East Coast Family Reunion - Day 17 - June 23, 2021

Part of the group went deep sea fishing today.  Another group went to the beach. We decided to do some sightseeing.

We travelled to the end of the peninsula at Cape May Point to see the Cape May Lighthouse. It is only about a 5-mile drive from the RV park but it was lunch time when we arrived.  Before touring the lighthouse in the NJ State Park we had lunch at a nearby snack bar, The Grille, at Sunset Beach.  The food was good, we had a great beach view and the weather was about perfect with little wind and mild temperatures. 

An interesting sight right off shore is the remains of a concrete cargo ship built in WWI in  response to a shortage of steel.  The Navy only built 14 concrete ships as a test, but they were too heavy and slow and they were quickly retired.  After the war some were used for coastal commerce and after their retirement in 1926 the plan was to submerge some of them off- shore of the point to inhibit beach erosion.  The first, the USS Atlantis was beached in a storm and broke apart. Some of the remains are still visible and will probably be covered over by nature at some point in the future.

 

After lunch we toured the Cape May Lighthouse in the Cape May Lighthouse complex.  It is in a state park open to the public without charge.  There is a small visitors center, a nature museum and several beach and wildlife viewing platforms.  There are also numerous display boards around the grounds explaining the history and activities of the area.  An old WWII artillery bunker is also visible from a beach viewing platform.  Originally designed to protect the coast in WWII, it is now closed to the public due to beach erosion.

The lighthouse is open but you have to pay an admission fee to climb the 199 stairs.  We did not.

An interesting sight was a number of Purple Martin bird houses and feeders.  The lady in the visitors center the area is a large gathering location for migrating Purple Martins from Brazil.  Actually, this area has a lot of wildlife refuges, especially for birds.

Cape May LIghthouse Pictures

 On the way back, we made a short stop at the remaining fire control tower in NJ (Fire Control Tower 23) that was used in support of the nearby artillery bunker.  It is also open to the public and is managed by a local non-profit.

After returning to the RV and resting for awhile, we had a pizza take out dinner with our son and daughter and their families at the house where our son Brian is staying.

After dinner the group rejoined at  nearby Sunset Lake Park to watch the sunset at 8:30 pm.  The park, along the lake shore is a popular sunset viewing location.  The sunset was spectacular and everyone had a good time with more pictures of families, cousins, parents, etc. being taken.

Sunset Lake Pictures

People will start to leave tomorrow.  Our daughter Karin and her family leave early from Philadelphia for home in Roseville, and our son on Friday back to Nebraska.