lit displays showcase the collections. Each section of the museum is broken down by collection and life style.
The family artifacts at the entrance of the museum
The Living Room set up
The bedroom set up
The Dining Room set up
The Founder’s Doll Collection
The founder of the collection even had a collection of dolls and toys she loved and the display was replicated in the museum with all the original toys.
The founder as a little girl in her bedroom
The exact replica of the picture with all the original toys
Family items from father and uncles
What amazed me about the museum was how meticulous the owner kept all the family items including everyday items like irons and dishes. The woman never threw anything out.
Everything from her childhood into adulthood had been carefully documented and preserved much to the benefit of us the visitors. We get a glimpse into the life of an Upper Middle class family at the turn of the last century. I thought this was fascinating and for people interested in history, it is a nice museum to visit.
After my tour I talked with the curator and thanked her for all her time and promised a wonderful write up (please read my blog on all these museums). Then I headed back to Cape May
On my way back I stopped at an ice cream stand that had become part of my tradition on my trips, the Icd Cream Station at 809 US 9 in Cape May Courthouse. The ice creams are all made in house and are delicious.
The ice cream here is amazing. It is so dense, rich and creamy. It is a lot of fun to just sit in the courtyard and just relax.
The courtyard of the Ice Cream
The Cookies and Cream and Moose Trakes ice cream
The delicious selection of ice creams
The props of the property that you can eat at and climb
I love coming here for a snack. The name has changed twice over the years but quality of the ice cream has stayed the same. Consistently delicious.
I headed back to the hotel to relax for a while before dinner. I had never crammed so much into one weekend when attending the Convention while answering emails for work each night for my students. I went from morning to night.
I returned to the Ravioli House that night for dinner again for another night of picture taking. This time dining on a dinner that I ate four years earlier. I love doing this type of research.
The meal started off with an order of homemade Fried Mozzarella, which was served with their delicious red sauce. They looked like fancy fried mozzarella sticks. They were excellent. Gooey and stringy at the same time.
The Fried Mozzarella
Then a crisp salad, which I always enjoy with their homemade dressing.
The house salad with Creamy Italian dressing
For dinner I ordered a dish the I have enjoyed here twice before, the homemade Linguini with Bolognese sauce. Talk about a wonderful dinner. The rich combination of freshly chopped meats and tomatoes is excellent. I never have a bad meal here!
The pasta is delicious
The dinner was excellent
For dessert I indulged the Pastry shop next door and enjoyed a Delishioso cookie. This is a short bread cookie filled with hazelnut filling.
The Pastry shop at the Ravioli House
The assorted cakes and pastries to choose from in the case
The inside of the pastry shop
My dessert, the Delishioso cookie
This sweet indulgence is two buttery shortbread cookies with hazelnut filling and rolled in chopped hazelnuts
What a sweet treat!
After a day of running around for both jobs, I decided to extend my stay by one night. I was so tired from all the driving and touring and trying to cram everything into one trip, I went back to my room and had the best nights sleep in a long time.
The next morning I had a relaxing breakfast at the Magnolia Room, the Chalfonte Hotel’s restaurant. It was such a nice warm sunny morning, that I ate out on the porch. It was nice to sit back and relax and do nothing.
The Chalfonte Hotel my last morning
The inside of the Magnolia Room set up for breakfast
Dining on the porch is what you want to do when the weather is warm. The views are wonderful and it is so relaxing.
The views from the porch at breakfast
Admiring the views at breakfast
My breakfast, the Chalfonte Breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast
The breakfast at the Magnolia Room are excellent
Went back up to my room to relax for a bit before check out. I had a long trip home and decided this time to take it easy and not rush back. I decided to follow the shore towns up and make stops at places I wanted to visit again. Getting myself motivated after a relaxing night and morning was tough.
Checking out of my room late the next morning
I left Cape May later that morning and heading up the shore highway with a stop in Stone Harbor first. I took my time and took various stops along the highway to take pictures.
The marshes along the highway to Stone Harbor, NJ
The lone fisherman in the early morning
The views of the coastline
The view of the marshes
The marshes in Stone Harbor
When I got into Stone Harbor, I tried to see if the historic Life Guard station was open but it was closed for the season. That is when I came across the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary. I must have passed this dozens of times over the years and did not know what it was.
The entrance to the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary at 11400 Third Avenue in Stone Harbor, NJ
I toured the main path through the park and got lost in walking through the woods which drowned out traffic and all you could hear was the birds chirping. It was a quiet and peaceful walk admiring the woods and the sounds of nature around me.
The entrance to the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary
Walking through the woods hearing nature
The woods were beautiful in the late Summer
The outside of the park on a early Sunday morning
I continued up the coastal highway to my last stop on my way home. I decided to stop in Margaret, NJ to visit Lucy, the Elephant. I had not visited this famous structure in years and I wanted to update my pictures.
Lucy the Elephant at 9200 Atlantic Avenue in Margate, NJ
The weather was so nice that we were able to tour the whole elephant and the nice part about the tour was that it was just myself and the tour guide. Items great to visit here on Mondays when it is quiet.
Heading up the stairs
The belly of Lucy
The inside of Lucy was once real estate offices
The tour guide explained to me that the elephant was used to attract real estate buyers of shore land back at the turn of the last century. The structure had through many owners before it fell into disrepair after WWII. The effort to ‘Save Lucy‘ became the battle cry of the community much to the benefit of all future visitors. The elephant needs constant maintenance and visitors are how it benefits the community.
The view from the top of the Huto
The view from the Huto of the ocean
The view of the City of Margate, NJ
Lucy the Elephant from the parking lot
After the tour was over, I had a wonderful conversation with my tour guide about her going to high school in Atlantic City. Those battle scars were interesting to talk about.After I left , I went to explore downtown Margate and see if the Margate Historical Society was open. It was closed for the afternoon.
The Margate Historical Society at 1 South Washington Avenue
The museum has limited hours and was not open that day. So I had lunch and headed home.
Between my work for the fire department and my work on my travel and dining blogs, it was an extremely productive weekend. There will be more of this area to explore in the future.
I could not believe how much of the shore I covered for my travel blog and was still contributing to the future of the fire service. We have to do what we need to do to promote the great State of New Jersey.
While I was searching for the Cape May Maritime Museum, I made a detour into a parking lot and came across the Garrett Family Preserve
The sign that welcomes you to the park
Visiting the Preserve:
(from the Cape May Visitor website)
The Nature Conservancy protects the 180-acre Garrett Family Preserve situated between Seashore Road and Cape Island Creek, offering a tranquil setting for walking, picnics, painting, biking, and observing nature.
The preserve offers six trails ranging from 0.2-0.5 miles in length, and a two-mile perimeter loop along the forested edge–four miles in total. Explore year-round on foot or by bicycle. Sights vary by season, with bird migration peaking in the spring and fall, and the wildflower field blooming from May through July. Beginning in late August into the fall, Monarch butterflies stop here to feed before their journey south.
Preserve amenities include a mobile bird blind, welcome kiosk, shaded pavilion with picnic tables, benches and picnic tables along the trails, and three adjustable art easels. From November 1st to March 1st, leashed dogs are welcome. Because this is a preserve, the Nature Conservancy does not provide trash receptacles. Be sure to take anything you’ve brought with you.
The size of the preserve
The history of the Garrett Family
History of the Preserve:
(From the Nature Conservatory website)
Originally slated for development, TNC acquired the property in 2000, as the preserve offered an unusual opportunity to manage a significant piece of land for migratory songbirds, whose stopover habitat, especially at the southern tip of the peninsula, has been all but wiped out.
In 2013, the generosity of the Garrett family enabled TNC to further protect Cape Island Creek for future generations by acquiring crucial land, improving and stewarding habitat, performing coastal research and installing enhanced visitor amenities.
After reading some of the history of the preserve, I decided to take a walk down the paths. I ended up walking down several paths that took me through woods and many natural gardens. I could see by how dry everything was how the lack of rain was affecting the preserve.
The pathways leading to different parts of the preserve
Following the pathways through the preserve
My first stop was the picnic area and rest stop
The Insect Hotel
The Insect Hotel
The description of the insect hotel
I thought this was an interesting concept of creating a place for insects to have a breather. It is a place of reproduction and in helping pollinate the preserve.
The fields of plants and wildflowers that make up the preserve
The flowering plants and wildflowers in the fields
Each of the paths took me through different parts of the preserve that were wooded or with meadows or an array of wildflowers that attracted birds, butterflies and bees.
The batches of wildflowers in the meadow
The Salt Marsh part of the Preserve was filled with more wildflowers that had bees and butterflies swarming them.
The Salt Marsh Habitat
The sign for the Salt Marsh Habitat
The the pathways though the meadows
The fields of flowers and plants in the marsh area
Th e next section of the preserve I visited was the Wildflower Meadows
The Wildflower Meadows in the late summer
The Wildflower Meadows paths
As I left this part of the preserve, I took many paths around the park lands. There are all sorts of fields of flowers and woods to shade the way during touring the preserve.
Going on the different trails throughout the preserve
I walked down the paths to the Bird Habitat area
The golden rod flowers attract all sorts of bees and butterflies
Flowering Honey Suckle
Beautiful flowering plants in the woods area
The colorful paths of flowers that lined the Bird Sanctuary
This all led to the end of the trails and a wrap up of how the pollinators work. How the plants, insects and birds play a role in nature.
The last thing I saw at the preserve was this butterfly sculpture by the parking lot
The history of the Garrett family
The park changes its complexity with each season. What I noticed at the end of the summer with no rain is how dry the fields were and the trees were changing colors early because the lack of moisture.
It will be interesting to see the preserve in the Spring and early Summer in the future. It was a nice walk through the preserve.
Sunset Beach in all its glory in the summer of 2023.
Sunset Beach is a marvelous place to visit for sunset
Sunset Beach in Cape May, NJ is one of the most beautiful beaches in American and is ranked 24# on TripAdvisor as one of the breathtaking beaches to visit. The beach site in Lower Township in Cape May and is at the very end of Sunset Boulevard which is a direct run from downtown Cape May.
One both sides of the parking lot, there are gift shops and a small café grill. These have limited hours after Labor Day Weekend. The grill is closed after the holiday weekend but sometimes stays open depending on the weather after the Labor Day weekend.
The beach is amazing as you can see the pleasure boats in the distance coming in and out of the small harbor just north of the beach.
The Sunset Beach is really beautiful in the off season when not a lot of people are there
The Start of the Sunset in December 2022
Looking out into Delaware Bay is quite spectacular with its moving waves and the way it glitters in the sun. In the warmer months, it is just nice to walk along the shore and watch the birds. In the winter months, the breezes get to be too much and a short visit is nicer.
The beginning of the sunset
Any time of the year though, make sure to be here for sunset and that is when the beach works it beautiful natural magic.
The setting of the sun
The sun disappearing in the horizon
The sun disappearing
At sunset you will see an array of colors with the sun setting in the distance. The last time I visited the beach in September, it was a combination of oranges, purples and blues as the sun set. The lower the sun the more brilliant the colors. They become more complex as the sun gets lower.
The final sunset
Sunset Beachat various times of the year:
The best part of the view is that it is played out on the large stage. It covers the whole sky and it looks like the sun is going to sleep in the bay. You can almost touch it. Each night when the sun sets its a different color in the rainbow in the sky. The backdrop of the small stone formations and the SS Atlantus Concrete Ship make it more dramatic.
SS Atlantus Concrete Ship
Whenever you are in Cape May, try to finish your dinner early and then watch Mother Nature work her magic by the shoreline. It is an experience that should not be missed. Please try to arrive about an hour before sunset to get a space in the parking lot. It is the most spectacular site at anytime of the year.
Sunset Beach area:
The SS Atlantus Concrete Ship:
The SS Atlantus Concrete Ship was built and launched in 1918, just after World War I had ended as a trans-Atlantic steamer to return troops from Europe to home. After being decommissioned in 1926, she was purchased along with two other ships to create a ferry dock for ferries from Cape May to Delaware. The plans were later shelved as she ran aground in a storm along Sunset Beach and could not be freed.
Flag Lowering Ceremony:
The Evening Flag Ceremony held every night at sunset between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The lowering of the American flag at sunset is a 40-year-old tradition. All of the flags that are flown at the flag ceremony are veteran’s caskets flags that families being with them from their loved one’s funeral. The ceremony includes the Pledge of Allegiance, the ‘Stat-Spangled Banner’ and a recording of Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America”.
The beautiful summer sunset in 2023.
Cape May Diamonds:
While taking a stroll along the beach, look out for Cape May ‘Diamonds’. These are small pieces of quartz crystal found in the sand that are washed from the bay. You can find Cape May diamond jewelry in the gift stores at the beach.
(NJ Leisure Guide)
Sunset Beach
Disclaimer: This information was taken from the NJ Leisure Guide and I give their writer full credit for it. The beach is open all year around but it is the best in the warmer months. Don’t miss this spectacular view at sunset.
Visiting again in 2025:
When I came in the Summer of 2025, for the Firemen’s Convention, that Saturday evening I came on the most spectacular sunny evening and the beach was packed.
Sunset Beach in the summer of 2025
I loved the sailboat in the distance
The beach was crowded with people
Then the sun started to set and the magic began. It was such a clear night it was perfect to see the sun set with no cloud interference.
The setting of the sun at 7:00pm
People getting the birds-eye view of the setting sun
While I was at Sunset Beach, I took a series of videos when the sun was setting to share with all the readers. You really must visit Sunset Beach to experience the beauty and the gracefulness of Mother Nature at her best. Until then, I hope everyone enjoys these videos of the setting of the sun in Delaware Bay.
The pictures and videos of the setting of the sun at Sunset Beach:
The Halloween decorations were not even put away, the weather was 80 degrees on Halloween night and as I walked to the restaurant after the parade, display people were decorating windows with wreathes and trees. Here comes Christmas ! Between Halloween and Christmas I never sit still. There is so much ground to cover between New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania covering events for the holidays for my blog. It was a lot of picture taking this holiday season and revamping older blogs with new pictures and updates on the events. Join me for my crazy holiday season.
The beautiful sunrise on the day after Thanksgiving to start the Christmas holiday season
The Friday after Thanksgiving, we had the Christmas tree drop off with the Men’s Association and then I worked a triple shift that Friday from 7:00am to 9:00pm. It was a long busy day . We sold over 50 trees that day and they kept coming.
The tree racks were filled and refilled during the day
We had not even been open ten minutes and we had our first sale
It was a beautiful day for the start of the sale
Fully set up for the sale
The members of the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association at the beginning of the sale
The first day it was non- stop business all day. Thanksgiving fell a week late this year and we lucked out with sunny but cool weather putting everyone in the Christmas mood. We just ran around and worked all morning, afternoon and evening selling , wrapping and tying trees to people’s cars and trucks. It was really a team effort.
Because I had plans on almost all weekends and weekday nights for the next two weeks, I worked the “Triple Shift”, which is Christmas tree drop off, then the morning shift from 10:00am-2:00pm, the afternoon shift 2:00pm-6:00pm and the evening shift the 6:00pm-9:00pm plus marching in the Hasbrouck Heights Christmas Parade with the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association.
We were open for business on one of our busiest opening days that I can remember. We all forgot that Thanksgiving came a week late this year and people were waiting for us to open
One of our new Executive Board Members wanted to put a float in the parade for publicity for the Christmas tree sale so we marched along with that. It was a long day. Thank God, we had bought pizza for lunch for the members and another member brought White Castle Hamburgers and Chicken Rings for us. We did not have to stop for meals. That brought its own challenges later on.
Fully open for business
It may have been a long day, but it was a productive day for us. By the end of the evening, we sold 51 trees and four stands, refilled everything as we went along and then marched in the parade and then returned to sell one more tree before we called it quits at 8:45pm. The temperatures did drop, and the parade was not as crowded as I thought it might be on an evening where everyone was off.
We turned the Christmas lights at dusk
Later in the evening is when the true spirit of the site comes to life. The Christmas lights come on and it really brings the spirit of Christmas home. It lets our customers know that we are open for business.
The Christmas tree lot the first weekend night of the sale
I think this festive environment is perfect for selling trees
We closed the lot for an hour so that the guys working that night could march in the town holidays parade with our float. We really had a nice time handing out candy canes to the kids and wishing everyone a happy holiday season.
The start of the Hasbrouck Heights Holiday Parade
The costumed Christmas characters
The Moonachie Fire Department displaying their lights
The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association float in the parade
The parade concluded at the Circle for the Annual Tree Lighting ceremony. We did not stay for it as we had to head back to the lot for selling but I went back later to take pictures.
The Christmas trees lit on the Circle in Downtown Hasbrouck Heights
The museum has an extensive collection of firefighting memorabilia and equipment from different stages of the fire service. The museum is a must for firefighters and fire buffs.
The lighting display by the Circle
The historical Dollhouse on the Circle
The Hasbrouck Heights Firemen’s Park at the Circle decorated for the holidays
The bell at the Firemen’s Park
The Firemen’s Park display by the gazebo
The gazebo beautifully decorated by the town for the holidays
The sign welcome you to Hasbrouck Heights for the holiday season. When it comes to the holiday spirit of special events, house decorating and community involvement the residents of Hasbrouck Heights really bring the holiday spirit to life.
We headed back to the lot to finish out the evening selling for more trees and one stand. By the time we closed the lot for the evening, we had sold a record 51 trees and four stands in one day. It was a great way to start the sale. This was just the start of my holiday season in the never ending rush of activities.
The Christmas tree lot as we were closing for the evening
That Saturday, I decided to break a bad curse that I had experienced five years ago when visiting the historic Kearney House in Alpine. This is where I had the accident going down that cliff road at night. Though I said to myself that I would never enter that park again at night, I figured during the day would be okay.
The sad part was that I was the only guest for the first hour and a half of the opening. It was a chilly afternoon on Thanksgiving weekend but inside there was wonderful entertainment and hot cider to enjoy.
Enjoying the guitar playing and a cup of hot cider at the Kearney House
In between the entertainment and enjoying a few cups of the hot cider, I was able to tour the house again and take pictures. With the fireplaces going and glowing, it created a festive environment for relaxing during the holidays.
The Dining Room with the fireplace warming the room and hot cider to drink
Historic games to play
The fireplace glowing keeping the kitchen warm
Touring the upstairs bedroom gallery
The other bedroom and park system gallery
The old Attic bedrooms where Mrs. Kearney’s children used to sleep
After the tour was over, I stayed for an hour and enjoyed the music and the warm fire. It was a nice break from the holiday rush.
Enjoying the holiday music by the fireplace
I had to get back home but took the time to tour the park and houses grounds. It is an interesting historic site.
The herb garden
The house by the boat basin
The beautiful Fall foliage inside the park grounds. This was the last of the colors as the cold of winter was coming
In touring the Kearney House, I completing taking pictures of almost all the historical sites in Bergen County. The house is now closed for the season and will not open again until the end of April.
The next day I attended the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Holiday Party at the NJ State Firemen’s Home Association Christmas Party of the residents. This is one of the biggest events that we run for the residents for the home and the residents love this event. They have a good meal at the home, wonderful entertainment and present for every resident. No resident should be forgotten during the holiday season.
My blog on the Christmas event at the NJ State Firemen’s Home:
We started our meeting with a very nice buffet lunch that all members and the staff at the home could enjoy before the entertainment started. It was a nice way to start the afternoon. Chef Prince prepared a feast of Baked Ziti, Chicken Piccata, salads, breads, deli sandwiches and Chocolate Cake from Rockland Bakery for dessert. Everyone loved it!
The buffet lunch
The buffet lunch
Then we headed in for the afternoon entertainment. We were treated to the entertainment of and Member Jerry Naylis’s family, who we are watching grow up before our eyes. Funny how time marches on.
The members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association with Santa and our pal, Wells
Jerry Naylis’s daughter and granddaughters in their group picture
Wells and I took our picture as well. He is such a great member
The members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association elected me President for 2025 which I humbly accepted. I felt very honored.
After the party was over and everyone headed home, I took a detour to visit Downtown Boonton, which is a few blocks from the home and saw all the decorations. The town looked very festive.
I then visited the town’s Santaland that was closing for the afternoon and took pictures around the park.
Santaland
Letters to Santa in Santaland
Santaland set up for visitors
Santa’s Headquarters in the Park
The decorations in the park
The other entrance to Santaland
The Gazebo in the Park lit for the holidays
The gazebo in the park at dusk before I left for the evening
I have to say one thing is that for a small town, Boonton does a beautiful job decorating the Downtown. The Main Street and the parks were very festive and put you in the holiday spirit.
The rest of the week was concentrating on the last quiz of the semester and getting ready for major projects. I also had another night of selling Christmas trees and did the weather turn quickly. It went from the 60’s to the 30’s very quickly.
