Cape May Beach Week 2023

(I'm posting this blog over a week after the trip. I've done my best to include all the details in roughly the right order!)

Saturday 7/29

Beach week! The week we all look forward to all year long. Andrew found us an amazing house this year right by the beach--a short pathway led right to the sand. We arrived on Saturday and unpacked, then went right to the beach. Beautiful as always. The kids all boogie boarded. We ordered Blue Moon pizza for dinner (which took forever to arrive), then walked into town for Kohr’s. Lucia and Greta each bought five Safari Minis, a tradition for them. They have significant collections at this point. We began a new puzzle.

Sunday 7/30

Sunday began with a trip to Acme for Molly and me, where we were faced upon entry by a gauntlet of seltzers on sale in different ways. Different prices, different quantity requirements, different ways to achieve the deal. An app download was required, as was scanning a digital coupon. It’s STEM In Action.

Then we began our first full beach day. It was a perfect day. Swimming, boogie boarding, reading, relaxing. I decided this year that I would be A Person Who Goes in the Ocean, so even I swam. (I generally dislike ocean swimming, fearing sharks/stingrays/etc.) Our rented bikes were also delivered today.

Later in the day there was a gin tournament, Telestrations, a taco dinner made by Molly and Jeremy, and then town for Kohr’s. Those of us who had bikes, rode them.

Monday 7/31

Beach all day, except for Andrew, who had interviews at 9am and 9pm. Lucia, Greta, and I took a bike ride along the boardwalk while Andrew was on his call. Then to the beach. Perfect weather again. Lucia found a tiny shell-less hermit crab. There was a lot of paddle ball. There was also a raucous new game created by Jeremy called Seagull Snacks, which involved setting out a variety of snack options on a boogie board then placing bets to see which snack a seagull would swoop down and grab. It got very intense, with a lot of yelling and cheering, and many people on the beach looked on with curiosity / amusement / alarm / disapproval. A highlight.

Mom made stuffed shells for dinner, and then we went into town for Kohr’s and shopping. The girls each bought a Cape May sweatshirt, which they declared a tradition. There was likely a game of Telestrations Monday night, and also a game of Taboo at some point, though the specifics of what games we played when are murky since I’m putting these blog posts together several days late.

Tuesday 8/1

All beach all the time. The kids dug a giant hole. Lots of swimming and boogie boarding. Later in the afternoon, while the adults were showering, the kids went back to the beach pathway, jumped into the dunes, and collected blackberries. Then Molly took them on further blackberry-picking adventures on the boardwalk.

Dinner was pasta with cauliflower and carrots, plus chicken and zucchini grilled by Andrew. We rode bikes to Kohr’s later. Mom and Dad walked. When it was time to head home, we pointed them in the right direction. We joked that we’d go out looking for them if they didn’t arrive home in a reasonable amount of time. Everyone laughed. “I know exactly where we’re going,” Mom assured us. That statement is a huge red flag for an Orlando. Indeed, they did not arrive home in a reasonable amount of time, and some phone calls and Google maps pinpointed them at the wrong Second Avenue (there are, confusingly, two Second Avenues in Cape May). Jeremy set out in his car to pick them up.

Wednesday 8/2

Wednesday was a different kind of day: Jeremy and Andrew took the kids out on a boat to go fishing for the morning. Mom, Dad, Molly, and I relaxed at the house and then went into town to browse. Everyone had fun on the boat, and, amazingly, no one got seasick, though Greta did lose her hat to a gust of wind. They caught about 50 fish, and Andrew brought a bunch back.

We went to the beach for a little while in the afternoon, then went to Sunset Beach to sift for Cape May diamonds and pebbles. Greta had been searching for a perfect jar to hold her pebbles, and we found them in one of the gift shops there. (Lucia and I bought jars too.)

Andrew made delicious fried fish sandwiches for dinner with the fish they’d caught. We played a loud game of Pit. Then we watched the sunset on the beach. Finally, the adults played an intense and mean-spirited round of Code Names. Andrew accused me angrily of cheating; Mom threw her cards at me and Molly in frustration at our poor guessing. Lucia and Luca happened to be around for all of that, and they sat down to watch, fascinated, hoping for more drama.

Thursday 8/3

I rode my bike on the boardwalk early in the morning, and then Andrew, Lucia, and Greta went for a run. We spent most of the day at the beach and took a family picture. We took the kids to the arcade in the afternoon, and then Greta, Andrew, and I biked to a store so Greta could pick out a new Cape May hat. We finished the puzzle, watched the sunset, and played Pit and Code Names. Dinner was leftovers.

Friday 8/4

It was a cool, cloudy day. Molly, Mom, the girls, and I became absorbed in making Zentangles. After lunch, we went to the beach, and the kids all boogie boarded even though it wasn’t warm out. We played Telestrations. For dinner, we walked to the Rusty Nail, then went to Kohr’s for a final time. Lucia and Greta each picked out two tiny glass animals from a cute glass store.

Then it was time to pack up. The week went much too fast.

Saturday 8/5

One final event: a Wasted Skeins family picture outside the rented house. To even begin to understand this picture and its hilarity, you have to have a deep knowledge of so many things: