Once downtown we found the street closed off and turned into a pedestrian way. Something I've always thought our home town of Galena should do with their Main Street. Of course it was lined with restaurants with outdoor seating. Ice cream shops. The obligatory t-shirt shops. And all the other establishments you'd expect to find in a tourist town. We found DQ!
From there it wasn't far to the beach at Cape May complete with cabanas. The wind was blowing pretty good so occupancy was down a bit.
On our way back to Tourist we stopped at the Lobster House restaurant and fish market and picked up some fresh fish for later consumption. We had eaten there the night before and it was one of Pam's favorite meals of the trip but I can't remember what she had ordered. The rest of the day was devoted to relaxing.
Just found out that Snookie is in Italy. No celebrity sightings for us as we travel the Jersey Shore.
Saturday 5/28/11 With the forecast for warm temps, 3' seas, and a possible thunderstorm we decided to stick our nose out into the ocean and check conditions for ourselves. Others were going out as well, an encouraging sign. Once into open water it wasn't bad. The seas were 3' but coming from the south which made for a pleasant though rolly ride up the coast.
View over the bow.
View off the stern while travelling off the Jersey coast.
We passed Ocean City with it's carnival rides along the boardwalk and before long we pulled into Atlantic City to find an anchorage. A couple of our resources showed a protected anchorage to starboard just before the bridge. Once we got to the entrance it looked a little too shallow and narrow to try and get back into so plan B went into effect. Anchor right off Harrah's Resort Casino in 15' of water.
Once the traffic picked up we got bounced around some but not terribly. Still going forward I would bypass AC. The Trump Marina wanted $4.00 a foot to tie up for the night and neither Pam nor I are gamblers. We did put the dinghy in and take a ride. We checked out the anchorage we wanted and found out that at high tide we could have gotten in although still a tight fit. We also rode past the Trump Marina and it looked like half the slips were empty.
A highlight of the day was seeing Donald Trump's helicopter fly right over us and land on top of the Taj Mahal. There are a couple of restaurants on the water that you can get to by boat but that's about it. Can you tell I'm not a fan of Atlantic City? Never have been. If you're a gambler it's probably a great destination just not for us.
Sunday 5/29/11 An early departure found us back on the ocean by 6:15am. Conditions were similar to yesterday so a nice ride up the coast. We decided to make the Sandy Hook area our destination. When we came around the point at Sandy Hook it was a minefield of fishing boats of all sizes covering the water. A few more miles and we pulled into Atlantic Highlands Marina for fuel. At $3.75 a gallon probably the last fuel we'll get under $4.00. The dock hands were kids right out of the Jersey Shore who never quit talking to each other about their personal exploits even while handing you a line. By the time we were done there was a line of boats waiting to get fuel.
We pulled away from the dock and went back to the end of the breakwater and anchored for the remainder of the day and night and watched the boats coming in and out. When the haze lifted we could see the Verrazano Narrows bridge in the distance.
Monday 5/30/11 Happy Memorial Day. Thank You Troops!
The weather radar showed a line of thunderstorms moving our way so we stayed in position awaiting it's arrival. The sky got dark. The winds picked up, and the rain came. We weren't alone in the anchorage and one unlucky couple in a small boat with a cuddy cabin got hit by a cruiser who's anchor drug causing them to come out in the rain to get their lines untangled. All this is happening right in front of us. Fortunately they drifted past us.
The rain quit and the system moved out leaving a sharp breeze that made the water a bit choppy. Not wanting to dodge the fishing boats we pulled anchor before too many were on the water. Our destination, the Statue of Liberty and the anchorage right behind it. We cruised away from Atlantic Highlands aiming for the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Traffic was light as we passed under the bridge.
Of course by now we could see the skyline of the city in the distance. We passed the Staten Island ferry terminal and into New York Harbor. Ships anchored on both sides of the channel and pushing against the outgoing current we moved on to Lady Liberty. Awesome! How lucky are we to be here in her shadow on Memorial Day! After a couple of pictures we followed the marked channel back into our anchorage. A calm spot in the middle of one of the busiest harbors in the world. The only way onto the Liberty island is by ferry so we satisfied ourselves by having cocktails on our bow while sitting in the presence of the great Lady. Proud to be an American!
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