The Tourist's Life

Keefe had to be at work at the Lobster House Restaurant in Cape May by 10:30, and then he'd need the car to go to Atlantic County for a meeting with his Navy recruiting officer. Mom and I decided we'd just visit downtown Cape May in the morning and spend the afternoon at home.

Besides, the weather was horrible this morning. It was cloudy, cool, and very humid. It poured when we started out to Cape May, but by the time Keefe was jumping onto the Lobster House's gravel parking lot, the rain had softened into a mist...and it stopped even doing that as we drove into West Cape May.

Mom wanted to take a look at an antique/collectibles store, West End Garage, that had replaced the old Perry Street Video Store in West Cape May. The place was HUGE. I don't remember the store being anywhere near that big when it was one of our favorite places to rent movies. Every artist and collectibles store on the island and in the South Jersey area (and some as far away as Pennsylvania) had a section in West End Garage. There were jewelry makers of all types, landscapes from local artists, antique sellers, t-shirt printers, glass blowers, sculptors, doll clothes, hand-made and/or dyed clothes, hand-knit or crocheted items, and hand-made furniture or antique furniture that was repainted. We would have been in the store for longer than an hour if it wasn't so busy.

I found a nice little real leather change purse made by an old friend of Mom's who used to own a leather store in Cape May, a beautiful purplish-red autumn leaf sun-catcher, and the book Simple Abundance that was such a help when I took it out of the Haddon Township Library last year. I convinced Mom to buy a gorgeous hand-dyed blue and green linen scarf that was absolutely perfect for her. She loved it and said later that she was very glad I talked her into it!

We put our things away in the car (which was parked a few blocks from West End Garage near the Flying Fish Art Studio), then strolled down Perry and Sunset to the smaller of two Cape May Wicker stores. In addition to wicker furniture of every stripe, they also sell seasonal decorations and beach-related gift items. I bought a magnetic grocery list notebook for my refrigerator in a pretty poppy pattern (the yellow-patterned one I have on the fridge at home now is almost done). Mom didn't see anything she liked.

We both needed to use the bathroom, and there's only one place in Cape May that has a public restroom that's open year-round - the Comfort Station at the Washington Street Mall. After we hit there (with no line, rare on a cloudy day), we browsed in Love the Cook, a gourmet cooking store on the mall. You can tell its owned by the same people who own the Washington Inn, one of the fanciest restaurants in town where almost every place to eat is black-tie, or at least really expensive. There's lots of gourmet cookbooks and elaborate kitchen gadgets, and the prices are crazy. I did buy two Chai mixes there. (Where else am I going to find Chocolate and Raspberry Chai?)

Keefe was supposed to be done by 2:15. Like half my family, Keefe is NEVER on time. For anything. Mom says he's always doing one more thing for someone else. We walked around the Lobster House Restaurant complex until 2PM, after which we spent another half-hour sitting and listening to people ooh and ahh over the huge lobster framed in the lobby. The Lobster House is a not only a restaurant, but an actual working marina. Yes, that means the catch of the day is as fresh as you can get! They have a raw bar, a bar on a genuine boat (the Schooner American), and a tiny gift shop. The main dining area is one of the most popular in town, with some wonderful views of the wharfs on the north end of the island.

Mom and I spent the rest of the day at home. I paged through Mom's old Christmas craft books. The Christmas is Coming books from the 80s and 90s had some really wonderful crafts for kids and adults that Mom used to make with us girls and Keefe. I still have a few of the items we made. Mom said she'd only just gotten rid of others.

Mom made a delicious dinner of roast chicken, sauteed zucchini, Brussels sprouts cooked with tomatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and her divine biscuits. Anny brought Skylar over, and Dad and Keefe literally came home just as we were sitting down to eat.

(Dad apparently went to Wildwood for their fall "Roar to the Shore" motorcycle convention. Awesome. The motorcycle conventions every fall and spring were some of my favorites when I lived at the Shore. The bikers were the nicest customers at the Acme, and they were a lot of fun on the boardwalk.)

We chatted after dinner and watched Skylar and Keefe play with Sky's cool new Lego police boat. It has lots of little details, like a working hatch and a ski boat and even a criminal to catch! Once again, when Sky started getting too excited and climbing on people (including me), Anny decided it was time for them to go home.

Tomorrow, we're going to go out to breakfast before I head back to Camden County.