Note: This
travelog is presented in four parts.
Two posts are about the Road Scholar courses, one post is about the
travel discoveries before, between, and after those courses, and one concerns family history. We drove 2,472
miles round trip.
First night: full moon on the ocean |
Road Scholar:
Victorian Cape May
(September 7-12)
Veteran Road Scholar travelers (those with several dozen
RSs to their credit) all seem to have done this program. It is ranked among the
“most popular” – likely that is because of the location close to New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore/Washington – as well as the subject.
(Here is the course description.)
(Here is the course description.)
Monday sunrise |
Cape May is Exit 0 on the Garden State Parkway. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean; to the
west is the Delaware River. The Lenni
Lenape hunted and fished there. It was
discovered by the Dutch and settled by the English, among whom were whalers who
came down from New England to catch the whales who swam into Delaware Bay. In
the 19th century it became the northernmost southern resort and the
southernmost northern resort, easily reached by steamship. “Recreating” was a new phenomenon and “ocean
bathing” was recognized as a healthy pastime. During the Civil War this
north/south city was quiet. In postwar prosperity it boomed. Tourism declined
in the 1880’s because people could travel by rail (and the railroad didn’t
reach Cape May). They dredged the harbor, filled in the marshes, and billed the
town as the “Newport of New Jersey,” but for most of the 20th
century it was a sleepy backwater town. Coast Guard and Navy bases operated in
WWII (and the Coast Guard is still there).
In the 1970’s the city government realized they had the largest stock of
intact, un-remodeled Victorian housing in the mid-Atlantic region. They
capitalized on historic preservation and today Cape May is a bustling resort
town ten months out of the year. (Victorian Halloween and Dickensian Christmas
are popular celebrations).
Dr. Physick, his mother, and his aunt |
Programs each day went into detail about aspects of
American Victorian life and culture.
Costumed interpreters portrayed Dr. Emlyn Physick and his mother and
aunt who were real-life arbiters of society in the 1890’s. We toured the Physick Estate for an inside
view of Victorian ornamental excess. After lunch we had a walking tour of
Victorian architecture. One evening we
participated in a lively debate about women’s suffrage and temperance. We had a visit from John Philip Sousa, who
had extensive Cape May connections.
Most of the 32 Road Scholars were from the east coast.
There were many first-timers, but one man was on his 162nd RS
program! We enjoyed the week, our 29th
RS, very much.
Moon jellyfish washed up on the beach. (About 4" diameter, no tentacles; texture like pliable plastic.)
The Cape May lighthouse. Stevens is sitting on a bench (half in shadow, half in sun).
I climbed the 165 stairs to the top!
The trolley was our transport |
Of course I had to visit the public library. (It is a branch of a county system.)
Friday sunrise (the last day) |
Cape May is such an interesting place--frozen in time. That's my favorite stretch of the Eastern Seaboard. My brother had a beach house on the other side of the bay near Bethany for many years and I loved visiting there. I'd like to know more about the Road Scholar program as my husband and I love to travel and visit new places.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Cape May, but I've been on several Road Scholar trips.....China, Alaska in winter, Molokai, Copper Canyon, a 3 week immersion Spanish class in Cuernavaca, Dia de los Muertos....Just to name some of them. Love their trips!!
ReplyDeletenice photos....
ReplyDeleteLove the sign you're hoisting! Your pictures are beautiful, and the descriptions evocative. I can't believe you drove, not flew!
ReplyDelete