East Coast Family Reunion - Day 16 - June 22, 2021

Rain was in the forecast for today and it disrupted the schedule.

The plan was for another beach day followed by a picnic dinner at a local park (Sunset Lake Park) and to watch the sunset over the Bay/Atlantic.  Apparently, you can do that from here at the southern tip of NJ.

As the forecast had a 90% probability, it was decided to reschedule the picnic dinner at the lake.  Some tried to go to the beach, but it was closed due to thunder and lightning in the area.

We decided to do laundry and got that all done before the rains came in early afternoon.  It was a frontal passage  - not a lot of wind and the embedded thunderstorms and lightning missed the immediate area.  There was a lot of rain however, but it all passed by 5:00 pm.

Our plan B for dinner was potluck at the main group house followed by a board game called “Mind the Gap”.  It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time.

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 15 - June 21, 2021

We slept in today and just relaxed around the RV this morning and into the early afternoon. The younger folks went to the beach again.

The evening gathering was at a beach club at the south end of Wildwood Crest adjacent to a coastal nature preserve.  The club is essentially a beachfront bar & grill with outside seating.  You have to be a member.  It costs $40 per season (May – Oct) and allows uncrowded access to a nice beachfront eating and drinking facility.  The also have live music on weekends.  Membership in the club however, does not include beach access. You have to buy seasonal beach tags but it would be worth it if here for the season as the ocean is a lot closer than the Wildwood Crest beach we went to the other day. Both of my sister’s girls are members and had reserved a section of the club for dinner and drinks.

It was a nice informal gathering and the only night everyone in the clan would be here.  A photographer was also there and took lots of group pictures, family photos and activity shots (proofs to follow later).

Diamond Beach Club Photos

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 14 - June 20, 2021

Fathers Day.

Today was beach time.  The main group house is actually in Wildwood Crest, just North of Cape May.  The area is primarily vacation homes, condos and hotels.  Our group house is about 4 blocks from the beach.  Too far to walk with beach gear for us old folks, so after caravanning from the house, I  drove there and parked on a street nearby after dropping Judy off at the beach entrance.  

New Jersey beaches have different rules for beach access.  Some towns charge a fee to use the beach (beach tags) others are free.  You can still walk along the beach anywhere on the coast but to set-up at some locations you have to pay.  I suspect the rational is to pay for services like lifeguards, trash removal, beach maintenance, etc. (and maybe even a little tourist revenue).

The Wildwood Crest beach is free.  It is a very wide flat beach like most east coast beaches. The slope into the Atlantic Ocean is very gentle here and the water is much warmer than the Pacific Ocean.  The beach however has a fairly long walk across the sand on a boardwalk to get to the ocean.  At the end of the boardwalk You can also call a number for a free shuttle ride the rest of the way to where you set up the beach chairs and umbrellas. Many people have carts with wide wheels for carrying their chairs, coolers, umbrellas, etc.

The weather was about perfect, sunny, not too windy and temperature around 80 degrees.  Everyone had a great time especially the kids playing in the surf.  There were a lot of people on the beach but there was plenty of room to spread out.

Wildwood Crest Beach Photos

Judy and I left the beach around 4:00 pm and returned to the RV to get ready for dinner.  The RV park where we are staying is about 4 miles away from the main group house.  There are 3 other houses where family members are staying.  Two cottages are leased/purchased by my Sister Eileen’s daughters and another is being rented by our Son Brian and his family.  Each house is close to each other and group activities are at the main house (5 bedrooms) that is being rented through a friend of my sister Eileen.

Fathers Day dinner was at the group house.  I grilled the NJ version of a Tri-Tip (close) and some sirloin  some steaks.  I also grilled some corn.  After dinner, all the dads were appropriately recognized. 

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 13, June 19, 2021

The group plan was for some of the family to take a pontoon boat trip into the bay today with some crabbing and fishing.  Alas, the boat had a mechanical problem (before sailing) and they had to cancel.  Plan B was bicycle riding on the Wildwood Boardwalk.

Judy and I just stayed in the campground most of the day, getting things set-up, making a trip to the grocery store, and relaxing a little from the long drive (2907 miles).

Happy Hour and dinner were at the main group house.  I grilled chicken and others prepared delicious side dishes.  We also celebrated my sister Sharyn's husband, Barry Turner 's 80th Birthday with an ice cream cake for desert.

A few more family members still need to arrive but most are now here.

 It was great for everyone to get together again.