After this week was over, it was time for a break. My students were very antsy due to their major project being due the next week. I do not know why everyone felt so uptight on such a fun project.
I could not wait until Friday morning when I could have a day off and just relax. I planned a trip down to South Jersey to take two Christmas House Walking Tours, one in Woodstown and Pinesboro on Friday and the other in Salem,NJ the next day.
This is my blog on the Pilesgrove-Woodstown Walking Tour on the Historical Society site:
I was not too sure what to expect so I dropped my luggage at the hotel first and got to Woodstown early. I had enough time for some lunch so I ate at the Creekside Inn, where the busses were leaving from. The food and service were excellent.
The entrance to the Creekside Inn right on the golf course off Downtown Woodstown
I sat down in the bar area that was decorated for the holidays and ordered lunch while planning the evening. The food and the service are excellent.
The Christmas tree by the buffet being set up for that evening
The food and the service were wonderful (see review on TripAdvisor). Not wanting to be loaded up for the tour I had a Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomatoes. It was delicious. They made it with sour dough bread and cooked it in butter so that the outside was crisp. The perfect comfort food on a cool afternoon.
My lunch at the Creekside Inn, the Grilled Cheese with bacon and tomatoes with a side salad and a Coke
It was a nice sized lunch
Yum!
It was perfect timing because just as I finished it was time to take the bus out to the homes in Pinesgrove. What a nicely planned tour.
The outside patio area where we caught the bus and Santa would join us later
Our first stop on the four house tour was the Seven Stars Tavern House, what was once an old Tavern between Woodstown and Bridgeton. It was so beautifully restored and decorated for the holidays.
The historic marker for the tavern
Our group starting the tour of the house
Our group talking with the owner of the Seven Stars Tavern
The former tavern area of the home
The decorations in the Living Room of the Seven Stars Tavern
The decorations in the Seven Star Tavern
The Christmas tree in the Dining Room
The Dining Room in the Seven Stars Tavern
After the tour of this former tavern, it was time to move onto the next three houses on the tour.
We started the next part of the tour at the farm.
The Farm in Pilesgrove
The Living Room at the house
The Dining Room at the house
The barn on the property
When we exited the house, we had time to walk the grounds which were so beautifully landscaped and maintained. I was trying to imagine what the grounds must look like in the Spring and Summer.
The bus then picked us up and took us to the next location which was the Figo Farm. That was a real treat as that home was so beautifully decorated and the hosts so welcoming to us.
The Figo Farm in Pilesgrove, NJ
The Figo Farm was more of a ‘gentlemen’s’ farm with small fields and an orchard with a stable in the back. The family who hosted the event could not have been more gracious to us. They welcomed us with home baked cookies and holiday greetings.
Welcoming us in their beautifully decorated kitchen
The aroma of freshly baked cookies was in the air
The beautiful warm living room where we had a talk on the history of the farm
While I talked inside with the host’s parent’s most of my group took a hay ride around the farm. I met them in the stables which were beautifully decorated for the holidays.
The stables at the back of the farm
The beautiful decorations in front of the barn
The beautiful tree by the barn
Our then took us to the last stop on the Pilesgrove tour which was ‘Morgan’s Folly’, a Federalist style farmhouse home, very big and elaborate for the time. It just started to get dark when we arrived.
The beautiful sunset on the farm fields
The ‘Morgan’s Folly’ home at the holiday
The Dining Room at ‘Morgan’s Folly’
The beautiful family Christmas tree
The ‘Morgan’s Folly’ house we were left at for over forty-five minutes and no bus came to pick us up. We found out later from the bus driver that one of the bus drivers got let go early and they forgot to pick us up. So we got back to the Inn about an hour late. No big deal. I got back to the meeting spot and vendors had set up and Santa was there.
I ended up having a long conversation with Santa and I asked why people were so rude today. He had been by himself and stood up and looked at me and said, ‘Some of it they learned at home listening to their parents and some of it they learned on their own.’ He told me though that you should look for the best in people. I thanked him and told him, ‘I still believe in you.’ That seemed to please him. I think we need to carry that holiday spirit with us always.
Myself with Santa
When I got back, it only left me about two and a half hours to tour homes in Woodstown so I got back on the bus and they drove us to Downtown Woodstown, which was beautifully decorated for the holiday.
Downtown Woodstown, NJ decorated for Christmas
Downtown Woodstown
The display windows were so nicely decorated for the holidays
The whole downtown residential area was so nicely decorated for the holidays
I had never been in Woodstown for Christmas. I had just passed through to look at the decorations. What a beautiful town to walk around. Since it was late, I wanted to visit as many homes as I could before 8:30pm. The event closed up at 9:00pm but I am sure that many people would be exhausted by that point with people walking through their homes.
The homes were so nicely decorated
Some houses were not open but the exteriors were on display. This one had a wonderful light show on the side of the house.
This was a delightful show
The first house I visited was the Bobbitt House, which had been owned by a former doctor. The fire places were lit that evening which was nice on a cool night and the whole house sparkled with lights and garland.
The Bobbitt House lit for Christmas
The house was decorated to the hilt
The rooms were all decorated for the holidays
The house was just magnificent and all the details were so perfect. The family that owned the house did such amazing work on the decorations. I then moved on to the next house.
This house was only open on porch to admire the decorations
The next house I visited was only open for view of the outside but the owner’s daughter was entertaining us on the porch. It was a really festive concert.
A wonderful version of ‘Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas’
I moved on to the Pilesgrove- Woodstown Historical Society for a quick tour and to admire the decorations. The docents were stationed around to help and there were refreshments in the kitchen area.
The Christmas tree at the Historical Society
The Doll and Toy collection
The old house was decorated with bows and garland
The Colonial kitchen was still the centerpiece and the heart of the house
It was getting late and I visited my last house of the evening, which had once been the home of the minister and his wife to the church next door. It now was owned by a designer who decorated it to the hilt for the holidays.
Every detail was in place to the home in Downtown Woodstown
The beautiful Living Room decorated for the holidays
The Christmas tree in the Living Room
The banister decorated for the holidays
What was nice about our host was how gracious she was with refreshments of hot cider, hot tea, cookies and chocolate. Unfortunately spending the day eating all these sweets was enough and I just needed a snack later.
While most of the homes were closing up for the evening, before I took the bus back to the car, I walked around the downtown where they had set up a market with all sorts of vendors. By this point, they were just starting to close up but I got to sample some of the wares.
The Christmas Mart in Downtown Woodstown, NJ
I took the bus back to the Inn and drove back to Salem for the evening. I got into bed early. I was so worn out from the cold and the running around that I spelt soundly that night. Still I got up early to watch the sun rise.
The sun rising from the view of the Meadow Room at the Inn at Salem River
I had a nice breakfast the morning at the Inn overlooking the Delaware Bay. It was not like the Summer or Fall when you could eat outside on the deck. It was so cold that I ate by the windows looking out with the heat on. Breakfast at the Inn with that view on a sunny morning is breathtaking.
Starting breakfast with this view is a treat
I always enjoy my breakfasts at the Inn
There was a whirlwind of activities that I had not planned. I had another Christmas walking tour of homes but this time in Downtown Salem, NJ but it did not start until the afternoon. What I did do was attend the Annual Christmas parade on the Main Street.
The start of the Magic of Christmas Parade
The start of the parade with costumed characters
The entertaining band
The costumed people in the parade
The Salem Fire Department adds to the spirit of the parade
The Parade Queen and her court waving to the crowd
Even this playful Christmas got into the spirit of the parade
After the parade was finished, I made my way to the Salem Fire Museum, which after five years of trying to visit was finally open. I talked with the firemen on duty and walked the whole museum. It is a unique look at the history of the fire service in both Salem and New Jersey.
The second floor gallery of living quarters and offices
The firehouse Christmas tree and rescue equipment
The I stopped next door to the Salem County Courthouse, which is the second oldest continuous used courthouse in the country. The courthouse was beautifully decorated inside and out.
The Salem County Courthouse at South Broadway decorated for the holidays
The entrance to the courthouse was so spirited
These historical buildings line Downtown Salem, NJ
The side of the Salem Courthouse was decorated for the holidays
The inside of the Courthouse has the original wooden chairs
I loved the tree in the corner
The tour guide said since the doors have opened, this building has been in continuous use for the City of Salem. If these walls could talk.
I crossed the street and visited the old main bank in town that is now an art store and school. They were preparing for an onslaught of children coming in for arts and crafts.
Then I moved on the antique store to check in with the formal part of the house tour, exploring the historic buildings of Market Street. My first stop was to check in at Royal Port Antiques at 13 Market Street.
Royal Port Antiques at 13 Market Street is always so nicely decorated for the holidays and has such interesting merchandise.
From the antique store, I worked my way down Market Street to many of the homes and churches that were open for the house tour. The first part of the tour was a Colonial military display along the river.
The Dutch cabin during the military display
The military display near the river right before a Christmas battle
The Gazebo decorated for the holidays
The decorations are whimsical
I started the tour of the Federalist homes and they were so beautifully decorated.
Downtown Salem, NJ decorated for the holidays
The first stop on the Yuletide tour at 40 Market Street
The house was so beautifully decorated and the host could not have been nicer. She talked extensively about the renovation and her little grandson was dressed in period costume greeting people.
The Dining Room decorated for the holidays
The fireplaces were lit in the Living Room and Dining Room giving it a warm feeling
Our host had wonderful refreshments in the kitchen waiting for us at the end of the tour
After this wonderful tour, I moved to the next house.
This house at 43 Market Street was next on the list
The foyer at 43 Market Street
The upstairs at 43 Market Street
The couple that owned this house put a massive amount of work into the renovation of this home and you could tell the amount of TLC that went into every detail. The whole house was so beautifully decorated.
I went inside St. John’s Episcopal Church for a tour of the Christmas decorations and listen to the traveling carolers. They stopped at most of the places I visited that afternoon.
The church opened their rectory to sell items for lunch and had a desserts available. After two days of non-stop Christmas cookies I was all cookied out. So I had a bowl of New England Clam Chowder with sourdough bread and talk about hitting the spot on a cold day. I was totally energized.
The excellent Clam Chowder I had for lunch
The Carolers came to the rectory as well
After a good lunch and a nice rest from all the walking, I moved on to explore the rest of Downtown Salem. The next stop was the Presbyterian Church with its musical performance.
The 1st Presbyterian Church at 88 Market Street is very impressive that afternoon
The carolers followed us around the downtown and performed in this church as well
What was nice about this Christmas walking tour was being able to see the inside of all these historical buildings and being able to see all the nooks and crannies of these old buildings.Just like the Woodstown tour the day before, the Salem County Historical Society was open too for touring.
I had seen all these exhibitions in the Summer when I was in town for the Firemen’s Convention, so I was not there long. My favorite section of the museum at the holidays is the ‘Keeping Room’, which is the original section of the home where the museum is housed.
I toured the museum for about forty-five minutes before I moved on to the next site. Take time to really tour the museum as it has so many interesting exhibitions and artifacts to see.
I next walked down Broadway to the Friends Meeting House, the center of the Quaker religion. The building was really old and smelled like wood and dust and creaked when you walked around it. I did not stay long.
The one part of the Meeting House that was cheerful and decorated for the holidays
I moved on to the last two homes of the tour as the afternoon moved on. The first house was no longer a home but an insurance company. The front of the building is the older part of the house and the back was the addition which was part of the old Masonic Lodge. It was a unique building.
The old house at 90 West Broadway is now an insurance company
The beauty of the main entrance room of the former home
This little doll in a sled was one of the members Grandmother’s toy
The home had been sold years ago and then became the Masonic Lodge which itself had closed years ago and the insurance company bought it for offices.
The last house I visited on the tour was a gorgeous Victorian in a rather sketchy neighborhood. The couple had lived there for years and said they never had a problem. I could see the huge potential if many of these houses were renovated.
The home at 24 Oak Street was the last house on my list that day
The owners had lived here for years and had renovated it to loving care. The landscaping was impressive even at the end of Fall. I would love to see what it is like in the Spring and Summer.
The woman who owned the home with her husband explained that she had hung all the wallpaper herself when she was younger. She did a beautiful job and the couple could not been more gracious in welcoming us into their home.
Their beautiful Living Room with elaborate wallpaper
Even the Kitchen was nicely decorated
We toured the house and got to see the gardens in the back which be impressive in warmer weather. The couple also had hot cider and cookies waiting for us at the end of the tour.
The last stop on the tour was where I would spending the night, the Barrett Plantation House B & B. I got to the B & B which was packed with cars out front. I was graciously welcomed by my hosts.
There was a fire going in the fireplace and music in the Parlor Room, which is where we would be served Breakfast the next morning. They even had a violinist who was in Revolutionary War garb playing songs from that period.
The Barrett Plantation House B & B at 203 Old Kings Highway
He beautiful decorations for the holidays at the entrance of the foyer
The Parlor where we relaxed when we finished the tour
The violinist who entertained us that evening not played the songs but explained the holiday entertainment of that period.
It was a very nice end of the tour. We just sat in front of the fire and talked with the violinist. He explained the songs he was playing and how people would entertain during that time. It was nice to just relax in a chair and be warm by the fire.
Since the couple at the B & B had to clean up after all the people touring through the rooms, I drove back downtown to attend the Christmas tree lighting ceremony
The County Courthouse decorated at night for the ceremony
The local elementary school provided the choir for the ceremony
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at the ceremony by fire truck
The Parade Queen and Santa led the tree lighting ceremony that evening
The front of the Courthouse after the tree lighting ceremony
The ceremony was for only about forty five minutes with the kids singing two Christmas carols and the elected officials wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. It got really cold out at the end of the evening.
I made it back to the B & B and joined the owners and the other guests drinks and a hot Roast Beef sandwich with fresh Potato Salad by the fire. Now that was fun. We all talked about the tour and what a perfect day it was seeing all the decorations. After a nice evening by the fire, I just relaxed up in my room. I had to be on an early walking tour of the Alloways History Museum, which had been arranged for me.
I had an early morning tour of the Alloway History Museum at 49 Greenwich Street on the second floor of the Municipal Building. This tiny museum had been elusive to me and the owners of the B & B were able to arrange to get me in. The appointment was at 8:30am so everyone else slept in while I drove to Alloway, a tiny farming community just west of Salem.
For such a small museum, it packed with interesting artifacts and displays. I was impressed by their Native American collection and their community displays. Here is a small sampling of the collection you can see on my VisitingaMuseum.com blog:
The Native American artifact collection
The local community displays
The Schoolhouse and Education display
While everyone else slept in, I toured the museum and got a feel for the collection. It really is a ‘hidden gem’ and like the Salem Fire Museum should be open to the public more.
After the tour, I went back to the Barrett’s Plantation for breakfast with the other guests and we had a wonderful meal with lively conversation by a warm fire in the dining.
The beautiful breakfast room at the Barrett’s Plantation
Our gourmet breakfast started with fresh fruit with local honey, freshly squeezed orange juice and hot tea
The delicious fruit salad
The honey Amish Bread
The breakfast entree was the Sunday soufflé with a side of hash browns
We just relaxed and talked to our hosts and enjoyed the crackling fire. It was a nice way to end the two days of touring.
After breakfast was over, I relaxed in my room for a bit before I left for a day of touring around the community. I really loved my room and the way it had decorated for the holidays.
The Dickerson Suite I highly recommend
The decorations in the Dickerson Suite at the holidays
Before I packed up and left for the day, I took a tour around the B & B and the grounds. The couple who owns it did a wonderful job decorating for the holidays. Here are some of my favorite pictures.
The staircase and foyer
The outside of the Barrett’s Plantation decorated for the holidays
The sleigh on the porch
The holiday decorations
The grounds are so nicely landscaped and are a pleasure to walk around in all seasons
Before I left for the day, I went to visit the Pennsville Historical Society to see if the house was open to see their Christmas decorations. I lucked out and they were having their Annual Open House with a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
The Church Landing Farm, the home of the Pennsville Historical Society
The Christmas Open House was an amazing event and it was a beautiful sunny day to be outside. I started my visit with meeting with Santa and Mrs. Claus. In this crazy political world we live in, it was nice to see that the Claus’s were so welcoming to everyone. It is nice to believe.
Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted me warmly that afternoon
Me with Santa getting some good advice at the holidays
I toured all the display sheds and the farmhouse which were all beautifully decorated for this holiday event. There were so many beautiful decorations that I can’t show them all here but look at my blog on the Pennsville Historical Society on my site, VisitingaMuseum.com. Here are some of my favorites from the tour around the house and ground:
The farmhouse on the day of the Open House
I took a full tour of the house and grounds and took so many pictures (see the blog above) of all the beautiful decorations throughout the property. Here are some of my favorite pictures.
This is from the amusement park shed
The decorations in the military shed
The front of the farmhouse decorated for the holidays
What I love when you come to the Pennsville Historical Society’s Church Landing Farmhouse is that it is so beautifully decorated for the holidays. The volunteers go above and beyond and the house is amazing.
The foyer to the home
The front Parlor
The Christmas tree in the Living Room
The upstairs bedroom
The decorations in the second bedroom
Even the upstairs bathroom was decorated
The little elf in the upstairs bathroom
The refreshments in the kitchen
I finished the tour of the house and headed down to the kitchen where the volunteers set the main table with every type of Christmas cookie you can imagine. One of the volunteers told me that every volunteer had baked a pound of cookies and they had an excess. After two full days of sweets, two were fine with me.
After some hot chocolate, I finished my tour of the grounds.
The little schoolhouse on the grounds was decorated for the holidays
The Gazebo decorated for the holidays overlooking the Delaware Bay
The Church Landing Farmhouse decorated for the holidays
After spending the early morning at the Open House, I had enough time before I went home to take a trip to Millville to see the decorations at their historical house. Unfortunately, the ladies who decorate the home that the Society owns next door had not decorated it yet so one of the volunteers took me to the Ward Mansion which they also run.
This was the home of the family that started the WaWa chain amongst other companies. The home had been decorated for their holiday party and they let me tour the home.
The Wood Mansion is part of the Millville Historical Society
The Living Room at the Wood Mansion decorated for the holidays
The Victorian Christmas tree in the Living Room
The Dining Room
The artifacts in the upstairs gallery
The Wood family tree to the branch that now runs WaWa
It was nice to take a personal tour of the home and see how the family lived in Victorian times. It seemed that the modern generation no longer wanted the home and left it to the historical society. After the tour was over, I took another tour of the historical society and then headed home. It had been a long and productive weekend.
The second week of December was presentation week for my students. I had for major presentations with all four of my classes plus a presentation to Ramsey Borough Hall. I had been teaching four classes at Bergen Community College and each of my classes had real clients this semester which I had never had before. So there were the demands of real clients and visits for the students to Closter, Bergenfield, Lyndhurst and Ramsey, NJ whose job it was to promote these great towns. I found out months later they were still asking me for things. That’s how real these projects are to people outside the classroom.
The first class to present their project was the Farm team presenting how they were going to promote the farm with all their specialty products and create a series of Special Events.
Me with my President and Senior Vice-President of Operations for the Farm Project
The Manager of the farm came to the presentation and gave his thoughts on our ideas and loved almost all of them. So I had my first happy client.
The next presentation I had was with my Marketing class and we were creating a Destination Tourism plan for the Borough of Bergenfield. We were showcasing the Bergenfield Museum, Cooper’s Pond Park and the South Church of Bergenfield’s historic cemetery.
We presented the project to the Board of the Bergenfield Museum and the publicity member of the Borough of Bergenfield. It was a brilliant presentation and everyone really liked it.
The Bergenfield Team after the Presentation
The next presentation was “It’s Razzling in Ramsey-Be a Tourist in your Own Town”, an extensive Destination Tourism plan for how to promote Ramsey, NJ for tourism. The students presented to me in the classroom first and then we presented to the Ramsey Borough Council. That was pretty amazing.
Me with my President and my Senior Vice-President of Operations
My last presentation for Thursday night was the presentation for the Lyndhurst Team for the Red Schoolhouse Museum. We presented the project that Thursday night to the Board of the museum. This presentation was put together in four weeks and it was a great presentation.
All the Presentations went and was impressed with all the students work. It took many weeks and a lot of touring of the locations but we presented to all the clients our best work. I was so drained by the end of the week that I went to bed early that evening.
I had another busy schedule the third weekend of December and that included more holiday tours and decorated homes. I had to run from Hope, NJ to Upstate New York, to attend one day events. All this while I was preparing the final exams for the next week. We had sold out of Christmas trees in two and a half weeks, so the was now behind us. We got ready for our annual Christmas stand party.
The party fell on Friday the 13th and I got in the car and left for Blairstown , NJ, where the opening scenes of the original film were shot. Going to Blairstown, NJ where the opening scenes were shot of the 1980 film has become a big thing. It was in October 13th, 2023 but in December 2025, it was Christmas all the way.
