So here's how the story begins: up at 7 a.m. for a little Dunkin' Donuts coffee and NY-style bagels. Ninety five minutes later, the home Josephine has known for 5 years is reduced to what looks like an empty-dorm room ... and our car (which, by the way, we forgot to mention in Prelude is a pastel, powder-blue Buick Terraza minivan) is now termed, "THE GYPSY MOBILE"...it is packed with 72 Hefty Cinch Sacks full of clothes, books, etc. expertly packed thanks to the fact that I, NJO, am Don Otto's daughter.
Gypsy pulls out of Hoboken at 10:10 on the nose, and a few tears later we're navigating the Garden State Parkway. Great tunes, by the way, thanks to South Jersey's #1 At Work Radio Station, 95.1 WAYV. The iTunes playlist that NJO spent hours compiling cannot be played in Gyspy, despite the fact that Steve Hodge's daughter is a member of the TRAVELING COUSINS blogspot team.
We digress...back to the action...No road trip of this length is complete without a little smut...and smut we got as we took EXIT 11C into Atlantic City for a few minutes (and $5 out of the Kitty) of gambling. (Elfie notes: The "Wheel of Fortune" refused to take our dollars, but we saw incredible success with the "Party Time" machines). Atlantic City is like something out of a Lifetime movie...women in gold lame, men in fanny packs, and the musty smell of cigarettes burned into the walls, despite the fact that smoking in public places has been illegal since 2005! Tutty was right..."Tobacco is an evil weed, out of the ground it doth proceed; it spoils a woman and ruins her clothes and makes a chimney out of her nose."
We left Atlantic City, squeeze cheese in hand, to traverse the 90+ miles we have left in our 3 hour drive-time Day 1! And though riches were not ours in Atlantic City, we struck the jackpot in our destination, Cape May, NJ.
Cape May is the East Coast's oldest resort town. Legend has it that during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee brought his family up to Cape May to vacation. As JJDH says, "I don't care what year it was, he had a wife and 3 ungrateful children who wanted to come to the beach." And this is quite possibly the best seaside town we've ever visited.
Our hotel is situated one block from the beach, which we lazed away the afternoon soaking in the rays and even-ing out farmer's tans. Our evening accommodations are sure to be "intimate"...we're in a 350 ft2 room that is costing us the equivalent of a flight from NYC to Sydney, Australia. And no hogging covers here, because we're in a "snug" double bed. Thank goodness we're cousins. We've enjoyed the quaint nature of this spot, sitting on the front porch enjoying the sights and now in the private courtyard where Mike, the hotel's desk clerk, bellboy, concierge, receptionist, restaurateur, and occasional bed turner-downer, is running a tight ship!
According to John, our AAArt's Cabs photo-fearing cab driver (609.898.7433, in case you're ever here...it's SO much better than Elite Cab Services, AAArt's other endeavor), Cape May is authentic Victorian and considered one of the best gastronomical stops on the Jersey Coastline.
The Traveling Cousins concur. Dinner at the Lobster House proved him correct. We had seafood plucked from the waters of the Cape today and an $18 bottle of wine that melted away the stresses of our 3-hour road trip...who knows what ailments it will cause us tomorrow, but tonight we're HAPPY!
The only blight on the evening was JJDH's slightly gauche intrusion onto the adjacent table's cocktail hour where she "politely" requested (against NJO's advice) that they please "speak quietly" when analyzing and discussing the surprise ending of the newest Harry Potter, which she has yet to read. SPESH!
So now, back at the Hotel Alcott (which is named for Louisa Mae, who was a frequent visitor here during her writing days...great minds!), JJDH and NJO are preparing to turn in for the evening. Stay tuned for tomorrow's event-filled special episode.
CLIFF NOTES VERSION: Crying, leaving, crying, driving, gambling, sunning, showering, eating, drinking, blogging, CRASHING!
Once at our destination, Elfie helps himself to gifts de la Mer... 
