We'd learned from this time last year about NYC's mythical "Midwinter Recess." It seemed like we were the only ones not out of town - or at least it felt that way. This year we made it back out to Cape May, New Jersey, to spend a couple days out of the city.
Considering how many people end up leaving NYC for the break, the best price I could find on a rental car with enough room had us in a "Premium SUV." When I went to pick it up, I ended up asking if they had anything smaller for the sake of trying to park something that big and how much we'd be spending on gas. Surprisingly they had an Audi Q5 on hand. Anne and I both had Q5s before we moved to NY, so that car still brings back good memories. Turns out the "check engine" light was on – not a shock to any Audi owner – and they couldn't let me take it. Parked right next to it though was an available BMW 330i with less than 500 miles on it. For sure smaller than the SUV I'd rented, but knowing Little Man's car seat would fit and the trunk was big enough for our luggage, I couldn't turn that down.
Cape May, NJ, is a couple hours drive from NYC. Pretty sure the whole area is a seasonal beach town, so thankfully we weren't fighting a crowd once we got there. We made it time to have dinner on the boardwalk and walk around a nearly empty beach just before sunset when Things One and Two started getting restless. Honestly had never thought about heading to the beach in the wintertime, but good grief I can't recommend it enough: it's normally pretty empty, doesn't cost anything, and it's the beach. Crazy thanks to Robin Metz and her family for hosting ours again at their place in Cape May.
We're for sure in the "family trip" stage of life vs. any kind of idea of "vacation." Our little one's internal clock still goes off each morning before 6a which has us all up not long after. After a couple coffees we made it out to another beach by the Cape May Lighthouse. Little Man's 6a wake up had him back to sleep by 10a, so Saint Anne the Wife stayed in the car with him while Elliot and I made it out to the beach. Freakin' kudos to my wife BTW for the idea of us wearing rain boots on the beach so we didn't track sand back with us. That being said, it didn't take long for Elliot and I to snag some pictures near the water before he got in deeper than his rain boots were tall. On our soggy hike back I ended up dropping my camera in the parking lot and smashing the UV filter on the front of my lens. Sad day, but the camera body and lens were fine and new lens flares from the cracked glass were fun.