It was so cold out and so close to Christmas that there was not a sole in town. I was there for about an hour taking pictures on the holiday decorations rather than talking about Friday the 13th. I toured there and Hope, NJ and took pictures of all the decorations..
The decorations in Blairstown
The building that was the original diner that was in the opening scene. It is now a gift shop.
The cemetery gate where Annie gets dropped off in the middle of the scene
After I had toured both Hope and Blairstown, I double back to Blairstown for lunch. The Blairstown Diner for lunch and had a very good but expensive chicken sandwich off their ‘Friday the 13th menu.
I was coming back that Saturday night for the Moravian Christmas walking tour and would have loved to spend the night in the area but I had so much work to do at home that it was just easier to drive home than stay.
I was resting at home after the long ride home when the guys from the Men’s Association texted me telling me to get my butt to the party and to bring some dessert. So I changed clothes and played a platter of homemade cookies and went to the party for an hour. It ended up that after the long week of student presentations and running around, I needed the drink.
The guys on the Men’s Association enjoying a job well done at the end of the season
The tree stand the night of the party with one tree left
The next morning I was in a rush to finish my grading and the laundry as I had to be back in Hope, NJ for the walking tour and then the church services afterwards. It was going to be an hour trip back out there. Then the day after that, I would be up in Beacon, NY visiting more decorated houses.
I had been to the Moravian Christmas Lantern tour three years prior in 2021 but it had been so windy they could not put up the luminaries. This year they could.
Downtown Hope, NJ before the nightfall
The Presbyterian Church that used to be the old Moravian church where the candlelight service would take place that evening.
I liked the way everyone decorated their homes
Many of these old homes were decorated with wreathes and garland
As it grew darker, it grew colder and I was smart enough this year to take the earlier tour and leave time for dinner before church services.
The Hope Community Center where we started the tour
Inside the Hope Community Center, they set up a buffet where you could buy dinner and you could see their ‘Festival of Trees’ display the they used to display at the local hotel. They moved it back to the Community Center this year which was nicer to observe all these beautiful Christmas trees decorated by local groups.
The Community Center set for dinner and the tours
The beautifully decorated Christmas trees
The beautifully decorated tree
One tree was more impressive than another
Since I wisely chose a tour that would start at twilight and end when it got dark, I got to see the town in both perspectives. Either way, the town was fully decorated for the holidays and when the sun went down it was really beautiful.
The bridge coming into town
I got to walk around before my tour started while it was still light out and in the winter time the town is so picturesque.
All the homes in the downtown area were decorated for the holidays
The tour started at 5:00pm and we started to walk through this former Moravian community. During COVID, the town had been ‘discovered’ by New Yorkers and since my last tour in 2021, almost all the homes in town had been renovated and landscaped. The town was very impressive.
Our guide on the lantern tour
The tour took us to all the historical sites in Hope which included the church’s, manufacturing and old farms and mills. The temperature was dropping as it got darker and I felt bad for all the actors outside who had to stand there waiting for us.
Starting the tour at dusk
The historical buildings of Hope, NJ
The local elementary school entertained us on the tour
Then we toured the downtown, visiting historical buildings that are now banks and offices and visiting a live Nativity scene.
The bank was an old Meeting House at one time
The luminaries in the downtown
The luminaries downtown looking toward the church
The live Nativity performance
We rounded the downtown one more time to see all the historical homes and the beautiful light
After I returned to the Community Center, I stopped and had some dinner. The buffet had some heavy dishes and I decided on the Mac & Cheese which really warmed me up on this cool night. For dessert, I had a locally made Cider doughnut. What a nice way to end the tour.
The Community Center is a nice place to eat dinner after the tour
After dinner was over and I warmed I walked over to the Presbyterian Church for the traditional Moravian Candlelight Service. I had been here four years prior and had enjoyed the service with its engaging sermon and the beauty of the candles in the final part of the service.
The church was decorated in a secular fashion for the holidays
The service was very inspiring with a talk about family and what the purpose of the holiday really means. With all the pressure of the holidays in hand and finals week being the next week plus the posting of grades before I left for my mother’s for the holidays it was nice to just relax.
The end of the Candlelight service
Downtown Hope, NJ at the end of the church service
Having prepared all my exams and wrapped up the grades for the Team project, I was able to head to the Hudson River Valley to visit some decorated homes that I needed to revisit for my museum blog, VisitingaMuseum.com.
The first one was Mount Gulian in Beacon, which I had visited over the Summer and now needed pictures of the Christmas decorations. The other was Knox Headquarters Homestead, which I had visited several times between the Summer and the Halloween holidays. The decorations at both homes did not disappoint me.
Mount Gulian Historical site for the holidays
Since I had taken the formal tour of the house over the summer, the docent who led my tour then just gave me an overview of the Dutch holidays and explained the decorations.
The beautifully decorated front doors
The main staircase decorated for the holidays
While my tour guide finished with his first tour, I toured the house on my own.
I started in the basement looking at the Colonial kitchen, which is the only thing that survived the fire that burned this historical house to the ground in the 1930’s (the current house is a recreation of the original home).
The colonial kitchen decorated for the holidays
The decorations around the kitchen area
I made my way upstairs and continued the tour on my own.
The elegant Dining Room
The table was set for Christmas lunch
Then I toured the other rooms and made my way to the Library.
The Library was decorated with all sorts of garland and Christmas ornaments
The Library was decorated with all sorts of garland and wreaths
The old Parlor was set up for the upcoming Children’s tea
The old Parlor Room was set up and decorated for a Children’s Tea which was the week after Christmas but I still got to walk around and enjoy the decorations. The Christmas tree was elaborately decorated for the event.
The Christmas tree surrounded by pictures of the Order of Cinncinatti
I ended my tour when the next group of visitors arrived. While the tour guide greeted them, I took one last tour of the dining Room. It just a beautiful room.
The fireplace in the Dining Room with a picture of the last descendant who lived in the house as a baby over the fireplace
After the tour of Mount Gulian, I had time before my tour of the Knox Homestead to tour Downtown Beacon and have some lunch. The downtown really nicely decorated for the holidays.
Downtown Beacon decorated for the holidays
The snow had fallen the day before giving it the early Christmas look
The beauty of the mountain tops after the sun
The snow bound downtown
The beautiful falls downtown
Downtown Beacon is really a picturesque place with wonderful restaurants and shopping and interesting street art. It is a wonderful town to explore and window shop.
The beautiful decorations downtown
For lunch that afternoon, I ate at Noble Pie at 137 Main Street, a small restaurant specializing in homemade sweet and savory pies. What a treat. I had not had a piece of homemade pie in a long time and you can tell the care they have in their product in each bite.
It was a tough choice but I decided on the Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and the Apple Pie a la Mode with a big scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream with the ice cream from Del’s Ice Cream in Rhinebeck, NY.
The wonderful Chicken Pot Pie with a flaky buttery crust
The delicious Apple Pie a la Mode with Vanilla Ice Cream
The restaurant was nicely decorated was nicely decorated for the holidays
After a wonderful lunch and a full tour of the picturesque downtown on both sides, I headed down to the Christmas Open House at the Know Headquarters . I had wanted to go early because it was so cold and it got dark early.
The lights turned on before I left Beacon giving it more of a Christmas feel
I got to the Knox headquarters for their Christmas Open House just before nightfall so they were still setting up the outdoor lights. The house looked so picturesque with the snow on the trees and grounds.
All the rooms were decorated for the holidays with costumed actors talking about life in the house during the Revolutionary War Christmas era.
The Parlor decorated at Christmas
The spirit of the lady of the house
The decorations in the Parlor
The ghostly figure in the mirror in the decorated Dining Room
The Knox office in the house with a costumed soldier to explain the plan
The decorated stairs and bannisters for the holidays
The upstairs bedrooms were well appointed and decorated for the holidays
A soldier met us at the top of the stair and explored the war years to us
The Dining Room
The last room of the afternoon I visited was the Dining Room where the Dining Room table was decorated for the holidays. This had been a trend during that period where the top of the table was decorated to impress guests.
The whole Dining Room was beautifully decorated
The Army Captain explained what entertain was like during the war years for officers and soldiers
The outside of the home was lit with a bonfire and torches
The temperature really dropped that evening and it got cold! The poor actor who portrayed a soldier standing guard was really cold. He really knew what these men must have felt.
The soldier standing guard outside the homestead
The Knox Homestead when I left that evening
The torches that lit the property on a cold winters night
After the Open House was over, I had not realized how early it still was so I decided to take a detour and visit Kingston and Woodstock to see how those town’s were decorated for the holidays.
My first stop was Woodstock, where I had spent many relaxing Christmas’s after my father passed. I needed to clear my head and spending time in the mountains with some peace and quiet helped me tremendously. I found the town quaint and had an almost Currier & Ives feel about it. It still means a lot to me at the holidays.
I always love the Woodstock Christmas tree. It always looks so unusual
The Dutch Reformed Church where I spent many Christmas Eve’s
The manager scene outside the church
The retail district around the Green at the holidays
It was so cold out that no one was outside. The restaurants were pretty quiet that evening as I could see no one wanted to venture out. It was a big difference from four months prior when it was 60 degrees and sunny in the evening. I had the whole downtown to myself that evening.
The restaurant’s were decorated to the hilt. This used to be Joshua’s where I ate Christmas Eve the years I came here
I walked around the quiet Green admiring the Christmas tree and peeking in the business windows. I could not believe that Christmas was going to be next week.
The Village Green the week before Christmas
I finished my tour of Downtown Woodstock and it was still early so I headed to Kingston. I had missed the Snowflake Festival this year because I was in Salem and Woodstown for the Christmas Hour tours so I wanted to see how the town was decorated.
Kingston is always so nice at the holidays and I wanted to see how the town was decorated. It is another picturesque town.
Downtown Kingston ‘Stockage District’ with the snowflakes
I got to Kingston late in the evening around eight in the evening and for some reason Kingston likes to roll up its sleeves at 8:00pm. I walked around the downtown and had the streets to myself.
The Kingston Christmas tree in the ‘Stockage District‘
The Dutch Reformed Church at the holidays
I would have thought there would have been bells during the holidays and it was just very quiet in the evening around the church.
The Senate House barns
One last tour around the Downtown before things closed for the evening
The merchants compete for the best windows
The windows in Kingston could compete with any other town
It was a nice way to end the day walking around this beautifully decorated town enjoying all the wonderful lights and displays all to myself. I knew I needed the relaxing as Finals week was here and the last day of class was on Thursday night. I could not wait to be done with classes.
Finals week was a rough week for everyone being so close to the holidays. I could see that a large portion of my students had no desire to study for their finals and their grades reflected that .
The students that had taken the class work seriously did really well and an about a third of each of my classes struggled on a final that really was not hard. You just had to do that new fangled thing called ‘study’ I had to spend most of December 20th and 21st grading and posting grades That took time and I was glad that the semester ended. I could now relax for the next month. The semester would not begin again until the first third week of January.
The students that had taken the class work seriously did really well and an about a third of each of my classes struggled on a final that really was not hard. You just had to do that new fangled thing called ‘study’ I had to spend most of December 20th and 21st grading and posting grades That took time and I was glad that the semester ended. I could now relax for the next month. The semester would not begin again until thethird week of January.
December 20th and 21st grading and posting grades That took time and I was glad that the semester ended. I could now relax for the next month. The semester would not begin again until the third week of January.
I had to clean the house, finish my cookie baking for gifts and do all the laundry and pack. I was leaving for my mother’s for the holiday and then two days of work and rest in Cape May. There was a lot of picture taking and cultural sites to visit.
Decorations for the holidays in Murray Hill at the Union League Club at 38 East 37th Street
I was able to get into New York City just before Christmas and I will tell you there is nothing like Manhattan during the holidays.
Nothing says ‘Christmas’ more than Macy’s on West 34th Street, my home away from home for seven years of my life working as a Manager and then a Assistant Buyer. It still is an amazing Christmas store.
I explored the City and ran around Manhattan visiting as much as I could in a day. I would be leaving for my Mother’s on the morning of the 24th, so I wanted to get things done.
Macy’s Herald Square on the Broadway side of the first floor
My first stop was Macy’s to see their windows and to see how the stores were decorated. They really did a nice job on the inside of the store and their windows I thought were the most unique of all the department stores.
Macy’s Broadway Christmas windows
Macy’s Broadway windows
Macy’s Broadway windows
Macy’s Broadway windows
Passing Penn Station at Christmas
I walked around the Murray Hill neighborhood in Midtown enjoying all the holiday decorations on all the buildings.
I passed this tree outside one of the office buildings in Midtown
Gem Saloon in Murray Hill decorated for the holidays
Touring through Bryant Park during the holiday season is always a lot of fun. You always see such interesting vendors during the holiday season. The skating rink was packed with skaters and tourists filled both.
I continued to tour around Midtown, walking into stores and parks and admiring the decorations. After a long semester of classes and projects, it was nice to get my mind off work and school.
I continued the walk around Midtown up Park Avenue and passed the decorations at Grand Central Terminal. This is when you see the City at its best during the holidays.
My last stop before I left the City was an extremely crowded Rockefeller Center where every tourist from every walk of life was taking pictures from every direction. I had to elbow my way around the complex and I still got some wonderful pictures.
The Angels at Rockefeller Center at Christmas
The complex at Christmas time
The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center just known as the ‘Tree’ to us
After I left the skating rink, I walked around Saks Fifth Avenue. Their windows were not that exciting this year as they just featured clothing from the Couture floor. I could see under all the glitter that the store was having problems. I saw the cracks that I had seen at Macy’s years ago. We will see how this plays out.
The front of Saks Fifth Avenue at 611 Fifth Avenue minus their Lightshow and exciting windows
It was nice to just walk around the City and enjoy the decorations and get my mind off work. It was going to be a long day of getting ready for the holidays and then a trip to Cape May to just decompress.
Christmas Eve Day was a whirlwind of activity. I had to head to Downtown Hasbrouck Heights and pick up flowers for my cemetery visits, then head to Downtown Wood Ridge to Mills Bakery for doughnuts for my mother for breakfast Christmas Day. Then I visited my family before I left for my mother’s. It was a busy morning.
The store was so beautifully decorated inside and out
How magical the store looks inside for Christmas
The back of the store sells all sorts of Christmas treasures
This is where I buy all my flowers to pay my respects at the cemeteries and they always put a nice arrangement for me at a fair price. Plus I love looking at the decorations at the holidays.
Then it was off to Mills Bakery for pastries. The baked items at Mill’s are always fresh and the selection is wonderful.
Mills is always so nicely decorated at the holidays
The beautiful Christmas cakes at Mill’s
The holiday cookies at Mills always smile at you
The elegantly wrapped Gingerbread houses make the perfect gift
After I finished my shopping and made my visits the my family, I had a quick lunch at Bella Pizza on the Boulevard for a slice of pizza before I left for my mother’s. The Sicilian slice was really good and hit the spot for the long trip.
Bella Pizza at 197 Boulevard decorated for the holidays
The Sicilian Pizza is fantastic and did not affect my appetite for dinner
After lunch, it was the four hour trip to my Mother’s . Thank God the traffic was not bad. Once I left the Newark area, it was smooth sailing. Even when I had to make a stop at one of the rest stops, the new rest stops were nicely decorated.
On the way into Rehoboth Beach, there is a farm where I always admire the decorations. It may not be that elaborate, but there is just something about the way they decorate that I always admire.
The farm outside Rehoboth Beach
The pictures don’t reflect how truly beautiful the farm is decorated. I could not get the correct lighting
Since there was no room at the house, I stayed at the Hampton Inn Rehoboth Beach at 18826 Coastal Highway and I highly recommend the hotel at the holidays
The Hampton Inn Rehoboth Beach at 18826 Costal Highway at Christmas time
The hotel is really nice with a large lobby and Breakfast Room and an indoor pool. The hotel was nicely decorated for the holidays.
The lobby at Christmas time
The Christmas tree in the lobby
The Breakfast Room where meals are served in the morning
I met the rest of the family at my mother’s after I had settled in and then we left for Christmas Eve dinner, which she calls our ‘Jewish Christmas’ meal at Confucius Chinese Restaurant.
Confucius Chinese Restaurant at 57 Wilmington Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach
Dinner is always an experience at the restaurant offering some of the best Chinese food in Delaware.
We started the Christmas Eve meal with Salt & Pepper soft Shell crab
They serve the most amazing Duck Springrolls
The Pork & Chive Dumplings steamed or Fried are mouthwatering
The entrees here are top notch and the dishes that came out of the kitchen were excellent that evening. Even for a busy evening, one dish after another was amazing.
The Moo Shu Pork here is one of their specialities and one of our favorites to order. We had to get two orders just so everyone could have one.
The Kung Pao Chicken without peanuts is one my mother’s favorites
The Tang Lake Chicken is one of my favorites and I highly recommend it
The House Special Lo Mein is another favorite of mine
The House Fried Rice is one of the best I have tasted
We had to add some greens to the Christmas Eve dinner
It was a wonderful dinner and it was nice to catch up with my family. It is tough when all of us are scattered throughout the country. It is one of the few family meals we have during the year.
After dinner was over, we all met back at my mother’s house. Before I left Downtown Rehoboth Beach, I took a quick tour of the boardwalk and the town’s Christmas tree. It is always a nice site and very festive.
The Gazebo by the shore all lit up for the holidays
Christmas Eve in downtown is quiet and beautiful
I got back to the hotel that evening and slept soundly. All those weeks of final projects and running around caught up with me. There is something about the Hilton mattresses that give you the perfect night’s rest.
My perfect Hilton bedroom
Christmas morning was a whirlwind of activity. I had to meet my family for breakfast later in the morning and help with dinner at my mother’s before her guests arrive. Since I love breakfast, I started with an early morning meal at the hotel.
It was a very nice breakfast with a good assortment of hot and cold items. Since the howl was not that busy, I got to talk with other families, who like myself there was no room at the inn at their relatives home.
The Breakfast Room at the Hampton Inn
The Breakfast Room and Lobby at the hotel
The selection of hot and cold items makes a nice breakfast
Creating the perfect breakfast sandwich
The morning would be a whirlwind of activity as we had to finish last minute preparations at the house, getting appetizers in order and do some last minute preparations work and clean the kitchen. It would be a very nice morning and afternoon.the kitchen.
Helping my mom in the kitchen at Christmas has become a new tradition for my brothers and I . For years we were told to stay out but as my mom is getting older it is a lot of work so we all enjoy helping out. It has become a family affair.
The Dining Room set for Christmas dinner
The Dining Room table always looks so elegant
The decorations in the house
Simple but elegant
My mother kept it simple at Christmas and did not go overboard but the house always looks so nice at the holidays. The table was set so beautifully and my mother likes to keep the tradition of name cards, which is really nice.
My mother kept dinner simple this year and we had a lasagna with a salad and garlic bread . We were all working and was tough doing all fancier dishes we had cooked in the past . Still it was a nice meal.
We started with a simple meat and cheese anti pasta
The most amazing Christmas dinner Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Dressed Salad and roast pork
My mother hosting dinner with much pride. She is an excellent cook and host
It really was a nice Christmas Day. It gave us all a chance to be together with our mother and her friends and catch up with one another’s lives. My brothers and I did the clean up and helped with dessert.
Christmas dessert, my brother baked the cookies, my mother baked her wonderful apple pie and my sister in law brought a very rich Russian chocolate cake
My brothers and I with our mother at the end of the evening on Christmas Day
We really had a wonderful Christmas but like most holidays it zipped right by and the night was over. The next morning we met at our mothers for breakfast and each of went our own separate ways afterwards. I was heading to Cape May, NJ by ferry while my brothers both headed to New York City. I would meet up with them later in the week for lunch in Manhattan. My mother got some time to relax after we departed.
I love the trip over to Cape May from Lewis, DE. The ferry is always so nicely decorated for the holidays and even on Christmas Day a few years ago is always busy at the holidays.
The terminal and their restaurant inside are always so nicely decorated for the holidays
The ferry takes only an hour and a half compared to the five hour drive around southern New Jersey. On a beautiful sunny morning, the views are amazing.
The Lewes Terminal in the summer months
Getting ready to arrive
Cape May at Christmas time is one of the most magical places especially at night. The lights and sounds and music, plus the tours and the restaurants is the reason you will never be bored here. I took a ride through the back roads and made to the heart of downtown and to my hotel in no time Cape May in no time.
The Chalfonte Hotel where I normally stay when I am in Cape May was closed season (the hotel is not insulated) and I stayed at the Southern Quarters, the sister hotel next door. Somehow I keep getting the room on the top floor of the hotel and it holds a lot of memories for me because it’s where I first stayed when visiting Cape May.