Gypsy pulls out of Hoboken at 10:10 on the nose, and a few tears later we're navigating the Garden State Parkway. Great tunes, by the way, thanks to South Jersey's #1 At Work Radio Station, 95.1 WAYV. The iTunes playlist that NJO spent hours compiling cannot be played in Gyspy, despite the fact that Steve Hodge's daughter is a member of the TRAVELING COUSINS blogspot team.
We digress...back to the action...No road trip of this length is complete without a little smut...and smut we got as we took EXIT 11C into Atlantic City for a few minutes (and $5 out of the Kitty) of gambling. (Elfie notes: The "Wheel of Fortune" refused to take our dollars, but we saw incredible success with the "Party Time" machines). Atlantic City is like something out of a Lifetime movie...women in gold lame, men in fanny packs, and the musty smell of cigarettes burned into the walls, despite the fact that smoking in public places has been illegal since 2005! Tutty was right..."Tobacco is an evil weed, out of the ground it doth proceed; it spoils a woman and ruins her clothes and makes a chimney out of her nose."
We left Atlantic City, squeeze cheese in hand, to traverse the 90+ miles we have left in our 3 hour drive-time Day 1! And though riches were not ours in Atlantic City, we struck the jackpot in our destination, Cape May, NJ.
Cape May is the East Coast's oldest resort town. Legend has it that during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee brought his family up to Cape May to vacation. As JJDH says, "I don't care what year it was, he had a wife and 3 ungrateful children who wanted to come to the beach." And this is quite possibly the best seaside town we've ever visited.
Our hotel is situated one block from the beach, which we lazed away the afternoon soaking in the rays and even-ing out farmer's tans. Our evening accommodations are sure to be "intimate"...we're in a 350 ft2 room that is costing us the equivalent of a flight from NYC to Sydney, Australia. And no hogging covers here, because we're in a "snug" double bed. Thank goodness we're cousins. We've enjoyed the quaint nature of this spot, sitting on the front porch enjoying the sights and now in the private courtyard where Mike, the hotel's desk clerk, bellboy, concierge, receptionist, restaurateur, and occasional bed turner-downer, is running a tight ship!
According to John, our AAArt's Cabs photo-fearing cab driver (609.898.7433, in case you're ever here...it's SO much better than Elite Cab Services, AAArt's other endeavor), Cape May is authentic Victorian and considered one of the best gastronomical stops on the Jersey Coastline.
The Traveling Cousins concur. Dinner at the Lobster House proved him correct. We had seafood plucked from the waters of the Cape today and an $18 bottle of wine that melted away the stresses of our 3-hour road trip...who knows what ailments it will cause us tomorrow, but tonight we're HAPPY!
The only blight on the evening was JJDH's slightly gauche intrusion onto the adjacent table's cocktail hour where she "politely" requested (against NJO's advice) that they please "speak quietly" when analyzing and discussing the surprise ending of the newest Harry Potter, which she has yet to read. SPESH!
So now, back at the Hotel Alcott (which is named for Louisa Mae, who was a frequent visitor here during her writing days...great minds!), JJDH and NJO are preparing to turn in for the evening. Stay tuned for tomorrow's event-filled special episode.
CLIFF NOTES VERSION: Crying, leaving, crying, driving, gambling, sunning, showering, eating, drinking, blogging, CRASHING!
A PICTORIAL DIARY:
A very empty room....
A very FULL Gypsy...
Last minute directions (from a NJ Native) (Let's just go ahead and say here that the directions are TOTALLY lost on JJDH*!) (*Car & Driver's Driver of the Year)
Last minute directions (from a NJ Native) (Let's just go ahead and say here that the directions are TOTALLY lost on JJDH*!) (*Car & Driver's Driver of the Year) Elfie, Road Trip Sidekick & Time's Person of the Year, blazes the trail down the Jersey Shore
Stop #1: Elfie tries his luck in AC, Vanna would not accept his offerings. He did, however, come out ahead!
Once at our destination, Elfie helps himself to gifts de la Mer... 
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