RonnieAdventure #0100 - New Jersey, 2014 Part III

Since our hotel was located near the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), we stopped at the visitor’s center to watch an introductory movie and then drove the eight-mile Wildlife Drive through the wetlands tidal salt marsh. (More than 82% of the refuge is wetlands, of which about 78% is composed of a title salt marsh.) The 43,000 acres NWR was established in 1998 to protect and manage the coastal habitat for migratory birds, plants, and animals and now offers a variety of hiking trails, observation towers, and educational programs. We didn't climb the observation towers, but from the road you can observe a wide variety of ducks, geese, herons, falcons, and osprey that are part of the 322 different species of birds that have been recorded at the NWR.  

For lunch we stopped in Atlantic City at the world famous White House Sub Shop, which was featured on Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives. The Sub Shop has been in business for over 65 years and the walls are covered with signed pictures from many professional music and entertainment artists that have stopped by the Sub Shop while visiting or performing in Atlantic City. (Don’t tell my cardiologist, but the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich was great and highly recommended!)

While in Atlantic City, we also had ice cream on the Boardwalk and stopped by the Absecon Lighthouse. The Absecon Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey and the 1857 Fresnel lens is still in place. The entire property is currently going through a $3.4 million restoration projects, which includes constructing a replica of the lightkeeper's dwelling and an educational museum. Just down the road in Margate, is Lucy the Elephant, the only 65-foot tall elephant in the world where you can stop and purchase souvenirs. (At 135 years old, Lucy is America's oldest roadside attraction and a National Historic Landmark.) If you are there at the right time, you can even get a tour of Lucy's internal structure!

 

We decided to made a side trip to Millville, so that we could visit Wheaton Arts (formerly known as Wheaton Village), and were fortunate that they were having a large celebration that day with many displays and working artists. Wheaton Arts is located on 65 acres of land and is also the location of the Museum of American Glass, the Creative Glass Center of America, an amphitheater-style hot-glass studio where you can watch glass blowing demonstrations, and several traditional craft studios where you can watch craftsmen at work throughout the day.

The museum of American Glass houses one of the most comprehensive collections of American glass in the world, including some of the first glass bottles made in America and the largest glass bottle in the world (holds 188 gallons). The Creative Glass Center of America has an International Fellowship Program, and since 1983, over 175 artist from around the world have studied at Wheaton Arts to develop their skills and share their unique talents. When you leave, you can also leave some of your money at one of the four museum stores in exchange for some beautiful hand-blown glass objects. 

We also stopped by the Historic Cold Springs Village (an Early American Open-Air Living History Museum), but it was not yet open for the season. However, we were able to stroll around the grounds and look at the 26 historic buildings. During the summer months you can watch people in historic period garb and period settings, practicing their trades, which consists of blacksmiths, tinsmiths, basket makers, bookbinders, printers, etc.

Cape May is located at the southern tip of New Jersey and is a popular tourist destination, especially during the summer months. It is fun just to drive or walk around the community to look at all of the old Victorian houses.

No trip to Cape May is complete without visiting the famous Victorian Cape May Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is 157.5 feet tall and large ships can see its modern beacon from 24 miles out at sea. (The light flashes every 15 seconds, which is called its “characteristic.” Every lighthouse has its own light “characteristic” and exterior paint scheme, called its “daymark,” so that ship captains can tell the lighthouses apart.)

The current lighthouse (the third lighthouse built in this area) was constructed in 1859 and the original Fresnel lens was so large that the light keeper actually stood on the inside of the lens when it was being refueled. (The original lens is now on display at the Cape May Court House Museum and a smaller lens is on display on the ground floor of the lighthouse.) The sites of the first two lighthouses constructed in the area are now underwater due to erosion and shifting shoreline in the area.

For a small fee you can climb the 217 steps to the top to the lighthouse tower. Since topography surrounding the lighthouse is quite flat, views from the top of the lighthouse tower are quite spectacular and worth the climb.

The 190 acre Cap May State Park also contains a visitors center, boardwalks where visitors can observe migrating birds and butterflies, three miles of hiking trails, surf fishing areas, and improved picnic grounds. The day we visited the visitor center, they were celebrating green frog day and you could even build your own green frog (for a fee) using various construction materials that they supplied.

If you want to go from Cape May to Delaware, you can either catch a ferry to Lewes, or you can drive all the way back to Deepwater and take the bridge. Even though it would have been fun and much faster to catch the ferry, we decided to take the bridge!