The room at the top of the Southern Quarters has a great view of the neighborhood
I was finally able to relax and decompress for a few hours. I ended up sleeping for three hours. This trip to Cape May was about relaxing and picture taking for the blog so it would be another working vacation for the next two days. I would be spending a lot of time time visiting the Congress Hotel to revisit restaurants and take pictures of the decorations.
The front of the Congress Hotel was decorated to the hilt
The Congress Hotel at is decorated for their “Winter Wonderland” promotion at Christmas time. The hotel is a spectacular time to visit the hotel with the public rooms fully decorated and the lawn area in the back set up like a Christmas Village with a decorated tree, amusements, shops and refreshment stands. It was packed both nights I visited.
The beauty of the lobby at The Congress Hotel
The hotel sometimes reminds me of ‘The Overlook Hotel’ in the movie in the movie in ‘The Shining’
The Courtyard of the hotel
The Christmas tree on the lawn of The Congress Hotel
The Christmas tree by the shops
The Congress Hotel is one of the most beautiful hotels at Christmas time. Every inch of that hotel is decorated. Before I went to dinner, I walked the halls and the grounds. Most of the amusements were closed for the evening but I figured I would come back during the day to see the shops and what else was going on.
I revisited the Boiler Room Pizzeria in the basement of the Congress hotel for dinner as I had back in 2018 and in 2021. The food and service here is wonderful and the place was packed.
The pizzeria at the Boiler Room
Like I said, I was on a picture taking mission and had to eat the same things I ate six years earlier(which I did not mind) and I had a Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza, which was the meal I had at the hotel in Christmas Eve when I stayed at the hotel.
The lighting might have been a bit strange but the food was excellent The Caesar Salad was delicious and could have fed two people.
The Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza is a treat
The Boiler Room bar area was really busy at night
Even in the post Christmas, the whole hotel seemed mobbed. I would read later on that one guest of the hotel complained that there were so many outside visitors to the hotel that the registered guests couldn’t enjoy all the special things at the hotel. My feeling was tough! That is how the hotel makes money and I did not hear the hotel complaining about how many guests there. There were a lot spending money.
After dinner was over, I decided to walk around the downtown area and admire Washington Mall, which was nicely decorated for the holidays.
The Washington Mall is so festive
The Washington Mall at night
Even by the hotel, the light show continued as many of the B & B’s and businesses had heavily decorated for the holidays.
The Bed & Breakfasts were nicely decorated for the holidays
Cape May’s Downtown Square Park
The trees in the park were fully lit
The Gazebo in the park was an array of lights
The colorful Christmas tree in the gazebo
Downtown Cape May at night during the holiday
The unique Victorian Mansion on the walk back to the hotel
Even closed for the season The Chalfonte Hotel was decorated for the holidays
The next morning was a clear and sunny day. The temperature was nippy but not cold. I could not wait to start the day.
The view from my room at the top of the Southern Quarters
Since food service was closed for the season at the hotel, I walked down to Uncle Bill’s Pancake House, my go to spot every Summer and holiday season. Right after the New Year, they normally close until it gets warmer.
Uncle Bill’s is one of the best places at the shore to have breakfast
Decorated for the holidays
The Christmas Village at Uncle Bill’s
I love coming here for breakfast when I am in Cape May and they make the best French Toast, Scrambled eggs and Pancakes. I saw someone having the Pancake platter with scrambled eggs at the next table over and that is what I ordered.
The Pancakes and Sausage at Uncle Bill’s are cooked in Claire’s butter giving it a sumptuous taste and the pancakes an extra crispness
The pancakes and eggs here are excellent
After a great breakfast, I paid the bill and walked around Cape May. It was a warming day in the 40’s and downtown is a nice place to work off breakfast. I headed back over to The Congress Hotel to see what was happening in Santa’s Village. The hotel was in full swing with people taking rides on the trains and Merry go Round. They were ordering pretzels, hot chocolate and other holiday snacks at the snack bar. I just thought it was fun.
The Merry go Round at the Congress Hotel
The lines were long for families to rise the trains
The lobby was just as spectacular during the day as at night
After walking around the hotel grounds and tiring of the crowds, I went out to explore the community and investigate historical sites in the area. It took me to corners of Salem County that I had never seen before. There were some historical locations in Upper Cape May County that were still on my bucket list. I knew they were closed for the season but I wanted to know where they were located.
My first stop was the the JW Grady House which is in the middle of nowhere where.
The JW Gandy Farmstead at 26 Tyler Road in Oceanview, NJ
The JW Gandy Farmhouse was closed for the season and would not open again until the Spring
The next site I wanted to visit was the historic Tuckahoe Train Station. This Victorian Train Station was the hub of activity at the turn of the last century.
The Tuckahoe Train Station on Route 659 Railroad Avenue
Both historical sites were closed for the season and would not open again until the Spring do they would another trip to Cape May.
It was a lot of twists and turns to come to these remote sites and then I headed back to Cape May to walk around before dinner. I walked through the downtown again and walked through the park to see the Christmas tree again but during the day.
The Gazebo during the day
The Christmas tree was just as spectacular during the day
I relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and then went to dinner in North Cape May to Viggiano’s on Sunset at 109 Sunset Boulevard in West Cape May. I had seen the recommendation on my Dining Club and had passed it many times and wanted to try it on this trip.
I really enjoyed my meal that evening. I keep it simple on the rather cool night. I started the meal with a bowl of the Wedding soup that contained tiny meatballs and kale that seriously warmed me up. The temperature had dropped that evening so it was the perfect appetizer for dinner.
The wedding soup at Viggiano’s
The delicious Wedding Soup
For the entree, I wanted something that was filling and could warm me up on this cool night and I picked the Spaghetti Carbonara, which was loaded. With butter, cream and cheese, which I had not had in a long time.
The Spaghetti Carbonara
The perfect comfort food on a cold night
After a wonderful dinner and a relaxing evening, I walked back to the hotel through town admiring the lights and decorations on all the homes and businesses around West Cape May and Downtown Cape May.
The decorations as you enter West Cape May
The decorations in West Cape May
The decorated homes and B & B’s by the hotel
I walked along the beach on the way back to the hotel and work off dinner. It was so quiet that evening. In the post-Christmas season, the nights were much quieter this time of year. By the time I got back to the hotel, I got ready for bed and fell asleep.
The next morning I packed up the car and then headed over to The Congress Hotel again but this time for breakfast at the Blue Pig. Like I said before, it was all about the pictures and I ordered the same thing I ordered back in 2018, the Eggs Blackstone with Orange Juice, Hot Tea and a side of Potatoes. It was just as good as it was six years prior.
I had not been back to the restaurant in seven years (there are always so many places I wanted to try between here and Wildwood) and it was a treat to come back. The prices were still pretty reasonable for the meal that you got and the food is excellent.
My breakfast at the Blue Pig Tavern
The Eggs Blackstone Poached eggs on top of Cheddar Cheese biscuits with spinach and bacon and tomatoes with Hollandaise Sauce and Hash-browns. Decadent and delicious. Breakfast and lunch.
The weather was really gloomy that morning so I checked out and headed home. My original plan was to stop in various shore towns to see what they were doing for the holidays but it started to downpour when I left Cape May and I figured I would stop in Point Pleasant and see what activities were happening on the Boardwalk.
I knew Santa was making a plunge at the aquarium so I stopped there . It really was a miserable day. Stopping at the Boardwalk though made it better.
The Sea of Lights event at Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk
As festive as the Boardwalk was it never stopped raining. Not the most pleasant place to be in the rain
The Boardwalk was surprisingly busy for such a gloomy day because the show of shows was inside the aquarium itself with the beautiful “Sea of Lights”. I must have missed Santa (I met him along the way during my holiday adventures) but I was exhilarated by the display of twinkling lights inside the aquarium showcasing the exhibitions. Santa could not have done any better. What a show!
The ‘Sea of Lights’ at the Jenkinson Aquarium
The aquarium was spectacular that day with all the twinkling lights
I cut my trip short because of the weather. It was a misty day and I did not want to linger down the shore. I took a quick tour in downtown Point Pleasant where there were nice decorations dotting the street lamps and many of the merchants had interesting display windows. I still thought they did a better job decorating the downtown during Halloween.
Downtown Point Pleasant decorated for the holidays
Before I headed home, I took a quick trip to Bayhead, NJ and toured their decorated downtown. They had interesting and very clever decorations. Whether it was the Santa in front of the Bayhead Firehouse or the twinkling lights and garland along the bridges, Bayhead is a very picturesque town at the holidays.
Downtown Bayhead, NJ at the holidays
The downtown is filled with quirky little shops, interesting restaurants and a great bakery. In the summer months, the town is especially beautiful. The sounds of the waves and seagulls is nice on a late Summer afternoon. Unfortunately, it was a gloomy rainy day and not much fun to walk around. I headed home from here. Until the warmer months.
The Bayhead Chapel at 442 Main Avenue at Christmas time
Before I left Bayhead, I took a chance and stopped by the Bayhead Historical Society, which was open that afternoon and was still open when I got there. I got to see their display of a ‘Victorian Christmas’.
The Bayhead Historical Society in Bayhead, NJ at Christmas time
The “Victorian Christmas” at the Bayhead Historical Society
The “Victorian Christmas Tree” at the Bayhead Historical Society
The Historical Society is a ‘hidden gem’ in the area with an interesting “Historical Map” exhibition and outer buildings with nautical displays. The museum has limited hours so try to visit it on the weekends when it is open. Their “Victorian Christmas” display was really nice with the vintage decorations and antique ornaments that were displayed on the Christmas tree. Many of these ornaments once decorated the members mother’s and grandmother’s Christmas tress in the past and I thought fascinating to see generations of decorations on one tree. After my visit to the museum, I headed home into the gloomy rainy evening.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s when I returned home was filled with running around doing errands and laundry. I had been running the whole month and it gave me a chance to catch up. On the day before New Year’s Eve, I met my siblings for lunch at Jing Fong, a Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown. This had been a former Dim Sum palace on Elizabeth Street but moved to its new location at 202 Centre Street after they lost their lease. The food is still spectacular.
The food was excellent and we had a variety of Dim Sum for our lunch that afternoon. The only bad part of this restaurant is that it has limited space and they need to turn the tables over quickly which is annoying when you want to sit and relax and talk after your meal is over. They are a bit rude of asking you to leave (this happens to everyone who dines there. Check the TripAdvisor reviews).
The Steamed Pork Buns
The Shrimp Spring Rolls were perfectly cooked
The Fried Pork Dumplings
The homemade Soup Dumplings will melt in your mouth
The Pork and Chive Dumplings
For dessert, we had the Egg Custards, a Portuguese tradition comes through Hong Kong
The menu is really interesting and the carts have all sorts of delicious goodies to choose from. The only problem with the restaurant is when they rush you out the door when you are finished. After lunch, we went up to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. It was crowded but it still fun to see again.
I never get tired of seeing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and it was spectacular this year. It was really impressive.
That evening we went to the Marriott Marquis for dinner at the second floor Broadway Lounge, where I had my graduation dinner many months before. My brother had really enjoyed it the year before and invited us to join him and his wife for dinner. The food and the views are amazing!
I had the most amazing Chicken sandwich for dinner that night. I tried to keep it simple since we had a big lunch. I ate the whole thing.
I highly recommend the Chicken Sandwich
Yum!
Before we left, my brothers and I took a family shot at the restaurant. It amazes me sometimes that we are still kids at heart even in our fifties.
My brothers and I at the Marriott Marquis after dinner
After dinner was over, we went our separate ways. One of my brothers headed home and my other had plans for the New Year’s celebrations. I had wanted to visit Philadelphia for the afternoon and checked on the Macy’s Philadelphia’s website and discovered that the Annual “Lightshow” and “Dickens Village” were still open and that December 31st was the last day the display would be open. I made the reservation for 2:00pm and off I went on a early train from Penn Station in Manhattan. Everything in and around Penn Station was still heavily decorated for the holidays. The whole station was quite the Christmas site.
I was only here for the morning before my trip to Philadelphia but it really is a beautiful building and what a food court! The place was so nicely decorated for the holidays with wreathes and garland all over and interesting decorations tucked here and there. This was another picture taking trip to update a blog I did on visiting Philadelphia during the holidays.
The trip on the Acela took about an hour and I got into Philly with plenty of time before the lightshow, so I went to have lunch at the Dutch Eating Place in Reading Market. I had wanted to go to Carmine’s Cheesesteaks, but Carmine had retired and closed his restaurant a couple of months before, so I went to my second favorite place and already knew what I wanted to order. The hot Turkey platter with extra gravy.
I can’t tell you how much I love Reading Terminal Market with its food stalls, colorful displays and especially the isles and isles of delicious food. I swear there is one good restaurant after another in the place and it is not a place for someone on a diet. The rule here is to indulge.
Rows of delicious baked goods just outside of Beiler’s bakery
The lines of people there on New Year’s Eve. This is the best place to ring in the New Year
The ultimate place to eat from them all and one of my personal favorites is the Dutch Eating House where really will enjoy some of the most Pennsylvania roof
After lunch was over (and trust me I was stuffed), I needed something sweet and I needed a doughnut so I walked across the aisle to Beiler’s Bakery.
Beilers Bakery has the most amazing treats
Beilers Bakery on one side and Beilers Doughnuts
The selection of great baked goods at Beilers Bakery
I can’t tell you how mouthwatering the bakery items are at Beilers. All the items are baked on premise at the Reading Market and the turnover is quick so everything is always so fresh. From buttery cookies and cakes to heavily iced doughnuts, the selection is extensive and all the toppings and fillings are freshly made and the doughnuts are made right in front of you.
The doughnuts are freshly made, iced and filled right on the spot and sold just as quick
The selection of doughnuts are so mouthwatering and delicious
The Glazed Doughnuts and Lemon Filled were the best on this trip
The Lemon Iced and filled is just the best
There’s nothing like a Beilers Glazed Doughnut
After a wonderful lunch and an even more wonderful dessert it was off to Macy’s for the light show. My appointment to see the Dickens Village was not until two o’clock so I got to see the show both before and after the show. I took one more walk around The Reading Market before I left.
I always love the excitement of the Market
I thought I would have time to stop at Bassett’s for ice cream but maybe the next trip
Macy’s was just around the corner from the Market and I have to say I love the Macy’s here is just so beautiful and classic. I still have a hard time calling it Macy’s considering it was the old Wanamaker’s store since its inception. This beautiful grand dame of the department store industry was so much nicer when it was Wanamaker’s.
Macy’s Center City Philadelphia-The old Wanamaker’s Department Store
The Windows at Macy’s Philadelphia were nicely decorated similar to the windows in Manhattan
The Macy’s Windows based on the New York windows
Window Two at Macy’s Philadelphia
Window Three at Macy’s Philadelphia
Window Four at Macy’s Philadelphia
There were beautiful restaurants, luxury departments and it was always nicely decorated for the holidays. Macy’s does a nice job, but it was a different store in the 80’s and early 90’s. I still see traces of the old store in the movie “Mannequin” when it was still Wanamaker’s.
The movie trailer for “Mannequin” was shot at the store in 1986
The famous opening scene that was shot in front of the old Wanamaker Department Store
My favorite song from the movie “Mannequin”
The movie “Mannequin”
I can still see traces of the old store here and there. It was beautifully decorated for the holidays and it was really pretty in the store. The displays were very colorful and the main rotunda was so festive. It was not the same as the old Wanamaker’s but more like a Macy’s store in New York.
The Rotunda of Macy’s Philadelphia (former Wanamaker’s)
The beauty of the Rotunda decorated during the holidays
The decorations in the Fine Jewelry Department
The Eagle in the Rotunda
The Women’s Accessories Department during Christmas
The Men’s Department during Christmas
The decorations of the main floor
I have seen the light show about five times now and I know I can see the whole thing on YouTube, but it is still fun to see it live in the store and hear the organist play the famous pipe organ. It really is an exciting show. I love the music and I love the way they display the story line. Julie Andrews does a nice job narrating the story.
The start of the show that takes place every two hours
The start of the show with the Introduction
The start of Part One of the show
The video of Part One:
The video of the start of the show with a scene from ‘The Nutcracker’
The second part of the show with the clocks
The Video of Part Two:
The video of the Clock Show and Snow falling
The Sleigh Ride and the Snow Falling
The visit from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer
Video of Part Three:
Taking a Train trip to a Winter Wonderland
Welcoming Frosty the Snowman
Welcoming the Snowfall
Video of Part Four:
The Finale with the sounds of the organ is always a treat
One of the reasons I came down to Macy’s Philadelphia not just to see the windows, see the Lightshow but I made a reservation to see the Dickens Village, which was a relic of Strawbridge & Clothier created in 1984 by the former rival of Wanamaker’s.
The Macy’s Dickens Village is now located on the Third Floor of the store which was the old Executive Offices
The start of the tour of the “Dickens Tour”
The start of the “Dickens Tour”
The Dickens display with Charles Dickens narrating
The Dickens display with Scrooge confronted by members of the Charities
The Dickens display The Ghost of Christmas Past
The Dickens display of Fuzzywink’s Party scene
The Dickens display Meeting Ghost of Christmas Present
The Dickens display Nephew Fred’s Party
The Dickens display Scrooge meeting the Ghost of Christmas Future
The Dickens display The end of the story with a Revelation by Scrooge
The Dickens Village is a lot of fun to walk through and it is a fun way to learn the story and understand the lessons about the story. It is nice to see that Macy’s is keeping these traditions going (for now). After seeing the Lightshow and walking through Dickens Village and walking around the store to see the decorations and what the store looks like, I walked around the downtown. I swear, it has not changed much since my last visit. Most of Market Street is still as dumpy as it ever was in the past. They really need to build more housing downtown to bring more people to the downtown. I found out when I got home a few days later in the New Year that Macy’s will be closing this store in March 2025.
The closing of Macy’s Downtown Philadelphia-For the second time since Wanamaker’s closed
On my way back to the train station, I stopped in the Christmas Village by City Hall and stopped to see the Christmas tree. This was the last day of the Christmas Village as well. Most of the stores were closed by this point but a lot of food vendors were open and the skating rink was really busy in the late afternoon.
During the holiday season, I also like to see the light show at Macy’s (which I still call Wanamaker’s) and visit the tree at City Hall. Philadelphia has its own magic at holidays. There is such a beautiful holiday market that surrounds City Hall with all sorts of artisan crafted foods and handmade products. There was a slew of singers, actors and musicians that were entertaining the public.
Downtown Philadelphia’s Christmas Market in 2024
The City Hall Christmas Tree may not be as big as the one in New York but no less nice. It was beautifully decorated and at twilight, covered with colorful lights. A lot of people were taking pictures around it or were getting ready to skate around the makeshift skating rink. It is not Rockefeller Center, but the affect was just as nice, and it really did put me in the Christmas spirit.
The Christmas tree by City Hall in Center City Philadelphia
The beautiful downtown Christmas tree with Downtown Philadelphia in the distance
After touring the Christmas Market, I left to take the train home. I did not want to get caught in the Manhattan traffic of New Year’s Eve. The train station was beautifully decorated with lights, wreaths and a huge tree and it was nice to just sit back and relax until the train came. On the way back, the city was all lite in front of me. The boat houses on the river were lit with Christmas lights and boats passed by lit up as well.
The Christmas tree in Penn Station in Penn Station in Philadelphia
The tree was truly beautiful at the end of the Christmas season
When I got back to Manhattan, I made my way out the back door of the station and headed up Eighth Avenue to get home. I did not want to deal with all the nonsense of Times Square on this cold night. The Hudson Yards were so beautifully decorate for the holidays with the white lights with the backdrop of the buildings.
The Hudson Yards on New Year’s Eve
It was surprisingly quiet at the Hudson Yards at 6:00pm.
I just wanted to get out of Manhattan before it too crazy in Times Square. I celebrated New Year’s Eve in a quiet way. The privacy of my Living Room watching the ball drop at Midnight. I had fallen asleep on the bed and woke up around 11:50pm and almost missed it.
It had been a productive December for me with travels all over the Tri-State area, classes concluding and now three weeks off to relax before the Spring semester began. The weekend after New Year’s Day I spent travelling to light shows at the Bronx Zoo and The Brooklyn Botanical Garden on the last weekend before the Epiphany. There was a lot going on this last weekend and I rushed to everything. It was a great weekend.
My blog on the Lightshows during the holiday season of 2024:
I swear it was full steam ahead for the rest of the holiday season. December for me just keeps getting busier. From the time we finished the Victorian Walking Tour to after the Epiphany my feet never touched the ground. Christmas tree sales kept me busy on the weekends, class finished up with my final exam night on the second week of December (I am very proud to say that I gave out 28 A’s, 2 B plus’s and 2 B’s) and then I really got busy with my volunteer work.
After the weekend with the Victorian Walking Tour and the Washington’s Crossing event, it was off to visit Lillian again. I had just seen her at Thanksgiving and here it was three weeks later, I was out on Long Island for another family event. The facility she lived in really does a lot of nice things for the families.
