While New Jersey is full of stereotypes, many may be surprised to know that New Jersey has a stretch of gorgeous beaches. The southernmost beach is Cape May - the tiny peninsula that extends south where you can swim in the Atlantic Ocean on the east side, and the small beach on the west side is the only coastline where you can see the sunset over the water.
My college roommates and I planned our 2nd annual girls trip to Cape May this year. We were looking for some place drivable to many, with lots to enjoy. While many of my roommates have lived in NJ for their entire lives, the beaches of New Jersey will never get old. And the town of Cape May never disappoints.
I had a some travel struggles flying in from Washington state, where my flights were rerouted, leaving me to miss a connection. Thankfully ended up on a later standby flight out of Detroit, to land in Philadelphia around noon. Caught my ride, and we were off down to South Jersey.
There are 7 of us college roommates, so we opted to rent an AirBnB. Last year we spent our girls weekend in Lancaster Pennsylvania, and the AirBnB life is like reliving college all over again, sleeping under the same roof. This year we found a home with 5 beds and a couch, enough to give us all a comfortable place to sleep. But the best part is always the kitchen - a central place where we lay out all the snacks and drinks, and this ends up being the center of it all on these weekends.
The first afternoon we did some grocery shopping, stocked the house with any items the girls did not already shop for on their way from home. The beauty of driving to a girls weekend is that you can fit whatever you need in your car. Some Costco runs were done, some trunks were full of drinks, coolers, Costco sized snacks like croissants, dips, chips, etc. One even brought her own espresso maker and a juicer for fresh-squeezed mimosas! Now that is enjoying a girls weekend in your 30s. Plus local NJ bagels were on-hand for any hungry early risers. And speaking of girls trip in your 30s, we celebrated an extra special early 40th birthday party, in a little unconventional way. You can wait for a photo of that one until the end... We ordered pizza and wings, blasted music from the 90s and 00s, and had a great night together at home in our matching roommate sweatshirts.
We woke up to learn that our scheduled whale watching trip was cancelled due to weather. I don't think anyone was disappointed because no one wants to be trapped on a boat in rough seas. We could easily find something fun to do.
We ended up getting brunch at The Mad Batter. While we ended being a little slow getting ready and leaving this house, this likely worked in our favor because it was much less busy around lunch time. We started the meal off with some cocktails and some great dishes.
In the drizzling weather, we did a little thrifting and shopping around the Washington Street Mall shops. Thrifting is always a favorite of ours, whether we find clothes, kitchen items, to things that bring us back to our childhood.
We tried something new later in the afternoon as the sun started to peek through the clouds. Our go-to activity with the roommates is typically an afternoon at the winery, where we bring lots of snacks and catch up with each other. Cape May Winery is beautiful, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little upset we didn't get to stop there. But this trip we tried out Nauti Spirits Distillery. If you are a mixed drink fan, this place had a lot of offer. A little bit long of a line to get to the bar, but we had Adirondack chairs out in the sunshine to sip our drinks and enjoy the weather. We spotted a bachelorette party who was very envious of our tight-knit group of girls and how we master our group photo poses so flawlessly.
We went back to the AirBnB to"get ready" which means we sat around the kitchen with drinks and snacks, catching up some more. This is always a cherished way to spend time together, even though it looks like down time, it's extra special.
Cut to actually getting ready for our dinner reservations when incredibly bad weather rolled in. I'm not one to be too intimidated by thunder, rain, and wind, but New Jersey was actually getting warnings of tornado touchdowns! Some of our group were huddled in doorways for safety, while I continued to snack and sip in the kitchen, doing make up, intent on going out for the evening.
We ended up at the Ugly Mug, back in the area of the Washington Street Mall. The snacks at home served as dinner, though I do wish I had indulged on some seafood if we had made our reservation. There are plenty of amazing restaurants in Cape May, but a favorite of mine is the Lobster House. A little outdated with their plaid décor, but the seafood dishes are incredible! But back to the Ugly Mug. We enjoyed the live band and had a great time together reliving our college days. But the evening would not be complete without a stop at our favorite snacky convenience store, Wawa. My favorite order is a mini turkey sub with ranch dressing, a side of pickles, diet lemonade tea, and a side of a few tootsie rolls.
The next morning was the "we need to clean up and go" morning. While we intended for it to be a slow, relaxing morning sipping coffee, it takes quite a bit of time to pack up the cars that were fully stocked upon our arrival. We packed up our things, emptied the fridge, did the dishes, roughly cleaned the floors, and we were on our way to Uncle Bills Pancake House. Not before another quick roommate photo in front of the house. The weather was gorgeous, though windy. It would have been perfect to spend some time on the beach, because only locals know that the off season is a hidden gem of a beach season - so peaceful and the warm sun on your face in the cooler weather is heavenly. We never did make it to Sunset Beach, the west coast of the Cape May peninsula where you can actually watch the sunset over the water. I can tell you though, it's breathtaking if you can make it there. We were just having too much fun all weekend.
We said our goodbyes in the restaurant parking lot, when a few of us decided we just weren't ready to go home yet and we stopped Cape May Brewery for some delicious flights of IPAs and more quality time together. One weekend is just never enough time...
And for a quick peek at our 40th birthday party...
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