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 12 - June 18,2021

The mobile RV repair person arrive around 8:00 am and was quickly able to fix the wiring problem that had shut down the coach air conditioner unit.  We had been trying to get the problem fixed since Nebraska without success.  Every RV dealer we contacted was booked solid and could not schedule service for a month or more.  Likewise, we were also not able to find a mobile RV repair person who was available for a quick response service call.  As we approached PA, our niece Allison, was able to provide some contact information for 2 mobile RV Repair companies.  Luckily, one could come this morning and knew what to do to fix the problem.

We were fortunate our problem was not serious and did not prevent travel enroute. And, we really didn’t need the AC as it was relatively cool along the way, especially at night.

Since it was only about a 2 ½ hour drive from West Chester to Cape May, NJ we were able to relax a little before leaving for Cape May. 

West Chester KOA - Pictures

The drive took longer however due to heavy traffic and we arrived at our destination in Cape May around 4:00 pm.  We are staying at a very nice campground, Holly Shores RV Resort and will be staying here until July 1^st with a side trip to Philadelphia on June 28^th and 29^th to see a baseball game and museum tours.

After getting set up at the RV Park we travelled over to the main reunion house that would be the HQ for the reunion. Not everyone was arriving today, but after happy hour, we had pizza delivered for dinner .  The reunion begins.

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 11 - June 17, 2021

I have been off-line for a awhile due to computer problems, now resolved, but in catch-up mode.

With a day off, we visited the Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square with my sister Eileen and her daughter and my niece Allison and her two girls Delancy and Kessler.

It is a world class botanical garden and is one of the premier horticultural display gardens in the United States. It has a long history but was acquired and refurbished by Pierre S. du Pont of the prominent du Pont family in 1906.  Here is a little history:

Longwood Gardens - Wikipedia

As an aside, Kennett Square, although not giving the impression of an agricultural area, but rather a quaint Pennsylvania colonial town, is also known as the “Mushroom Capitol of the World”. The area annually produces over 500 tons of mushrooms, half of the United States’ mushroom crop.

It was an enjoyable visit and well worth the experience.  Here are some pictures:

Longwood Gardens - Photos

After resting back at the RV we had dinner at a very nice restaurant in nearby Chadds Ford.  Family members are staring to arrive and the reunion activities are beginning.

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 10 - June 16, 2021

 A short travel day today. We left Harrisburg around 9:00 am and arrived at the West Chester, PA KOA about 11:00 am.

This campground is a large KOA in a wooded setting about 30 miles from downtown Philadelphia. It is near several affluent towns just west of Philadelphia which have retained their rural charm and character.  Lots of history (and money). 

The RV Park is adjacent to the Brandywine Battlefield along the Brandywine River.  It is the site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1775 between General Washington and his soldiers and the British moving up from the Chesapeake Bay.  The British won the battle and subsequently occupied Philadelphia with General Washington retreating to Valley Forge and wintering.  You know the rest of the story.

The area is also adjacent to the town of Chadds Ford.  It is the site of the Brandywine River Museum of Art and the Wyeth Family Studios.  It is the home of the collections of works of three generations of the Wyeth family, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth. It has a spectacular collection of Wyeth art and if you are all familiar with and enjoy their art, it is well worth the trip.  It is presently closed for renovation but is planned to open on June 20^th.  We will stop here on the way home after the reunion.  We have been here before and it is worth seeing again.  The N.C. Wyeth house and studio also offer tours.  We have done them before and may do them again if open. 

Today was a logistics resupply day.  Judy did the laundry (I helped).

I also travelled about 6 miles through very narrow  country roads (but very pretty scenery) to buy groceries.  The local grocery store chain Giant is very large and dominates the market in the area. A couple of grocery store comments:

I picked up a 12 pack of beer (to kill the road dust after each day’s trip). As I was leaving the beverage area in the store with the beer, a guy came up to me and said I had to pay for the beer before leaving the area (near the produce).  Sure enough, I noticed his station near the coolers with a register and card reader. I asked him why they were doing this.  He said he didn’t know.  He just worked there but thought it had something to do with small kids in other parts of the store.  Strange, although you can still only buy hard liquor in” State Stores”, liquor stores run by the state.

The other thing, kind of creepy, was there were robots going up and down the aisles and other areas of the store.  They were kind of like big vacuum cleaners with a pole sticking up in the air.  If you came near one it would stop.  I asked a clerk why robots and what did they do?  He said they wander around the store keeping their eye on things (he didn’t go into details) but said if they saw something amiss, they would call someone.  Wow.

We are going to do some sightseeing tomorrow and then have dinner tomorrow night in Chadds Ford with family members who flew in today and my sister and nieces who live nearby.