Lillian and I with her Christmas present, Petula the Pup from FAO Schwarz
I had given Lillian a choice, would she like me to come out for the Family Dinner or the the Family Concert the next week? I unfortunately could not do both. Work was getting busy and I had two Christmas parties to plan. So we decided on the Family dinner. We really had a nice time.
We joined her roommate, Marie and her two daughters for dinner that night. The facility had a nice dinner for us with roast beef, mashed potatoes and broccoli that was surprising well cooked and seasoned for a nursing facility and they gave you plenty of it. We had a nice time chatting and getting to know one another when Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance and greeted all the residents and their families. The two staff members who played the roles did a marvelous job with it and made it extra festive.
After dinner and a tour around the building greeting other residents and their families I said my goodbyes to Lillian and her roommate and her family. I had a long trip ahead of me as well. I could tell that Lillian was a little sad by it but I said that I would see her at Valentine’s Day and we would see each other after the craziness of the holidays was over. That is when I surprised her with the small Petula the Pup that we both used to sell in both of our time in the Pre-School Department at FAO Schwarz. She was very surprised and touched by it. It must have triggered something because I saw her cry a little. It made her happy that someone remembered (Please see the blog on Day One Hundred & Thirty-Lillian passed away three weeks after our dinner together).
The next morning myself and the volunteers who work with me at work had our Christmas party for the residents of the Maywood facility that I work with on my job with the County of Bergen for our Post-Stroke & Disabled Support Group. We had entertainment with Van Martin Productions and we decorated the tables with garland and candy and the room for the holidays. The whole affect was very festive.
The ladies who are part of the group that comes to our events had a wonderful time. Each one of us baked a special dessert for the event and at all the place settings were chocolate Santa’s and candy canes for each resident. We served desserts and coffee to everyone, handed out gifts to all and had a wonderful afternoon of good food and wonderful entertainment.
That evening, I hosted an Italian dinner at my home for the ladies who volunteer for me. Taking everyone to a restaurant gets expensive plus at the holidays everyone rushes you out so I found it more personal to have it at my house.
I cooked the entire meal and served it. We started the meal with homemade mini-meatballs that I made a few days before, sautéed shrimp and cheeses for the appetizer and for dinner I made chicken cutlets, spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread and a nice salad all with the accompanying wines. We had a wonderful time and did a lot of laughing that night.
Chicken cutlets and pasta.
As I was serving dessert which I made an assortment of cookies and cakes, the noise got louder. Other guests joined us later and there was a lot of catching up to do. It was a enjoyable way to spend our last day together before the holidays.
The next day I joined a friend that I had not seen for almost two years for lunch in Sanducci’s at 620 Kinderkamack Road in Paramus, NJ (see review on TripAdvisor). It was just nice to finally catch up as it had been a long time since we talked. We both agreed that our lives had us running in different directions. We spent our afternoon laughing at things from years ago and in our current lives. It is nice to spend time with friends at the holidays. I had not realized that Nancy and I had not seen one another in two years!
After lunch, I had to prepare another dinner as we held our annual Men’s Association Christmas Party at the tree-stand to end our season of selling. That Friday night, we had four trees on the lot and by the time the party was over we sold them out. We sold 338 trees (one was stolen, and one was donated) during the holiday season and that was a new record for us.
The Christmas tree stand site the night of the party
I made a batch of stuffed shells for dinner and a batch of chocolate brownies for dessert. I never know what to make as it is a potluck, and all the guys bring something different but two years earlier three of us brought baked ziti. So, I know shy away from that. That and I wanted something quick because I was still tired from cooking the night before.
Our former President Mike and VP Roy at the Christmas Party
It a fun evening of great food and conversation mostly dwelling on the success of this year’s sale. God, can some of these guys cook! Our former President, Mike, makes a venison chili that is always the highlight of the dinner especially on a cold night. The stuffed shells were put under the warmers and were a big hit. I never have to sell brownies to anyone. I was sure they were gone by the end of the evening.
The HHMA Christmas Party at the tree stand
The weather started to drop that night and after an hour at the party it went down to 35 degrees. Even sitting by the barrel fire, I could not take it anymore. I said my goodbyes by 9:00pm. I was exhausted from a week of cooking and had still more to do over the weekend. I had to plan two menus for that Sunday and had to have back to back meals. One of the guys later on told me that a group of them were there until 2:00am. Not a night I would have been out.
What was left of the trees the night of the party
I had to sleep in that Saturday morning because I was worn out from the running around that week but there was food to prepare, a house to clean and a table to set. I needed a break from it all to put me back into the spirit of the holiday so before I started all the prep work, I went to Ringwood Manor for their celebration and to see the decorated house.
Ringwood Manor every year is beautifully decorated by a group of volunteers. The house was open for tours of life in the Victorian Age. Each of the rooms was decorated to the hilt with garland and plants and all sorts of decorations.
The Ringwood Manor Dining Room
Ringwood Manor has an interesting history. The area around Ringwood, NJ was the center for iron ore manufacturing and was a big player in munitions during the Revolutionary War because of both the amount of ore in the hills and the strategic location near New York City.
In 1807, the land was bought by Martin J. Ryerson who built the first home of the property which was a 10 room Federalist style home. In 1853, Peter Cooper bought the mines and the home and it became one of the biggest suppliers iron ore to the Civil War effort. Peter Cooper’s partners were his son, Edward and his future son-in-law, Abram S. Hewitt.
The Ryerson section of the house decorated for the holidays.
The home became the summer estate for Mr. & Mrs. Hewitt and added on to the house in 1864, 1875, 1900 and 1910. The home then had 51 rooms and was designed in the Classic Victorian style with furnishings from all over the world. In 1938, the home, it contents and grounds of the estate was donated to the State of New Jersey (Ringwood Manor Park History).
The Dining Room at Ringwood Manor
The tour was self-guided and you could take as much time as you wanted seeing each room. There was a docent on hand to explain all the decorations and furnishings as well as the purpose of the room. One of the points that was made when I was visiting the decorated homes during the holiday season was that Victorians never decorated every room in the house like on the tours.
The Christmas Tree in the French Drawing Room
They decorated maybe the living room and dining room with a tree and garland. Only the wealthiest families would decorate more than that because they had servants to maintain it. Trees and garland were used after the Civil War because Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert was from Germany and brought the Pagan tradition of putting a tree inside the house with him to England (Victorian Christmas History).
After my visit to the manor, it was off to Auntie El’s Farm at 171 Route 17 South in Sloatsburg, NY (see my review on TripAdvisor and LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com) for some baked goods and a tour of the farm. I roamed through the farm stand who just like us were wiped out of Christmas trees. I bought cake truffles ($5.00 each) and a Caramel Apple Cake ($10.95) for my Christmas dinner and munched on Apple Turnovers ($3.50) and Cider Doughnuts ($1.00) while I was there looking around the bakery. In the farm stand area, they have to most delicious jellies and jams to choose from and other gourmet products.
Auntie El’s desserts!
The Christmas department at Auntie El’s
When I got home, I spent the rest of the time cooking for our Engine One Brunch for Company members and families on Sunday morning and then for my Christmas dinner with my family on Sunday night. I never left the kitchen.
That Sunday was a busy day for me as I had to pull off two back to back meals. In the morning from 10:00am-1:00pm was the Engine One Brunch and after clean up and saying goodbye to everyone was the early Christmas dinner with my family from 4:30pm to 9:00pm. I had never done back to back meals before and don’t plan on doing it again. Way too much work!
I got to the firehouse at 8:30am that morning and had to deal with a major mess. The Department Christmas Party had been the night before and they did not clean it properly. So the first thing I had to do was clean all the tables, throw out the garbage and mop the floors. That took almost an hour.
Then I had to clean and set up the kitchen for Brunch. Once I got that done, I set the buffet table for the food and then put all the table clothes on the tables in the main room. Then I set up and started to cook and set the tables for breakfast. By the time I was done with all of that, the first guys started to arrived to help me.
Me setting up breakfast
I cooked an elaborate breakfast menu for the members of our company, our honorees and family members.
Me in front of the Brunch Buffet Table
It really was great meal. I prepared two egg casseroles, one with bacon and the other with Italian sausage, a French Toast Souffle, homemade waffles (I drag that waffle iron all over), fresh fruit salad and then I baked a cinnamon crunch coffee cake, blueberry muffins, a chocolate chip pound cake and brought in assorted bagels from Panera and doughnuts from Mills Bakery in Wood Ridge. There was something for everyone.
We had a wonderful time. About 54 people showed up for breakfast and did people come hungry. We did not have much left. Our Lieutenant, Bernie Valente, gave the welcoming speech and greeted everyone for brunch and wished everyone a happy and safe holiday season. It was a nice morning of good food and conversation.
The Engine One Members at the Brunch
After the Brunch was over, I said my goodbyes to everyone and had to clean and mop the room again. That took some time but the place was spotless when I left.
I ran home and thank God, I had already cleaned the house, set the dining room table and prepared the house for guests. I was able to take a 45 minute break before my family showed up for a pre-Christmas dinner. I relaxed on the couch for about twenty minutes before my family showed up. I was so grateful they showed up late.
What a great time we had that night! My Aunt Dee and my cousins, Wayne and Bruce came to dinner and we had a wonderful time. Since I was joining my brothers at my Mom’s house for Christmas Eve and Day, I would not be seeing my aunts and cousins this year.
I cooked a four course meal that was my pride and joy. We started with an assortment of cheese and crackers, sauteed shrimp on toasts and mozzarella sticks with a bottle of bubbly to toast the holidays. We had a nice time just catching up with work and family events.
About an hour later, I served dinner. I kept it simple this year making chicken cutlets, a potato puff and string beans with butter. It was the perfect evening of good food and conversation. My cousins told me about work and what was going on in their lives and my aunt was telling me stories about her upcoming holiday events. We always have a nice time.
For dessert, I had the desserts from Aunt El’s. I served the caramel apple pie and the cake truffles. I have to admit that they were all a little sweet but still good. There was a layer of caramel and chocolate on the top of the apple pie. It was a nice way to end the evening.
After a week of cooking for five parties and dinners, I took a break from the kitchen and planned a couple of Christmas events. The first was I attended the Hasbrouck Heights High School Holiday concert. I had a nice time listening to the choir and jazz band. The school was packed with people filming the whole thing. I have never seen so many cells phones out.
The one event I had gone to last year was the holiday concert at Carnegie Hall and looked forward to seeing it again. The ‘Home Alone Concert’ with the New York Philharmonic had been sold out as was the ‘Holidays with Brass Concert’. So I scoured the internet to see if there were tickets left to the concert and I was in luck. It looked like someone had given up their two tickets and grabbed the second to last ticket for the concert and it was on the isle! What a concert!
First, I love going to Carnegie Hall during the holidays. It is so beautifully decorated for the holidays and everyone from the staff to the concert goers are in the festive spirit. The concert was called “Under the Mistletoe” with the New York Pops with singer, Ashley Brown who had originated the role of “Mary Poppins” on Broadway.
Here is Ms. Brown preparing for the concert I saw on December 22nd.
What a wonderful concert! Ms. Brown was accompanied by Essential Voices USA which was a choir that sang during the concert. They opened with much excitement the songs “Deck the Halls” and “It’s the most wonderful time of the Year” and then introducing Ms. Brown singing “Jingle Bells” and “Winter Wonderland”. The rest of the concert was filled with traditional Christmas songs and a lot of holiday cheer.
The Carnegie Hall Stage before the show at Christmas time
In the middle of the second act, Santa came down the aisle near me and greeted the crowds. I swear I was having a somewhat rough holiday season missing my father and all and when I saw Santa, I really believed it was him. I was so happy to see him as was everyone else in the room. I could see how emotional people were and knew they felt the same way. It looked like everyone just wanted to believe that night and we are talking of a crowd of concert goers who were in their fifties, sixties and seventies. I guest you are never too old to believe in Santa. It has been a rough year for everyone.
The concert ended with a big sing-a-long with Santa, the Essential Voices USA and Ashley Brown leading the “Jingle Jangle Sing-Along” with the songs, “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “Here comes Santa Claus” and ending with “Jingle Bells”. Even Santa joined us singing! I swear, that whole concert hall rocked with people singing all the classics and it brought the house down. People were on the feet applauding at the end of the concert. I had never seen so many smiling faces in one spot in a long time.
The Sing a Long with Santa
The next morning, was still singing the concert in the back of my mind as I was preparing breakfast at the firehouse for the Department’s Annual “Santa Around Town”. A group of us got to the firehouse early to wash the truck, so I cooked the traditional Engine One breakfast before we started the wash and decorating. I made a pancake and sausage breakfast for the guys. We had a ball eating, laughing and talking about upcoming holiday plans.
The Brothers of Engine One Hasbrouck Heights before ‘Santa Around Town’
We then got to work washing the whole truck and preparing it for the long trip around Hasbrouck Heights greeting residents with holiday cheer and assisting Santa handing out candy canes to all the kids. It is a long evening but we really lucked out with the weather. It was warmer than usual around 45 degrees and people really came out to see Santa. We had large families of kids and dogs taking group shots with Santa. It is nice to see that people still do believe (See my Blog: The Brothers of Engine One participate in “Santa Around Town” December 23rd, 2018). We had a great time that night.
The next morning it was off to visit my immediate family for Christmas. I know I have visited Woodstock, NY and Cape May, NJ in the past for the holidays (as you have seen in this blog) but it was time to join the family again on Christmas Day. I had not spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my mother and brothers since 1981 and the last time I had spent Christmas with my Mom was in 2010 so it was something I was looking forward to this year.
I spent my morning visiting cemeteries, paying my respect to my aunts, uncles, cousin. grand parents and finally my father, dropping off flowers and arrangements to all locations. I say a small prayer and send my wishes. I think this important at the holidays.
Then it was off for the four hour trip down to my mother’s in Delaware. It really was a wonderful Christmas with my family. We all had not been together for the holidays for such a long time. The last several years I would go down after the holidays and we would spend time together then. Since my father’s passing this is the first time the rest of us have been together as a family.
Christmas Eve was always a lot of fun in my family growing up. We would go over to my parents long time friend’s house from 1969-1981 until my parents divorce. Christmas Day was with my Aunt Elaine and my cousins from 1969-1990 right before my aunt passed away. Those were very special Christmas’s and I will always remember them. Since then it changed from year to year as was Christmas Day. All of us kids moved around the country and with school and jobs everything kept changing.
Somehow the stars aligned this year and we were all available. It really was a nice four days and it was fun connecting with everyone again. My younger brother came up with my niece and my older brother with his husband, so the extended family was all there.
We went to Confucius Chinese Restaurant at 57 Wilmington Road in Rehoboth Beach for Christmas Eve dinner (see review on TripAdvisor) and it was packed that night as if everyone in town had the same idea we did. We spent most of the evening either yelling over the table or saying hello to the dozens of people my mom knew in the community. The town was hopping for Christmas Eve and there were cars all over the place with people eating at restaurants up and down the downtown area.
When we got home after a wonderful dinner and tour of the downtown Christmas tree, we just relaxed in the living room and talked. It was nice to finally catch up with everyone in a peaceful environment. In the back of my mind, I still could not believe how Christmas creeped up on us this year or that it was actually Christmas Eve. I slept like a rock that night.
The Lo Mein is amazing here
As are the Soft Shell Crabs
A delicious Christmas Eve dinner
The next morning it was all hands on deck as I was helping my mother in the kitchen after breakfast. After a quick bowl of cereal and a shower, it was off to chopping, cutting and rolling in the kitchen. My mom said she would need my help in the kitchen helping with dinner which was a surprise as she never lets anyone in the kitchen when she is cooking.
I helped her make the breaded broccoli, the pigs in a blanket, making sure that she tied the crown roast the right way (it took some time) and stuff it and then arrange cookie trays for the dessert. Four of my mother’s friends joined us for dinner so there would be ten of us and did we eat that afternoon. My mother is an amazing cook and host and knows how to entertain at the holidays.
Cooking in the kitchen with my family
We had a nice afternoon of reminiscing about family Christmases of the past, what my mother’s friends were up to and how all of our lives were going. It was a nice evening of good eating and wonderful conversation. My brothers and I even cleaned the whole kitchen for my mother so she could relax and enjoy her guests.
Christmas with my family
The next two days we spent at my mom’s house just catching up and relaxing and my brothers and I each hosted a meal for the other members of the family so that we could give my mom a break from cooking for a large group of house guests.
In the afternoons, pretty much everyone did their thing and then we would meet up for meals. My brother and my niece brought their little French Pug named “Boogie” up to my Mom’s so she would not be lonely. God, did we spoil that dog with attention and treats. She was the cutest most well behaved dog and what was funny was when I was lying on the floor watching a movie with my family, she plopped down next to me on the pillow and slept.
Boogie sleeping next to me
Our first afternoon after Christmas, our family met at “A Touch of Italy” restaurant at my mother’s recommendation. The food was excellent. The most delicious thin crusted pizzas I have had in a long time. The pizzas, pastas and sandwiches are delicious here. For dinner the next night, we went to ‘Big Fish’, a local seafood restaurant my mother wanted to try.
It was now two days after Christmas and people looked like they were having family dinners before everyone had to go back to work. The place was mobbed! Our waiter, Scott, really handled the table well with our ten people. “Big Fish” (see my review on TripAdvisor), is a local seafood restaurant whose most popular dishes is everything fried. A friend of my mother’s said that she always has the fried shrimp when she is dining there. So that is what I had for dinner.
The inside of Big Fish Grill at 20298 Coastal Highway
They were like heaven in every bite, sweet and briny and the breading was cooked perfectly. The potatoes and vegetables were also perfectly cooked. Between the entree and appetizers, there was no room for dessert to the shock of my family. Me miss dessert?
The Fried Shrimp meal at Big Fish Grill is excellent and should not be missed
Our last morning was tough. My brothers were leaving for home and I was heading up to Cape May that evening to go to the theater to see “The Actors Carol” at the Cape May Theater and spend the night at the Chalfonte Hotel. It was baby steps back into the family Christmas and I still wanted some time alone for the holidays.
My mother made a big family breakfast and then we said our goodbyes over a fritata and sweet rolls. It was nice being able to spend some time with my brothers who live in other parts of the country and my niece who was off from school. We chatted on about the holiday and what we were doing for New Years and then it was off to travelling for all of us.
For the first time, I took the Lewes-Cape May Ferry from Lewes, Delaware to Cape May, New Jersey (see review on TripAdvisor). It was about an hour and a half and had it been a warmer sunny day it would have been a beautiful trip. When I got there, I sat outside and watched dolphins swim by us. Of course, it had to be a cloudy day and then started to get cloudier and sprinkled so I spent the rest of the voyage inside watching a tourist film. I was able to watch the bay go by and it is quite a site. There is a beauty to the Delaware Bay.
I got into Cape May within the hour and settled at my hotel. I had just been at the Chalfonte in September for the Firemen’s Convention and the town was still hopping with tourists. It really has become a big destination for the holidays. It is funny though to see the main hotel closed for the season. It really does look haunted at night when only the spotlight is on it. The place was buzzing when I left nine weeks earlier.
The Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May at Christmas time (the main hotel is closed)
I settled into the Southern Annex (see review on TripAdvisor) and took a nap before the show. It had been a long but fun four days. It was nice to just relax and be by myself now. It was funny what a year can bring to you and how different you can become. I guess I was no longer that person that needed Cape May or Woodstock anymore. They were perfect for their time in my life but even I felt it was time to step out in the world again.
The Southern Quarters right next to the main hotel
My usual bedroom at the Southern Quarters on the top floor attic room. What a view!
The Christmas welcome at the Southern Quarters
The room has a wonderful view of all the decorated homes
The show was funny that night. “The Actor’s Carol” was a take on the classic “Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. The star of the show within a show was a Prima Donna whose best acting days were behind him and made everyone miserable in this small town production. He was in turn visited by three ghosts from his past to show him how he got to where he was in life. It was not the most original show but very clever in premise.
After the production was over, I looked for a place to eat but a lot of the popular places were either closed for the holidays or closing for the evening. Just wanting a snack after the show and before going to bed, I stopped at Dellas 5 & 10 at 501-503 Washington Mall (see review on TripAdvisor) in downtown Cape May for dinner. This small drugstore has a soda fountain and restaurant in the back like Woolworth’s did years ago. The food is very good and the burger I had was well prepared. I had fun as the only customer talking with the waiters.
Washington Mall during the holidays
I walked all over downtown Cape May that night as I had the year before. It just seemed different this year as the experience was surreal. It was still Christmas to me but I just felt changed by the last four days. Still downtown was beautiful with all the lights on the trees, the creative window displays and the bells from the church sounding in the back. The gazebo in the main square still had the Christmas lit up and that put me back into the Christmas mood.
