New Jersey Coastline to Lewes, DE

Lewes was a good-sized town. The official population is only about 5,000 for both Lewes and Rehoboth, but the Coastal Highway that runs several miles from Lewes to Rehoboth Beach is bustling thoroughfare lined with businesses. And I somehow thought it was a village with only a ferry terminal and not much else. Again, the imagination didn't match the reality.

I picked up the car from my sister's house in New Jersey around 7 PM and then drove about 20 miles south to Tesla station in Clarksburg in a Wawa station where Tesla chargers were located. Wawa is a familiar looking place by now. They are all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey and they all look the same just like Sheetz in Pennsylvania or Sinclair in Nebraska. It was getting dark by the time I got to the Wawa station, and I don't like driving in the dark. In the dark without any visual queue, you get no idea what the locale looks like and therefore no understanding of geography. In more scenic roads, you miss out on the scenery as well. So I plugged in and climbed into the back of the car at Wawa instead of continuing on. The shed behind the charger must've been some kind of electric station; it was making loud buzzing noise. I had to get out later and move further away to get some peace.

The plan for the return trip to CA was to sweep through the coast down to Jacksonville and then cut across Florida to the Gulf side. I would then again sweep through the panhandle of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi before heading straight to the four corner states. I might stop and Big Bend National Park in Texas if time allows. So, todays plan was to drive down New Jersey's barrier islands on my way to Norfolk VA. Long Beach Island would be the starting point of the long coastal sweep.

You'd think NJ as suburb of New York and Philadelphia. You'd be right if you look at just the Northeast and Southwest portion of NJ. But large chunk of the rest is forested. To the north is the remnants of Appalachian Mountains. A part of Appalachian trail actually goes through New Jersey. To the south on the way to the barrier islands on Route 72 is the coastal forest on sandy soil. I took that rather scenic and idyllic route from Clarksburg to Long Beach Island.

Long Beach was a beach resort town. I parked across Drifting Sands Oceanfront hotel, which looked more like condos than a hotel, and then walked to the rather idyllic and empty beach. It was still early in the morning when I got there. I took a few photos and then moved on to Atlantic City.

It must've been decades ago, and I no longer remember when and why, or with whom. But I do remember being on the boardwalk in Atlantic City once. It was on my way, so I might as well stop and see if I can recall something from the previous visit. I took US-30 into Atlantic City and then stopped at Golden Nugget, used their restroom and took a few pictures at the marina across the hotel. Then I drove to the boardwalk, parked by Hard Rock and then walked the boardwalk. the Boardwalk had Caribbean theme with tiki bars and pirate motif. I don't remember any of that. But the shops lining the boardwalk felt familiar, probably not because of I remember any of them, but that is what all boardwalk looks like. 

From Chambersburg to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was a burg-city. From Atlantic City on down along US-9 was Ventnor City, Margate City, Ocean City and so on. The Jersey shore was city-city. I followed  this series of beach towns, all the way to Ocean City. It was a September afternoon, but it still felt like summer. I had to stop just about every beach and take it all in. 

Ocean City

The drive from Long Port to Ocean City across the bay felt like a warmer version of SF bay. Ocean Drive Bridge looked just like San Mateo Bridge too. Lots of beaches lining both shores. I had to make another stop when I saw the wide sand bars at the end of the bridge. I pulled into the parking lot on the other side of the road and walked all over the sandy bar there. Then I went to the boardwalk of Ocean City and took some more photos the beach scene, with the Ocean City skyline as the backdrop. I have to say that Ocean City is a better location than Atlantic City to visit unless you prefer to Casinos at Atlantic City.

After Ocean City, I turned on to Garden State Parkway to Cape May where I planned to take ferry to Lewes DE. I got to the ferry terminal at around 3 PM, but the next ferry wasn't till after 4 PM. The ferry would've added $60 to the cost as well, so I wasn't going to save time or money by taking ferry. It still would've been nice to cross Delaware Bay on a ferry, but the cost and time wasn't worth it. So I decided to go around the Delaware Bay through Wilmington. The detour would add 3 hours to the trip, but I'd arrive at Lewes at about the same time as I'd if I took the ferry.

I didn't stop at Wilmington. I thought for a moment that I'd sleep in Wilmington and explore the town in the morning while I was there. But I still had too much light left and there wasn't much to do in Wilmington. I pressed on to Lewes leaving the nagging feeling that I'll never be here again.

The town of Lewes itself was a nice resort town along Old Mill Creek that harbored a marina. Something was going on when I got there at 6:30PM, and the street was jampacked. I meandered through downtown Lewes and then got to Lewes Beach. I spent some time there taking pictures and then took an outdoor bath at the Beach Patrol building. It was time for dinner then. I drove out to China Buffet off Coastal Hwy and then slept in the parking lot there after the dinner.