The rain that never came October 11, 2023

 



 

With the threat of rain still hanging over Cape May on Saturday morning, we decided to play it safe and visit the indoor exhibit at the Physik Estate – the main building of which is the most historic of all buildings there with the possible exception of Congress Hall.

The tour guide from MAC had informed us about an outdoor exhibit there, and I secretly hoped that the actors would be on the great lawn, dressed up in Victorian garb the way they used to do prior to the COVID pandemic. Indeed, many visitors also dressed up in period costumes, and I had seen several people on the mall on Friday night, though I’m not sure if they were tourists or actors.

Unfortunately, neither actors nor dressed up tourists were on the law when we arrived, no doubt put off by the threat of rain, and so we wandered into the exhibit on quack cures of the 18th century – which included patent medicines.

Strange medicines that strongly resemble the supplement and health food industry of today in their claims to cure every thing from cancer to the common cold. During a particularly down time in my life when I had to work four or five part time jobs, I had worked for one of these companies then located in East Rutherford, a company that has since gone out of business, although many still exist.

Except for a brief shower, the rain never came, and we got to wander through an odd exhibit of Halloween decorations on the lawn before wandering off to conduct our usual outdoor things, originally intending to go to Sunset Beach and then to the bird sanctuary.

When we got to Sunset Beach, a crisp wind made it impossible to camp out there. The ocean looked steal gray with massive waves due to some off shore storm.

Rather than go to the bird sanctuary, we went to Higbee beach, getting lost along the way, and when we found it, found it too cold and windy to stay, briefly watching an off shore rescue operation by the coast guard seeking to keep a sail boat from sinking under the pounding waves.

We headed back to the motel to rest, and then out to watch sunset before going back to the Irish pub for dinner.

We wanted to go to hear music, but one venue wasn’t starting until very late, and the other – with its stage outside surrounded by fire pits, had cancelled its performances, and so we ended up back at the motel watching a Star Wars marathon.

I was even too tired to get up to watch sunrise the next morning.

 

 Day to Day menu


email to Al Sullivan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The more things change Dec. 11, 2023

Image
    The rain came in spurts as I made my way to Secaucus for my usual Sunday laundry. I don’t always go to Secaucus, sometimes returning to the old neighborhood in Passaic -- as I will likely do next Sunday when I visit the grave of Peggy, and the graves of my ancestors in the other Lodi cemeteries, dating back to John the Baptist Sarti, who arrived here just after the Civil War. But most weeks, I don’t want to travel that far as was the case yesterday, when I parked near the laundromat, put my laundry into the machines, then headed off to the Dunkin a block away for coffee, a Dukin I briefly worked for after I got fired from the Garfield Dunkin just before my wedding in October 1990 (a time when I had four part time jobs, three of them at different Dunkins, and a fourth as a cleaner for a firm that manufactured elixirs straight out of the 1800s. My history with Secaucus goes back to the 1960s when Hank and I used to pass through it on our way to New York City, at a time when the
Read more

Positive omens? Dec. 24, 2023

Image
      In a week heavily endowed with omens, I thought for certain seeing the funeral procession on our way to Asbury Park posed a dark day ahead. After the amazing omen from our Thanksgiving trip (the whales), I hoped for nothing to counter this positive vibe. The trip down went smoothly, with the except of a few whacko drivers pretending to be Indy 500 racers, and we parked in our usual spot near the top of Asbury where it interacts with Cookman and took our usual stroll, peering into the old merry-go-round house before passing the fake Christmas tree of lights, the Empress Hotel (with its rainbow street crossing) and down the board walk from the Casino to the Coliseum. Even though we had arrived late, the boardwalk was largely empty – although there were a few groups of people on the beach, foolishly standing on the slick jetty stones to pose for pictures. Even inside the coliseum, the only crowd was at the coffee shop, and even this was less well-attended than we expected
Read more

Natural law October 18, 2023

Image
    I saw the pigeon after I had put out stale bread for the birds to feed on. He looked healthy, although he clearly had troubles since when the other pigeons flew off when I came into the yard, she did not. She was either injured or young, but she could not fly, walking around on the concrete in search of food while the others later congregated under the feeder where small birds dumped seed on the ground where they could feed. I spread some seed near the crippled bird only to have the flock of healthier birds swarm down on it, stealing whatever seed it could reach. Worse still, the two young cats that come and go from our yard took notice of the pigeon and began to stalk it. I had seen these cats hunting smaller birds a few days earlier, managing to catch one, which they tortured (played with) for some time before mercifully murdering it. I did not want them to do this to an even more helpless bird. I shooed the cats away. Eventually, I took up the bird, put it inside a c
Read more