The Gazebo in downtown Cape May
I got back to the hotel and slept like a log. All this driving and running around got to be too much on me. The hotel annex was really quiet even though it was full of guests. I did not hear or see anyone in my time at the hotel.
Their Christmas tree in the downtown park is always spectacular
The next morning as I checked out, I was surprised to see Uncle Bill’s Pancake House at 261 Beach Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor and DiningonashoestringinNYC@Wordpress.com) open this year. It was locked shut last Christmas. I guess they figured the town was busy for the holidays and trust me, a smart choice as the restaurant was busy. They have the best breakfasts and their pancakes and scrambled eggs are cooked in butter so there is some extra caramelization to them. The service there is always so friendly and welcoming.
Uncle Bill’s at 261 Beach Avenue at Christmas time
The pancakes at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House are the best
After breakfast, I walked the downtown again, walked all through the Congress Hall Hotel, where I stayed last year for Christmas (See Day One Hundred-This is Christmas) and then visited the Physick Mansion for another Christmas tour of the house (See TripAdvisor & VisitingaMuseum.com). It is always a nice tour and the mansion is so nicely decorated for the holidays. The tour like everything else in Cape May was busy. It was sunny and around 48 degrees that morning.
After the tour, I left Cape May, probably to see it later again in the Spring and then headed up the Jersey Shore line to visit Margate and the Lucy Elephant statue (see my review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). I had not climbed the top of the elephant yet and since it was a nice day wanted to take the tour before the statue closed for the day. I drove up the shoreline to Margate, NJ and got there by 2:00pm.
I got on the tour which was just about to leave and we climbed the whole statue and got to the top of the ‘howdah’, the transport on top of the elephant. That was the reason why I went the statue. I had not been able to go to the top in 2015. It is the most beautiful view of the ocean and the best part is that it got warmer toward the afternoon. I was able to walk around the statue and by the beach and it must have gone up to 50 degrees.
The top of the Howdah
I decided since it was early to double back to Ocean City, NJ and have some lunch before I drove home. What a spectacular afternoon walking in the Boardwalk. It was crowded because of the weather and surprisingly this late into the holiday week, a lot of the businesses were open.
I was able to go to Johnson’s Popcorn at 1360 Boardwalk (see review on TripAdvisor), which had a line ten deep, for caramel corn. They were making it in small batches and when I started eating it was still hot from the machine. There is nothing like warm caramelized corn on a cool day.
My favorite is the Cheddar and Caramel Corn combination. It never arrives home full!
After that, I went to Manco & Manco Pizza at 8, 9 & 12th on the Boardwalk (see reviews on TripAdvisor) for lunch. Their slices were the best. They make a good sauce and it was so busy that the pies are coming constantly so it was fresh. This is a real Jersey Shore pizzeria and the attitude of the guys working there showed it. You have to visit the Jersey shore Boardwalks to know what I am talking about. As the sun started to go down, it was time to leave. It was getting cooler. I got home later that evening in good time because there was no traffic.
Manco & Manco Pizza is always busy all times of the year
New Year’s Eve was just sitting at home relaxing and calling friends. It looked like everyone was bunking in this year and the fact it went down to 10 degrees on New Year’s Eve night I could not believe all those crazy tourists were sitting in Times Square. I went to bed right after Midnight.
Later that week, I did make a trip up to Woodstock, NY to see their Christmas tree before they took it down but it was down already. The town just seemed depressed when I arrived. I had not been up here since Christmas of 2016 so it had been over a two years since I celebrated a holiday up in the mountains. First, it had a cool damp feel to the town but since you are in the mountains it can be that way. Also, since the holidays were over, a lot of decorations were already down and usually you would keep these up until the Epiphany on January 6th.
Downtown Woodstock, NY during Christmas
The worst was several of the restaurants and clothing businesses that I had remembered from a few years back had gone out of business so there were empty storefronts. It just did not seem like the magical place that I had enjoyed three separate, wonderful holiday season’s. I really wanted to see the tree in the square but you can’t have it all. Still I had lunch at Shindig located at 1 Tinker Street (see review on TripAdvisor) and they have the best burgers and mac & cheese around. It was nice to sit by the window on this cold but sunny day and watch the world go by. I just walked around the town on this quiet afternoon.
Shindig at 1 Tinker Street in Woodstock (closed June 2022)
It is a new bar/restaurant in 2024
The Epiphany brought my only church visit to Corpus Christi Church and the service was nice. The church was still decorated for Christmas so it was the last thing to keep me in the spirit of the holiday. We had our Installation Dinner at the fire department a week later but that is another story Check it out on my blog, The Brothers of Engine One HHFD below.
Overall, it was a nice Christmas. Different from the last five years since my father’s passing but it was time to move on and enjoy the new family traditions we are creating. I was ready for the change.
*The blogger wants to note that this is a combination of many different dates, so it does jump around a bit.
In 2018:
After such a wonderful Christmas holiday in Cape May, I decided to change my plans around and stay in Cape May this time for the Annual Firemen’s Convention which is in mid-September. This is the best time to visit the beach as most of the tourists are away, the kids are back in school and the water is still warm. Hurricane Florence was coming up the coast so it was not the greatest weather but I always find things to do.
While attending the convention in 2018, I was booked at the Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May, which is considering the Southern Grande Dame of hotels. I had stayed at the hotel’s Southern Quarters, the smaller B & B setting next door during Christmas and it had been a nice stay. The room had been decorated with holiday ornaments and decorations. I had a slept like ‘a log’ during the holidays. It had been so quiet at that time of the year.
The Weekend before the Convention 2018:
When I had originally booked the reservation for the weekend, I was told that the restaurant, The Magnolia Room, would be open. Later I found out it would be closing for the end of the season on September 7th and I would not be able to try it for dinner when I was visiting Cape May. This meant a special trip ahead of time. So after work on September 6th on a whim I made a special trip to Cape May to check out the culinary delights of the Chalfonte Hotel.
I called the hotel at the last minute, booked a room with a shared bathroom ($100.00) and off I went down the Garden State Parkway from Bergen County to Cape May which is one side of the state to another. With one break stop, I was there in two hours and forty five minutes.
I got to the hotel by 4:30pm and it was still nice out. Hurricane Florence was just starting to make landfall in Florida and it was supposed to be gloomy all day long but we lucked out the tentacles of the storm had not hit New Jersey (that would come later the next day when I left) and it was still sunny, clear, warm and still a little humid.
I was happy because I got my room immediately and was able to get to the beach for a swim before dinner. One thing about the Chalfonte Hotel (see review on TripAdvisor) is that it is old and I mean old. The rooms themselves have been updated and painted and the beds and furnishings are new and comfortable but the room I got with the shared bath could have used a scraping and repainting of the whole room.
The Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May at 301 Howard Street
The windowsill was beginning to rot, and I could see in the gingerbread decoration on the roof was rotting as well. The hallway carpets were clean but could have used a good shampooing to bring out the color. Even though the hotel is clean and maintained, it still needs a good gut renovation to bring it up to current standards. It is nice it could be a showplace.
In 2022, I had a back room that was much larger than the usual rooms that I get. It was located on the back side of the Dining Room and surprisingly was very quiet even when there was a wedding on Saturday night. It was also located right next to the communal bathroom, so it was like having my own bathroom. The light shined at the top of the windows, but I just slept on the other bed, and I slept soundly both nights. I needed the rest.
The beach is only three blocks away and since it was off season already and later in the afternoon, the beach was quiet. The water was perfectly warm and the waves were low and no current from the storm (we really lucked out with that) so swimming was nice. I could ride the waves with not much worries. Still I kept close to shore and did not venture out too far.
The Cape May beach
It was nice to just lie on the beach and just relax. I had not been to the beach all summer and it was nice to just put my feet in the ocean, hear the sound of the waves and just relax on a towel and get some sun. I had not done this in over a year. The salt air is so soothing. The nice part was the beach at this point was practically empty and was filled with mostly locals.
After the beach, I went back to take a shower and relax. I took a quick nap on the bed which I have to say are soft and firm at the same time and I completely relaxed. I didn’t even want to go down for dinner but there was a fried chicken dinner with my name on it downstairs.
The Fried Chicken at The Magnolia Room is legendary
The Magnolia Room (see review on TripAdvisor), the hotel’s main dining room, is off the main lobby and located towards the back of the hotel. You really do feel like you are in a Southern hotel in Charleston or Savannah with the long narrow dining room, the pink tablecloths and the over-head chandeliers. It is like stepping into a Southern Plantation. It is elegant and homey at the same time.
You can dine outside too to hear the concert on ‘Ramble’ nights
Cape May like most shore towns in the Northeast have to depend on foreign help as the college students have to go back to school and there are only so many people living in town to fill the jobs. My server, Michaela, told me she was from Albania and could not have been friendlier. She was the one that told me that the Fried Chicken Dinner was the most popular. The nice part is that the three course meal is $39.00 which includes an appetizer or soup, the main entrée and a dish from the set menu (it is no longer offered this way in 2024). Another nice aspect of the dining room is that they give hotel guests a 15% discount for eating there and I thought that was very nice.
The menu posted outside on the porch
The new menu for The Magnolia Room in 2024
I traveled three hours to try the Fried Chicken so off the order went to the kitchen. I started with the Chicken Soup with Garden vegetables. Hunks of chicken in a fresh broth with a rough cut of fresh vegetables made the soup almost a complete meal. A good appetizer to offset the Fried Chicken. The nice part was the vegetables were really fresh and it had a well rounded flavor to it.
The Magnolia Room’s Southern Fried Chicken
My Fried Chicken Dinner at The Magnolia Room in 2019 and 2024
The Fried Chicken was a bit of a disappointment. Even though it was a nice sized piece of chicken (almost half the bird) and the meat was juicy and moist and perfectly cooked, the coating had no flavor to it. It really needed some spices and I had to end up loading it with salt and pepper. Every bite was crispy and crunchy but not much flavor to it. The fresh Parker House rolls the same thing. They tasted good but were not moist (I found out later that they had been made in advance and had been defrosted).
For dessert, I had the Chocolate pie that was created by one of the owners of the hotel. It was pretty incredible with its dense filling and fresh whipped cream topping. I devoured that in a couple of bites.
The Chocolate Pie at the Magnolia Room at the Chalfonte Hotel.
In 2022, the Magnolia Room was open for both dinner and for breakfast the next day on my first night at the hotel. Lucille and her niece, Tina both retired from the hotel during the pandemic (although they do check in) so a new chef was hired for the hotel. They have kept the old favorites and added some new ones.
For dinner in 2022, I enjoyed the New England Clam Chowder again which had not changed a bit. The soup was thick and rich with a lots of clams dotting the soup and a taste from the cream.
I enjoyed the Fried Chicken again and it was almost a half a chicken that was moist and tender. I have to admit it needed a lot of salt. I could tell when Lucille was not in the kitchen working her magic. It was good but did not have that extra something that was the secret to her cooking. They also did not have her biscuits anymore and replaced them with cornbread that was good but not the same as those moist biscuits whose secret was a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
The delicious Fried Chicken dinner that has become a tradition in my Firemen’s Weekend
For dessert, I enjoyed the Peach Cobbler with some ice cream. It was delicious and made with local fruit. The only bad part was it needed to be heated. It was nice to eat inside dining room with all the beautiful chandeliers all lit. I originally sat outside but it was so dark so early that I could not see. There was nice jazz band outside playing. I think after dinner they moved to the King Edward Bar.
The specialty cocktail was strong and on top of all the driving I did in the afternoon, it made me even more tired. Still, I had enough energy to go to the Kings Bar, which is a small bar off the main lobby for an after-dinner drink and listen to one of the local groups that play there.
In 2023, the Magnolia Room was being used partially for a group of rug makers and it was such nice weather that we ate on the porch again. It was a really nice evening on the porch. The weather was warm and clear and thee was music in the air. A country band was playing that night and it was a lively concert.
The wonderful mixed drinks of the King Edward Room and the freshly baked rolls served before dinner.
That night I enjoyed the Caesar Salad, the delicious Crabcakes with Mashed Potatoes and String Beans and for dessert, the Chocolate Pie. Some of the repeats from previous years but good solid comfort food to me.
The Caesar Salad
Lucille’s famous Crabcakes with Mashed Potatoes and String beans.
The Chocolate Pie was the star dessert again.
The King Edward Bar is a small room that is off the wrap around porch and next to the history room that is part of the main lobby. There are about a half dozen tables around the small room which were always full and a small bar in the back. The service there is extremely friendly and the bartenders can mix a drink. Be prepared!
In 2024, I was back for dinner with my traditional Fried Chicken Dinner and it was very good this year. They had a new chef who put their own twist on the menu. It still was not the Fried Chicken that Lucille used to cook but still delicious.
I wait every year for this
For dessert, they had a new dessert on the menu called a “Snow Pie”. which was a chocolate filled pie in a graham cracker shell with a whipped top and crunches. God was this wonderful, it was sweet and delicious and nice to look at.
The Snow Pie for dessert in 2024
The Snow Pie in all its glory for dessert at The Magnolia Room
When at the hotel, it was nice to just sit back and drink a Cosmo and listen to the Jazz band. Every night during the season that have a different group there perform every night. It is nice because you don’t have to just sit in the bar. You can sit on the wrap around porch in one of the many rocking chairs, feel the breeze and listen to the music. I sat in one of the chairs and just relaxed. I started to fall asleep.
I went back to the room in the main building just for a quick rest and then I would go back to hear the music group. I fell asleep the second I hit the comfortable bed and did not wake up until much later that evening and then went to bed. I had one of the best night’s sleep I had in a long time.
I woke up completely refreshed and ready to start the day. Since the hotel was not full, I had the shared bathroom all to myself with no one banging on the door. I took a quick shower, dressed and went downstairs to try the second part of the culinary trip, the Magnolia Room Breakfast Buffet.
Magnolia Room at the Chalfonte Hotel
Now I am big breakfast fan (as many of you must know from my dining blog, “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) and when there is a buffet I am in high heaven. The food at breakfast just had more zing to it then at dinner. I just could not put my finger on why. I found out when I met Tina Bowser, one of the Magnolia Room’s two well know cooks. Her mother was Dot (Dorothy) Burton, one of the two main cooks at the hotel and as we talked we discovered that we lost our parents at the same time.
Dorothy and Lucille in the kitchen making the famous fried chicken a few years ago
I never had such a heart to heart with a complete stranger and we both talked about our losses and how much we both missed our parents. Funny how you can bond with a complete stranger who was going through exactly what I was going through. It was interesting when Tina said that she still felt like her mother looked over her shoulder when she cooked and could still feel the nudge when she did something wrong.
After our long conversation, she mentioned that she now worked side by side with her Aunt Lucille Thompson, her mother’s sister who was just as well known. Now I had heard so much about her mother and aunt that I asked for a favor, I wanted to meet her Aunt Lucille. She said no problem and I was able to go back in the kitchen to introduce myself.
Lucille Thompson on the Chalfonte Hotel porch
It is amazing to meet an 87 year old woman who still gets up every morning to cook for the hotel guests, make all the biscuits and rolls from scratch and prepare all the crab cakes, chicken coatings and then prepare breakfast. She was sitting down making her homemade rolls when I met here. It is always such a thrill when you meet a famous cook and Lucille and her family are so well known in the industry.
Lucille seemed thrilled when I made such a fuss. She told me of all her time at the hotel and the countless hours in the kitchen. I could tell there was pride in her voice on her cooking like it was her baby. She put a lot of effort into the food to make it special.
It was then she told me she had not been in the kitchen the night before and the she had made the dinner rolls in advance. That was the reason why there had been such a difference in flavor of the food. It’s not that it was not good it was but it just didn’t have that touch that was missing. There was such that sense that the person who gave it that extra care was not there to oversee it.
I complimented her on the soup and on the chocolate pie I had for dessert but she gave the credit to that to the owners wife, who made the delicious chocolate pie and the chicken vegetable soup. It was she though who made the Southern Breakfast I enjoyed so much. She seemed thrilled that I was so thrilled to finally meet her. I then left her alone to do her magic in the kitchen while I got back to the buffet.
Now this buffet is really nice. On the buffet we had fresh scrambled eggs, thick bacon, Amish sausage, fried hash brown potatoes, fried red tomatoes, spoon bread, fresh rolls and Danishes that were made by the kitchen as well as fresh fruits, juices and a complete waffle bar. This was all you could eat and they have never seen me at a breakfast buffet. Unlike other people who just fill up their plates and then to waste food, I circle the buffet, try a small portion of things and then go back for more so that I don’t waste.
My advice is that you have to go to the Chalfonte Hotel just for the breakfast buffet if not for anything else. Those fried red tomatoes are so sweet and crisp, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I had never eaten anything like this before. The homemade rolls when they are still hot are addictive and the Danishes are delicious and burst with fruits and cinnamon. The sausage is those fat Amish sausage that crack when you bite into them, and you can taste the freshly ground pork and sage. It was wonderful breakfast full of good food, great service and a beautiful room to eat in on a sunny morning.
Breakfast on the porch
Having breakfast on the porch at the Chalfonte Hotel in the summer of 2024
My view from the porch in 2022 and 2024
In 2022, the buffet was gone due to COVID, and the food service manager told me it would not be coming back. I guess when the old cooks left, they took that tradition with them. The food was a la Carte now and they opened the porch for breakfast on this beautiful sunny morning. I had a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast sandwich with a side of freshly made hashbrowns that were well spiced and salted.
The breakfast sandwich was on a Sesame seed bun and was sweet and savory at the same time. It was so nice to just sit outside and watch people walk by. It was a clear and sunny day perfect to eat outside. It was an enjoyable breakfast.
My breakfast sandwich in both 2022 and 2024
Yum!
By the time I finished it gave me a chance to get a quick walk into downtown Cape May, the Washington Mall, to look at the shops before I left. I needed to work off the breakfast. It was a bright sunny day, and I could not believe what the weatherman had said. I walked around the beach and the other half empty hotels that proved that the season was over. After a quick rest in the room, I checked out of the Grande Dame of Cape May for a trip to the zoo. It had been a great stay, truly relaxing and just what the doctor ordered. I had needed this rest.
By the time I left the hotel for the Cape May Zoo (see review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com) up on Route 9, it started to get cloudy and by the time I was walking into the zoo, it poured! Going to a zoo in the rain is not much fun as the animals took shelter too and I didn’t get to see many of them unless they were in a protected environment. As there was a break in the weather, some of the peeked out and greeted the visitors. I enjoyed visiting the zoo but have to say it is another Eighties type of zoo that is need of an update. I think there must be more interesting ways to have animals live then in some of the smaller exhibitions.
When I returned to zoo again in 2022, the place was packed with firemen and their families watching the animals who all looked so bored. I felt for these animals who needed to stretch a bit and being contained in a small area. I could see that they were well taken care of but animals like giraffes and buffalo need room to roam around. The Cape May Zoo is really big but still I could see that look on the animals faces. It looked like the seniors in a nursing home.
The entrance to the Cape May Zoo in the Summer of 2024
Admiring the giraffes in their area of the zoo
I did not like the look the Snow Lion had on his face
In 2022, I decided I wanted to explore the state and drove up Route 9 which would take me directly to Newark. Big Mistake! It took five hours to get home going through all those smalls towns. I really did see the middle of the State of New Jersey but it took over five hours to get home with traffic instead of the two and half by the Garden State Parkway. I am glad I did it once.
NJ State Firemen’s Convention 2018 and 2019:
The next week I returned to Cape May for the annual NJ Firemen’s Convention when about 8,000 fire fighters from all over the State of New Jersey convene for the Annual Convention. I can’t take the crowds of Wildwood and I stayed at the Chalfonte Hotel for a second time.
This time when I checked into the hotel, I was ‘upgraded’ which I find a dirty word in the hotel industry. It means that you are not getting the room that you were promised. In my case, I was moved out of the main hotel to the ‘Southern Quarters’ annex next door. It was no problem for me. I figured the wedding party that checked in that day all wanted to be together and it meant that I got a better room with my own bathroom (no more sharing).
The weird part was that I got the same exact room that I had at Christmas when I spent one night here on December 26th, 2017 (See Day One Hundred December 2017). Still I enjoyed the piece and quiet of the annex and it was nicer then the main hotel.
The only part about the room at the annex was that it was a top floor room of an old Victorian house and at one time must have been the attic. I am so tall that I had to lean down to brush my teeth and take a shower. Still it offered a lot of privacy when I finished my meetings.
The first day of the convention was really gloomy. The storm had finally hit land down South and it was misty and cloudy our first day of the convention. Since we did not have to be at the meeting until 1:00pm, I got up early and went to Uncle Bill’s Restaurant at 261 Beach Avenue in Cape May (see review on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for breakfast since the Magnolia Room was closed.
Uncle Bill’s is a institution in the South Jersey Shore area. It was founding in 1962 in Stone Harbor and has expanded to five other locations on the Southern New Jersey shore. I could tell by the food and service it is the typical Jersey Shore restaurant which caters to family who like nice size portions at a good price.
The Pancake and Egg breakfast platter at Uncle Bill’s will cover both breakfast and lunch
I love the breakfasts here. They cook the eggs in clarified butter so they have that creamy taste to them and the pancakes I ordered in the platter were as light as air. When the Pancake and Egg Platter was served ($12.95), it could have fed two people. It was a great shore breakfast.
Uncle Bill’s at 261 Beach Avenue is wonderful for breakfast. A real beach breakfast.
In 2022, I enjoyed breakfast again at Uncle Bill’s which I think is the ultimate breakfast beach spot. The place was mobbed this time and full of families who looked like they were enjoying their last vacation of the season. To get in and out of the restaurant for touring the area, I ate at the bar.
I had the most delicious Bacon, Broccoli and Cheddar Omelet with wheat toast ($8.95) and was just enough to get me through the day. I love the eggs here because you can taste the butter from the grill in every bite.
The breakfast was amazing
After breakfast I had some time on my hands before the meeting and had planned to visit the Wildwood Historical Society at 3907 Pacific Avenue in Wildwood, NJ (See my reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). The Society is only open from 9:00am-2:00pm so the only time I could have gone was that morning due to all the meetings.
The Wildwood Historical Society is an interesting little museum filled with photos and memorabilia from all eras of Wildwood’s history. Rooms were dedicated to the fire department, police department, the military, the schools, the amusement areas and the government. Each room had all sorts of artifacts and loaded with pictures in albums and on the wall.
Wildwood Historical Society at 3907 Pacific Avenue
In the hallways was old artifacts from the amusement areas that had been part of the fun of the parks over the many seasons. Many were pieces of the old parts or old rides and signs. Towards the back of the amusement area display were old restaurant menus and hotel displays.
The amusements display at the Wildwood Historical Society.
The museum can be a little overwhelming because there is so much crammed into the rooms that there is a lot to see at one time and the only problem with the museum is its limited hours. Surprisingly when I was there, the morning was so gloomy that there were many people from the convention there as well. A group of us were watching a video of the history of Wildwood, NJ before I left for the convention.
The Dracula’s Castle artifacts.
The Annual NJ Firemen’s Convention is interesting. There were about 8,000 fire fighters from all over the State of New Jersey in the convention hall all ready to vote on issues. We had the usual welcome speeches, flag salute and color guard and then it was business as usual. We wrapped by 2:30pm so we had time to walk around and see the fire equipment displays.
Since it was so cloudy most people packed up and went back to their hotels. I walked the Boardwalk to my favorite pizzeria, Joe’s Italian Pizzeria at 2812 Boardwalk between Magnolia & Poplar Streets (see reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for one of their giant slices of pizza.
The slices at Joe’s are double the size of a normal slice of pizza and they even put a little swirl of sauce on top to finish it off. Their pizza is consistent and delicious and it is fun trying to eat that giant 28 inch slice. There are two problems with the place though. One is that it is cash only in the 21st Century and second is that try to load their glasses up with ice and give you very little soda so you have to ask for just a little ice. Otherwise it is a nice place for a slice.
The slices at Joe’s are huge!
As I left the Boardwalk it got darker outside and there were very few people walking around the Boardwalk. I left to visit the Hereford Lighthouse at 111 North Central Avenue in North Wildwood, NJ (see reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). The Hereford Lighthouse is a Victorian Lighthouse that was built in 1874 and was operational until no longer deemed functional after the early 1960’s and a more modern structure was built leaving this building to rot away. Preservationists saved the building and restored it in 1983.
The Hereford Lighthouse at 111 North Central Avenue
I was surprised on how busy the museum was that afternoon. I guess people just did not want to walk on the beach on such a gloomy day. Each floor of the lighthouse shows it use and progress over almost one hundred years, with period furniture, family heirlooms and pictures, sea-going maps and nautical items. Floor by floor you see family living arrangements and the life the families had when they lived here.
The lighthouse meeting room.
The most beautiful view is from the top of the lighthouse on the third floor which had a spectacular view on the ocean and the surrounding area. What fascinated me the most was the history of the families who lived here and how they adapted to life here. The pictures of the holidays in the lighthouse were interesting. They even had a family reunion of the children who lived here a few years ago and to see these kids as children then as senior citizens was pretty remarkable.
The view from the top of the lighthouse.
What I liked about the museum was the gardens that surrounded the property. Even though it was not a nice afternoon out it was nice to walk through the flowered paths and shrubs and then take the back path to the bay area behind the property and see the bay and ocean. On a nice day in the middle of the summer it must be something.
The gardens at the Hereford Lighthouse.
After my trip to the Hereford Lighthouse at 111 North Central Avenue, I drove through the neighborhood to see the changes in the town. Even though Hurricane Sandy did not affect the Wildwood’s the way it did other shore towns there has been a lot of building in both North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest with the edges of Wildwood proper going through the change.
The light of the lighthouse on display.
All these towns are being knocked down and rebuilt with newer homes and businesses. Here and there are traces of the old Wildwood but slowly the towns are coming into the modern age with new condos and homes being built replacing the small shore houses of the 50’s and 60’s. Even the old motels that catered to the tourists are slowly disappearing which is going to affect all of us at the convention as these places vanish. I could see that the towns are becoming year-round communities.
When I got back to Cape May, I visited two other historical sites in town and then saw the sun set on Sunset Beach in West Cape May to round out my day.
The Greater Cape May Historical Society is housed in the old Hughes home that was built in the 1700’s and lived in by the family for generations. During the Gilded Age, the family came into money and built the larger Victorian home in the front of the historical home and used this home for a guest house. It has been lovingly restored and now all the floors are open for touring.
The Cape May Historical Society in the summer of 2023.
What an interesting visit I had to the Cape May Historical Society’s Memucan Hughes Colonial House. This tiny museum is only open between June 15th-September 15th and after that only for special events.
It is a fascinating little home that was built somewhere between 1730 to 1760. The original house no one is too sure if it had been built for the original owner or had been there and added on to as the records for the age of the house are unclear.
The sign in the summer of 2023.
The home consists of two small downstairs room filled with period furniture and decorations and there is an upstairs with three small rooms that have just opened up to the public. The front room Mr. Hughes used as a tavern that he kept open until almost the 1800’s. He had catered to a growing whaling industry that needed some form of entertainment in this quiet town that was isolated from the rest of the state.
The Pub in the front room of the house for meals and conversation.
The Front Room of the house served as a pub for visiting travelers.
The room was set up for dining and amusements. The Lincoln Crib is in the background.
The Lincoln crib was built by Abraham Lincoln’s father.
The Arrowhead and Pipe collection in the Pub Room.
The front of the house is decorated as tavern to greet guests. There were tables filled with games and items that would have catered to the trade but still you knew you were in someone’s home. There are vintage card tables, board games and some household items.
The Living room at the Cape May Historical Society
The back room is a closed off kitchen with a fireplace and spinning wheels and wash tubs, all the things to run a household. There were also children’s toys, kitchen and garden gadgets and family items to personalize the house.
The narrow stairs lead to the upper bedrooms and the attic loft.
The upstairs bedrooms and the attic room were open in the summer of 2023, and I got to see the whole house. The upstairs is supposedly haunted, but I did not see anything. What I did see was how large the house really was and why the family of eight were able to live in this small house.
The upstairs bedroom
It was interesting to tour the house and grounds that are beautifully taken care of by the Cape May Garden Club. In the summer months, the gardens were in full bloom and at Christmas, the house is nicely decorated on the outside for the holidays. My nex stop was the Cape May Fire Museum right down the road.
Cape May Firemen’s Museum at Christmas time
The museum in the summer of 2023
When I was in Cape May, NJ recently and came across the Cape May Fire Department Museum when walking around the town. It is interesting little museum that tells the history of the Cape May Fire Department.
The museum showcases the history Cape May Fire Department since its creation in the late 1880’s. There have been some serious fires over the years that have destroyed sections of the Cape May resort community.
Hotel fires displayed at the Cape May Fire Museum
Some of the resorts oldest and grandest hotels that were made of wood have been leveled by spectacular fires. The department has framed the articles around the building.
The inside of the Cape May Museum
There is also large collection of patches from fire departments all over the country, displays of equipment from all eras of firefighting and some displays that are dedicated to retired firemen from the department with their equipment.
Patches and Bunker gear
Some fascinating old fire equipment is on display as well. All of this is marked accordingly along the walls. In the middle of the museum there is an antique pumper to admire that has been fully restored. All the pieces of equipment are dated and described so that you can see the transition in fire fighting over the years.
The Chief’s desk
Cape May Fire Department News:
The museum is open and free to the public. Please come and enjoy the history of the City of Cape May Fire Department. Shirts can be purchased inside the Station. The career personnel on staff will be happy to assist you. The antique Fire Engine is a 1928 American La France and is house inside our museum.
The 9/11 exhibit at the Cape May Fire Museum
The back of the historic engine in the museum.
I ended my evening before I left for dinner at the Ravioli House at Sunset Beach watching the sunset. I have seen this many times, but I never get bored of watching the sun set over the beach. I know that it is getting very popular with the firefighters and their families as I saw many trucks and a lot more people than I normally do at Sunset Beach. I spent the evening watching the sun set on this beautiful stretch of beach, which has probably one of the most amazing sunsets in the world.
Sunset Beach in all its glory in the summer of 2023.
Sunset Beach is a marvelous place to visit for sunset
Sunset Beach in Cape May, NJ is one of the most beautiful beaches in American and is ranked 24# on TripAdvisor as one of the breathtaking beaches to visit. The beach site in Lower Township in Cape May and is at the very end of Sunset Boulevard which is a direct run from downtown Cape May.
One both sides of the parking lot, there are gift shops and a small café grill. These have limited hours after Labor Day Weekend. The grill is closed after the holiday weekend but sometimes stays open depending on the weather after the Labor Day weekend.
The beach is amazing as you can see the pleasure boats in the distance coming in and out of the small harbor just north of the beach.
The Sunset Beach is really beautiful in the off season when not a lot of people are there
The Start of the Sunset in December 2022
Looking out into Delaware Bay is quite spectacular with its moving waves and the way it glitters in the sun. In the warmer months, it is just nice to walk along the shore and watch the birds. In the winter months, the breezes get to be too much and a short visit is nicer.
The beginning of the sunset
Any time of the year though, make sure to be here for sunset and that is when the beach works it beautiful natural magic.
The setting of the sun
The sun disappearing in the horizon
The sun disappearing
At sunset you will see an array of colors with the sun setting in the distance. The last time I visited the beach in September, it was a combination of oranges, purples and blues as the sun set. The lower the sun the more brilliant the colors. They become more complex as the sun gets lower.
The best part of the view is that it is played out on the large stage. It covers the whole sky, and it looks like the sun is going to sleep in the bay. You can almost touch it. Each night when the sun sets it’s a different color in the rainbow in the sky. The backdrop of the small stone formations and the SS Atlantis Concrete Ship make it more dramatic. Everyone applauded the sun setting and then it was a mad race to get out of there as I Googled the restaurant and realized that they closed at 9:00pm that night. Thank God I parked down the road facing Cape May.
For dinner for all five years of the Convention (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021,2022 and 2023), I went to my favorite restaurant in Wildwood, The Ravioli House and Bakery at 102 Bennett Avenue in Wildwood, NJ (see reviews on TripAdvisor and LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com). This has become my Saturday night in Wildwood tradition. I love their bakery which is located in the back of the restaurant which has a separate entrance.
The bakery has cases of Italian pastries that are all beautifully displayed and you just want to try one after another. I settled on a chocolate éclair ($3.00) just in time to spoil my dinner but what is wrong with eating dessert first? This delicious pastry was loaded with vanilla custard and topped with a thick layer of chocolate icing. There is nothing better but making a choice was hard. The custard doughnut that looked like a peach would have to be tried as well.
The Ravioli House at 102 Bennett Avenue in Wildwood, NJ
I managed to walk around a little before dinner and then went in for dinner at The Ravioli House for the second year in a row. It was loaded with fire fighting families and groups of people from the convention. The restaurant was busy that whole evening and I could tell that they were short on help.
It some time for dinner but I was in no rush. Dinner here is well worth the wait. I started with one of their garden salads ($3.95) which was loaded with fresh greens, cucumbers and tomatoes. No hot house vegetables here. The salad was crisp and nicely accented by the oil and vinegar dressing.
The tossed green house salad at Ravioli House
For dinner, I had the Trio of Ravioli ($19.95) which ended up being a duo since they ran out of spinach ravioli. So I just had the meat and cheese ravioli which are freshly made in the restaurant and were as light as air. The meat ravioli were some of the best I have eaten.
The Trio of Ravioli at Ravioli House was my dinner in both 2022 and 2023.
For dessert, I had the Peach Custard Doughnut ($3.95), which was a doughnut, split in half, filled with cream rolled in sugar and liqueur to give it that peach color exterior. It was well worth the second dessert but was a little sweet to end the meal.
The Peach Pastry dessert at the Ravioli House.
I ended up talking to the owners daughter again who works the register. I swear it was like ‘Some Time Next Year’ visiting places I had last year.
The Bakery at the Ravioli House is amazing!
There was no Convention in 2020 because of COVID and in 2021, the Convention was a one day walk through where we showed our cards, went into the Convention Center, filled out our forms and voted. We exited the building and then signed in with the department representatives. That was the extent of the Convention. About fifteen minutes.
I got to bed early that night when I started to get tired after listening to the band at the King Edward Bar for a bit. I said ‘I’ll just lie down for a second’. I woke up at Midnight and then went back to bed.
My last morning in Wildwood was nice. I woke up early, checked out of the hotel and headed to the boardwalk for breakfast. I had walked around the Boardwalk the day before and passed Franconi’s Pizza at 3318 Boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ (See review on TripAdvisor and LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com).
In 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023, the owners were outside shoving menus into everyone’s hands in the three years I attended the Convention in Wildwood and one of the items on the menu was a breakfast special for firefighters for $5.99. I thought I have to try this. I was not disappointed in the three years I ate here and now look forward to visiting the restaurant every time I come to the Wildwood Boardwalk.
Franconi’s Pizza at 3318 Boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ
I have never had breakfast at a pizzeria on a boardwalk before but this is the standard that all should be set. The food was delicious! For $5.99, I got two pancakes, two eggs, two slices of bacon, a mound of potatoes and two slices of toast. The juice was separate. It was meal that could have fed two people and everything was delicious.
Breakfast at Franconi’s is wonderful.
All the food was cooked in clarified butter and you could taste it in the scrambled eggs which were fluffy and in the pancakes which you could taste in the caramelization of the outside of the pancakes. I was so stuffed that I rolled out of the restaurant. It was one of the best breakfast’s I ever had out and I highly recommend it when walking the Boardwalk in Wildwood in the morning.
The pancakes at Franconi’s are especially good!
In 2021 and 2023, I had the number eight breakfast special, which was two slices of French Toast, two scrambled eggs, two pieces of bacon, two pieces of sausage and hash browns for $7.95 which included hot tea and coffee. The breakfast could have fed two people easily. The eggs still tasted the same with the wonderful flavor of the clarified butter and the French Toast was two big Texas Toast slices cut in half, so it was four big pieces. The French Toast was loaded with cinnamon and had the most wonderful, sweet, caramelized flavor to it.
In 2022, I was walking around the Boardwalk Saturday afternoon after a day of touring historical sites and the Cape May Zoo, and I wanted a snack before I went back to the hotel and relaxed. I would be eating dinner late, so it was no big deal. I stopped at Franconi’s again for a Meatball Parmesan hoagie ($8.95) and it was delicious. It was a seven-inch sandwich loaded with freshly made meatballs and topped with their delicious marinara sauce. It was the perfect late lunch and just enough where it did not fill me up when I was having dinner at Ravioli House.
The meatball sandwich at Franconi’s is excellent
In 2018 and 2019, it had cleared and was sunny and blue outside. It was a spectacular day to walk around the Boardwalk. The morning meeting went by quickly as I could see that everyone wanted to get out of there and go outside to enjoy the sunny morning. We started our meeting at 9:00am, voted for our new officers for the Association and were out by 10:30am.
Most people were outside walking around the fire equipment or walking with their families on the Boardwalk by the time I got outside. I took one last walk on the Boardwalk to stretch my legs before I left for Newark, DE for the Cornell versus University of Delaware football game (we lost 27-10 but not the blood bath of last year). So there was a distance to drive.
Cornell versus University of Delaware (We can’t seem to beat them!) Watch the game below.
I left Wildwood until ‘Same Time Next Year’ for the next convention. There are a lot more places to explore and restaurants to try. You never know what you will come across in a shore town.
NJ State Firemen’s Convention 2021:
In 2021, things had changed a lot due to COVID. The Convention went from a two day event to a one day walk through where all we did was get scanned in and then fill out the form to vote and get that scanned and then walk out of the convention center. Some people wore masks and some didn’t but we were not there long enough to worry about it.
I decided this year to make this a working vacation trip since I had pulled my back out and needed to catch up on trips down the shore to visit museums. I was going to stay at the Chalfonte Hotel again for two nights and do the walk through voting but on my way down to Cape May, I decided to visit many of the shore towns to visit their historical museums for my blog, VisitingaMuseum.com.
So my trip started early Thursday morning with my first stop being the Ocean City Historical Museum at 1735 Simpson Avenue in downtown Ocean City, NJ. It was a beautiful morning with not much traffic so it was easy to manage the trip into town. I forgot what a picturesque town Ocean City is when you enter it. It looks like a little New England town.
It took a bit to find the museum until I realized that it was part of the town’s Municipal complex and you had to go through the museum to enter it. It really is an interesting little museum. I liked the history of the shore town with its Victorian hotels, the progression of the Boardwalk over the years, the ship wrecks of the coast line and the exhibit dedicated to Princess Grace Kelly whose family used to vacation here during the summers. I was surprised when the Royal family visited as well when she came home (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).
The Princes Grace Kelly exhibition at the museum
After the visit to the museum, I walked down a few blocks to the shoreline where the Boardwalk was located and took a long walk down the length of the Boardwalk to see what was still open. My therapist suggested a lot of walking for me and that is what I did going all the way to the end and back. Still it gave me a chance to visit old businesses I had been to before.
The Ocean City Boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ
I started with lunch at Manco & Manco Pizza at 816 East 9th Street on the Boardwalk. I love the pizza here and when I am in Ocean City, NJ this is the only place that I go. The sauce is well spiced and the pizza is always delicious. It has that nice tomato sauce swirl that is so famous at the Jersey Shore and they use a high quality mozzarella cheese on their pies. The place was mobbed that day and the line was ten deep while the other places on the boardwalk were quiet (see my review on TripAdvisor.com).
After that, I walked back down the Boardwalk to Johnson’s Popcorn at 1360 Boardwalk for a small popcorn for dessert. I had tried the caramel corn many times before and this time I decided on the Cheese popcorn. It was amazing! (See my review on TripAdvisor).
You could tell it was a combination of Cheddar and what tasted like Blue Cheese as well. It was so rich and savory you could taste it in every bite. They really loaded on the cheese coating. I happily munched on it on my way back to the car needing several napkins to wipe up what I could not lick off. What was nice is that they give it to you in a bag so the extra popcorn spills over and you get extra. This more than filled me up on my next trip to Sea Isle City Historical Museum.
The bins of fresh Caramel Corn scream “Buy me!”
Sea Isle City was really quiet the afternoon that I was there and it seemed that the whole town had rolled up its sleeves and then left. There were not that many cars on the road so it was easy to get around. It took a bit to find the Sea Isle City Museum as it was tucked into the Municipal Building behind their library. It was a small historical society manned by very dedicated and helpful volunteers. They looked like they were happy to see a visitor and explained the whole museum to me.
They had a very interesting ‘Wedding Dresses through the Ages’ exhibition when you walked in which displayed residents of Sea Isle City’s wedding costumes from the late 1880’s through today which the volunteers said were very popular. There were various historical displays of kitchens, fishing equipment and items from old hotels and restaurants. There were also binders of families that lived here for generations. Outside there was a Diamondback Turtle Refuge and a small botanical garden dedicated to the former President of the museum.
The “Wedding Dresses Through the Ages” exhibit at the museum
I knew I would never get to Stone Harbor in time to see their museum so I took my time to drive to Avalon, NJ. There was no one on the road but me so it was a quick trip and I got to the Avalon History Center at 215 39th Street in time to have about an hour to tour the museum. It was just the right amount of time.
Since I got there before it closed, I was the only one in the museum and a staff member greeted me and let me know if I had any questions that he would be in the back. After that, I was alone to enjoy looking at the displays.
The Historical and Hotel Gallery at the Avalon Museum
The Avalon History Center is similar in displays to the other shore historical societies. There were displays on local hotels and restaurants, a small history on the growing music scene from the 1960’s and 70’s, the formation of the railroad head at the shore and big display on the Beach Patrol, which is a big part of the culture at the shore. It recorded the competitions over the years and its importance in the town. Outside these is a small garden and out buildings to explore.
The Business Gallery at the museum
After I left Avalon, I followed the Shore Highway to Wildwood and wanted to walk the Boardwalk there have a stretch before I arrived at the Chalfonte Hotel for the evening. So with a brisk walk with the ocean air, I found myself back at Franco’s again at 3318 Boardwalk indulging in a Cheesesteak ($8.95). I would highly recommend it. It was the best cheesesteak I had eaten outside of Philly (as Wildwood caters to the Philly crowd and probably knows their way around a cheesesteak). The sandwich was on a fresh chewy roll loaded with thin steaks and a large portion of Cheese Wiz on top. It was like heaven in each bite.
The cheesesteaks at Franconi’s rival anything in Philly
I got to my room at the Chalfonte Hotel later that evening. I have to say that I have been staying at this hotel now for almost six years and I have never seen it so run down. It just looked like they had not done any renovation work in a long time. I was not impressed by the peeling paint and the stained carpets in the second floor hallways. My room had water damage in the corner of the room (I could not believe that they would sell this room).
Voting the next morning took only fifteen minutes. We showed our ID’s, filled out the form and had them scanned and walked out of the Convention Center. Done in minutes and then off to the Boardwalk again to visit restaurants and stores.
Breakfast again was Franconi’s and I swear their breakfasts are the best on the Boardwalk. You can not top their French Toast platter with scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage with a side of Hash Browns (see review on TripAdvisor and LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com).
The French Toast Platter at Franconi’s.
I spent the rest of the morning walking off breakfast by touring the entire Boardwalk and then walking back. From here I visited a series of museums that have been on bucket list for a long time. I also stopped by a series of farms along the way to look for the elusive Beach Plum jelly.
My first stop was the Stone Harbor Historical Museum at 9410 Second Avenue in Stone Harbor, NJ. This delightful little museum has an extensive collection of artifacts packed into a small space just off Downtown Stone Harbor.
The museum like many along the shore has the history of their tourism, the competition in the Beach Patrol, artifacts from homes and families from the area and even had a 9/11 exhibition that was donated from the Stone Harbor Fire Department chief (See reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).
Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum at 500 Forrestal Road
The next museum on my list was the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum at 500 Forrestal Road in West Cape May. This unique museum at the Cape May Airport explains the region’s role in WWII. Serving as an Army base during the beginning of WWII, there were stories from locals about their time in the armed forces, how the area catered to our uniformed soldiers and their stories about training in the area and then all the vehicles from planes to trucks. Plan to be here for a few hours (See my review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).
In 2022, after the convention was over, I visited several other historical sites that I was not able to visit or have time for in June for my Father’s Day weekend visit.
Dennis Township Old Schoolhouse Museum at 681 Petersburg Road in Woodbine, NJ
I finally got to visit this interesting little museum in historic Woodbine, NJ. The museum is surrounded by a neighborhood of historic homes, so the town has a nice feel to it right in the middle of a farming community.
The Farming display at the museum.
There is a display on the basket making industry that supplied all the baskets for fruits and vegetables for the farmers in New Jersey, the shingle making industry that prided itself on making the shingles for Congress Hall in Philadelphia and the renovation of a local cemetery of historic significance to the town.
The Basket Making display.
The Military Display at the museum.
There are pictures of the historic Methodist Camp that was located here, a display on local Veterans and their artifacts, pictures of home management on the farm and in rural New Jersey, an antique pipe organ and pictures of the local renovation of the Ludlam family cemetery. There is a little bit of this and a little bit of that displayed at the museum and well organized in this former one room schoolhouse. The docents were also really nice.
The School display at the museum.
There were also displays of period furniture, farm equipment, clothing and accessories, the town’s police and fire departments and a complete library on the town’s history and a place where people can come to study their genealogy. There is a lot packed into this small museum.
The Museum of Cape May County at 504 North Route 9.
The Museum of Cape May County changed their hours the week before and now it is only open on Wednesday and Friday afternoon, so I had to plan to visit it another time when I was in the area. I was a little bummed because it had nice grounds that I took a moment to walk. That is when I went back to the Cape May Zoo (see above) which was a madhouse that afternoon on a beautiful sunny day.
When I returned to Cape May in 2024 for the Convention, I finally after almost five years in trying (between COVID closures) finally got to tour the house, the barn and the carriage house. It really is a hidden gem that is wasted with the hours the museum keeps. It really is an interesting museum if you can get on the tour.
The inside of the house The Living Room
The inside of the house The Dining Room
The inside of the Carriage House with buggies and carriages
The inside of the Barn and its artifacts like the farm equipment of Cape May
This is the problem with many of the historical sites I visit. They are so interesting to visit and have some much to see but the hours they keep I often wonder when people are able to visit or when they visitors in general. It is a real problem with volunteerism.
Church Landing Farm/Pennsville Township Historical Society at 88 Church Landing Road
The Church Landing Farm was my last stop on my way home. I had tried to visit it on my last trip, and it had already closed for the day, and it is open just one day a week. Still this small historical society should not be missed.
The sign welcoming you
The farmhouse is decorated in period furniture from Victorian times to the 1920’s and shows the life of gentleman farmer, Daniel Garrison, who built the house between 1840-1845. Most of the furnishings were donated with the exception of the Garrison family portraits which were donated by the family,
The Electric Light sign near the themed buildings
Where the museum really shines in in the individual sheds that have different themes to them. One is a Fishing Hut to move around during the season, a one room schoolhouse, one dedicated to the local high schools with uniforms and spirit items including football pictures and trophies. My favorite was of the local amusement park that closed in 1969. The artifacts of the park were really interesting that included old rides, signs, prizes from the games and pictures of the park in its glory. These were fascinating. I walked the grounds again before I left and went back to Hudock’s for some ice cream before the long trip home.
The small themed farm buildings
In 2021, on my way back from visiting all the museums, I stopped at two farms in search of Beach Plum jelly, something of a local delicacy in Southern New Jersey. My first stop was the Beach Plum Farm which is part of the Cape Resorts. I love coming here for breakfast (See TripAdvisor review) and to just look around at the gift shop and the grounds. It has really expanded over the years.
The Beach Plum Farm
I also took quick tours of the Lewes Maritime Museum at the Cannonball House at 118 Front Street in Lewes before I took the ferry to Cape May and the Museum of Fine Arts & Popular Culture at 507 Washington Street in Cape May, but they were rushed, and I did not get to really enjoy them. The Lewes Maritime Museum was loaded with information on the Revolutionary War and the local fishing industry.
Cannonball House at 118 Front Street in Lewes
The displays inside the Cannonball House are very interesting
The Museum of Fine Arts & Popular Culture displayed work of the Surrealists and featured many items from the curator’s collection and works that he had done himself.
The Museum of Fine Arts & Popular Culture at 507 Washington Street Unit 104
The gift shop had an array of gift and food items to choose from and the small restaurant even expanded since my last visit two years ago. There are many fresh and frozen items to choose from as well as gourmet gift products and even fresh eggs from their chickens. There were lots of breakfast and lunch items on the menu.
I love walking the grounds and looking at the garden beds, chicken coops and looking at the crops which were in their last stages of growing as the summer grew to close. It has gotten very commercial since my first visit about ten years ago but the farm has grown more popular and has really expanded. I could not find the elusive jelly.
Down the road is the more authentic working farm, the Rea Farm and their Market. This is more of what you would think of as a farm. The fields are in the back and the owner of the farm’s wife works the farm stand market. She and I talked for almost an hour about life on the farm and the Farm Act and protecting precious New Jersey farm land.
The inside of the farm stand.
It was here that I found the Beach Plum jelly ($6.95) which I thought was reasonably priced. Mrs. Rea said that she made the jelly herself and that all of her fruit jams and baked products are made at the commercial kitchen they had in the old farmhouse. They also too had a nice selection of baked products and fresh eggs. It was less fancy as going to Beach Plum Farms but just as nice of an experience.
The outside of the farm stand getting ready for Halloween in early September.
On the Saturday nights that I spend in Cape May during the Convention, it is always dinner at the Ravioli House in Wildwood, NJ. Dinner that night was back at the Ravioli House in Wildwood, NJ. Because of COVID and the number of people at the Convention, the restaurant had set up a tent with outdoor dining in their parking lot next to the restaurant. Thank God it was a nice sunny warm night that was perfect to dine out.
I love the food here and before dinner I managed to sneak in a piece of pastry from their bakery. I had one of their St. Joseph custard filled pastries ($3.75) about an hour before dinner. I should have waited though as it did put a slight damper on dinner. Still I was starved.
The Ravioli House bakery is located behind the restaurant
Since it would be both lunch and dinner for me and I planned to head back to the hotel after dinner for a long walk, I decided to have a big meal when I saw some of the things on the menu that I had not tried in my last few trips to the restaurant.
I started with the Chicken Pastina soup ($4.25) which was a flavorful chicken stock loaded with fresh vegetables, chunks of chicken and Pastina, which are small pieces of pasta in the shape of a thumb nail. The soup was rich in chicken flavor and was the perfect starter for a cool night.
The Chicken Pastina Soup
Since I was starved, I decided to try the Trip Around Italy ($26.95), which was a sampling of all the pastas on the menu that included two stuffed shells, four ravioli and a big portion size of both Gnocchi and Spaghetti along with a large meatball and a piece of sausage. All the pastas were fresh and made in house and the meatballs and sausage were also made in house along with their fresh red sauce.
The dish was amazing but filling. I was starved and somehow I ate everything including a whole bread basket of fresh rolls to dip the sauce in and butter. The pastas were delicious and the cheese filling in the ravioli and stuffed shells was a combination of parmesan, ricotta and mozzarella which felt creamy and you could taste the complexity of the mixture. When the waitress came to collect my plate she could not believe I ate everything on the plate plus the rolls. She said most people take half of it home.
The ‘Tour Around Italy’ can feed two people
After a dinner like that I did not need any dessert and ended up taking a long walk around the neighborhood to work it off and digest. I think I walked about a mile and a half from the restaurant to the Boardwalk and back.
The wonderful homemade rolls at Ravioli House.
In 2022, I was back at the Ravioli House again for my annual Saturday night dinner. Since I had had the meatball hoagie a few hours before, I did not want to have a huge meal like in the past. I decided on the Chicken Picante, which was two nicely sized chicken breasts sauteed in butter, lemon and wine and topped with capers. What was nice was it included a small salad to start with fresh greens and a light oil and vinegar dressing and a side of their homemade spaghetti with their flavorful marinara sauce.
The House Salad at Ravioli House.
For dessert, I had stopped in the pastry shop behind the restaurant and eyed the St. Joseph’s pastry and decided on that for dessert. The rich sweet filling with the rich pastry dough was a special treat for my last night at the shore.
The Chicken Piccante was delicious
I ran into the owner who mans the register every time I come on (her mother is supervising in the kitchen at 80) and reminded her of my previous visits. We were laughing over the bread story last year when a firemen’s son, (who was challenged), stole the bread off the table. She laughed and said for some reason she remembered that. When I left, I said, “Same time next year.” She seemed please that I have made this part of my tradition in visiting Wildwood.
I drove back to Cape May through the Wildwoods and could not believe how quiet it seemed. Most of the hotels in town were not full and even the Boardwalk seemed quiet that evening. It was busy but not like two years ago. I think most people voted and then went home. The hotels by the Boardwalk still had vacancy signs. When I arrived back in Cape May, their downtown was hopping.
The next morning I toured around Cape May and revisited some of the sights from the day before and walked down to the beach. It was so warm that people were hitting the beach and walking around downtown. I tried to go to Uncle Bill’s Pancake House again a few blocks away but the line was about fifty deep with families and a waitstaff that was hustling as fast as they could. So I walked a few blocks away and went to an old standby, The Mad Batter at 19 Jackson Street for breakfast.
Unfortunately it was the same thing but this time with young couples and older families waiting outside. I lucked out with the host and she let me eat at the bar so I was immediately seated and served. Breakfast as usual here was fantastic. I could not believe how fast breakfast came out as the whole restaurant was mobbed from the time I got there to the long line left when I departed.
The bar area at the Mad Batter at 19 Jackson Street
I had a Three Egg with Cheddar and Bacon and a side of home fries with toast. The bartender at The Mad Batter does mix a very strong Mimosa. The omelet was excellent and so well spiced. The hash browns had a bit of kick to them with the peppers. The service was excellent. When I left, the line was still long to get in.
The omelet was excellent.
On this beautiful morning, I left for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to visit my mother for an overnight trip. I owed her dinner for her delayed Christmas present. So off I went taking the ferry again across Delaware Bay while watching the Michigan State-U of Miami Game.
The evening my mom, her partner and I went to Big Fish at 20298 Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach, DE which was part of my mother’s Christmas present that we had not been able to plan since I had gotten hurt over the summer. It was a relaxing evening where we all indulged in their sweet Fried Shrimp platter and various appetizers. After three days of running around visiting museums, stores and restaurants for updates on my blog and visiting small towns and farms to add to these blogs, it was nice to just relax.
The Big Fish Grille at 20298 Costal Highway in Rehoboth Beach, DE
In 2022 and in 2023, I was visiting for an early birthday meal with my mom and Jane. Since I would not be seeing her again until December because of college, I took the two of them to Confucious at 57 Wilmington Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
We ordered a lot for dinner because we were all starved. We started off with delicious thin-skinned pork dumplings and pan-fried soft-shell crabs and for the entrees we ordered Mu Shu Pork (they make this so good!), General Tso’s Chicken, Spicy Singapore Noodles and the owner always sends something complimentary to the table, my mom’s favorite, Fried Rice. It was such a nice meal, and it was funny toasting my mother three months early.
Everyone’s favorite, the General Tso’s Chicken at Confucious.
The Beef Chow Fun at Confucius is always a hit with us.
Their Mu Shu Pork is fantastic. This is why we always order it.
The next day I took off for home but not after another visit to the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. I had to have my Louis Pizza fix. Louis Pizza at 11 Rehoboth Avenue right near the Boardwalk and is the best place in town to get pizza. After a slice and a quick walk on the Boardwalk to enjoy the sunshine, it was back home again to answer calls and get back to work.
My favorite lunch at Louise’s Pizza, a slice with an icy Coke.
Well, another Convention season is now over and now I am a Life Member of the NJ State Fireman’s Association. Quite an accomplishment for seventeen years on the department.
Places to Eat:
Magnolia Room/King Edward Bar@ The Chalfonte Hotel
301 Howard Street
Cape May, New Jersey 08204
Open : Sunday-Saturday 8:30am-10:00pm/6:00pm-9:00pm
Hours: Sunday-Saturday-4:00pm-9:00pm/Bakery-10:00am-9:00pm (In season)-Please check with the restaurant as it closes as the season winds down. Both close down on October 14th.
Built in the nineteenth century, the Chalfonte offers ‘the view from yesterday, genteel Southern-style hospitality, ornate gingerbread verandas line with comfortable rocking chairs and a constant sea breeze to rejuvenate and refresh. The Chalfonte’s distinctive ship-like profile, crowned by her Italianate cupola, now occupies nearly an entire city block. The hotel was built in 1876 by Civil War Colonel Henry Sawyer and was originally planned as a boarding house. Sawyer’s Chalfonte underwent most of its expansion between 1876 and 1909 and the present footprint is much as it was in 1909. This venerable Grande Dame by the sea still retains its Victorian Charm-louvered door to let the breeze through, Southern cuisine in The Magnolia Room and original antiques and fixtures throughout.
President Lincoln and the Chalfonte:
The history of the Chalfonte Hotel begins with a story that rivals “Gone with the Wind”. Sawyer arrived in Cape May in 1848 at the age of eighteen, a supporter of the Union side in the Civil War. He enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment since a New Jersey one had not been formed. After three months service and rising to the rank of Captain, he returned home only to re-enlist in a New Jersey regiment. In June 1863, after being captured during a bloody exchange at the Battle of Brandy in Virginia, Sawyer was incarcerated at Libby Prison in Richmond.
In retaliation for shooting two Confederate Cavalry prisoners of war, the Confederacy proposed to execute two Union prisoners, drawn by lottery. Sawyer was on of the two selected in the lottery of death. When Sawyer’s wife heard new of her husband’s execution, she did not go into a state of morning, instead rushing cross country to Washington to meet with President Lincoln and beg for his intervention. As a result, Secretary of War Stanton warned the South they would execute two Confederates if they executed the two Union prisoners. Upping the stakes, one of the Confederate prisoners selected was the son of General Robert E. Lee. The situation ended with Sawyer being released in a swap with Robert E. Lee’s son. He resumed active duty and returned to Cape May in 1875 as a recognized war hero.
Sawyer’s Chalfonte:
Having bought a parcel of land in 1872 at the corner of Howard Street and Sewell Avenue in 1875, Sawyer began construction of “Sawyer’s Chalfonte” (Chalfonte means ‘cool fountain’ in French; Sawyer’s reason for using the name is unknown). In 1876, Colonel Sawyer bought all the rest of the square bounded by Columbia, Franklin, Sewell and Howard except for the lot at the corner of Columbia and Howard except for the lot at the corner of Columbia and Howard.
Cape May’s inclination away from resort hotels in favor of the intimacy of cottages had already begun. This trend was sealed in the fall of 1878 when the city suffered yet another disastrous fire. Previous fires had seen the total destruction of the Mt. Vernon Hotel in 1858 and of more properties in 1869. While the fire of 1878 reduced Cape May’s count of hotel rooms from 2200 to 200 in a single night and marked the demise of large hotel construction in the rest of Cape May, the Chalfonte, standing unscathed beyond the fire’s reach was about to experience an unprecedented expansion.
The same year Henry Sawyer extended his then two-year-old boarding house down Sewell Avenue, adding nineteen rooms to his existing eighteen. The original residence and addition were significant improvement in architectural refinement over the pre-Civil War hotels. While in no way extravagant, the building had a simple dignified Italian form (sometimes known as ‘Cube Italian’ in Cape May) with a balanced plan and façade.
In spite of suffering the ravages of time and storm, with minimal foundations, the first three phases of the building are soundly built with an eye to graceful resolution of any geometrical anomalies. Sawyer owned the hotel for another ten years, selling it in 1888 after just thirteen years of ownership. He died in 1893.
Chalfonte Today:
Between 1888 and 1911 the Chalfonte was extended to its current size, adding another twenty-three rooms along Sewell Avenue, enlarging the dining room and providing delightful architectural riddles for future preservationist to solve.
The University of Delaware versus Cornell Football game in 2018
Michigan State University versus University of Miami game in 2021:
As I have been walking all over the Upper East & West Sides of Manhattan plus in all the up and coming neighborhoods all over the City and out in the suburbs, I am discovering so many trendy and unique little stores, whose merchants are proving that you don’t have to flock to Amazon to find the latest fashion forward and eclectic merchandise. These tiny stores all over the metropolitan area are bucking the trend of online shopping and proving that the original ‘store keeper’ is a thing of the present.
The Hungarian Pastry Shop at 1030 Amsterdam Avenue
I was inspired by stores such as Tiny Doll House (314 East 78th Street) and La Librairie des Enfants (163 East 92nd Street) on the Upper East Side (now closed) and John Koch Antiques (201 West 84th Street) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (relocated to Long Island) with their unique and inspiring merchandise that screams “buy me” when you walk in the door.
Even in my own town of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, I visit Young Fashions (208 Boulevard) and The Religious Shoppe (220 Boulevard) for merchandise that you will no longer find in the department stores. These establishments stand out for their personalized service where you will work with the owners to merchandise you will find for that extra special gift.
Religious Shoppe at 220 Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights NJ
Even some of the food stores and gourmet shops (that don’t fit into my DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com site) I have come across show that restaurants and gourmet food can display their goods in a beautiful way and still taste good but not be expensive such as Harbs on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. These stores get a local gathering of residents and tourists lucky enough to find them.
Domus-Unaffected Living at 413 West 44th Street
My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:
So as I do “MywalkinManhattan.com”, let’s go shopping on “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com” and eat something along the way as I guide you past the department stores and the expensive boutiques to show how Merchandising Management is not dead and how the experience of personal service and friendly shop owners is alive and well in all parts of New York City and beyond.
*Author’s Note: “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com is an extension of my site, “MywalkinManhattan.com” along with “VisitingaMuseum.com” and “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com” to complete your touring experience around the Metropolitan area and beyond.
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