Last day in Cape May / New Jersey

Thursday 17.06.2010 - Cape May

Hot, hot, hot! Plus a strong breeze in the morning. I have breakfast at the beach bar and do one of the two best things you can do here. I walk 2 hours along the beach to the lighthouse and back to the bay.

Two iced teas bring me back to normal temperature. It's 12:30 pm when I retreat to the shade in front of my room at the hotel and observe the beach and the ocean from a cool distance. At 2:00 pm, I set off for the other thing you can do here: take photos of Victorian wooden houses.

While doing so, I withdraw 100 dollars with my debit card so that I'm not completely broke, and I walk along the streets and take pictures in the sunshine. As soon as the wind is gone, it becomes unbearably hot. It is now clearly over 30 degrees. The place is busier than usual. More life on the beach, people have probably taken a long weekend. I see dolphins again, but I'm too far away for good photos.

In the coffee shop, I get myself a hazelnut coffee at half past three and walk back to the hotel along the promenade. The sun is merciless and I squat back in the shade in front of my room. For the first time today, people are lying by the pool. If I were them, I would have had a sunstroke a long time ago. My neighbors have changed and now two smokers live next to me. Both around 70. He smokes cigars - yuck!

I read and look at the ocean. I get something to eat at the Chinese restaurant and pack. Have I ever had so much luggage? Is the new bag for future trips too small after all? At 8:30 pm, I sit outside my room for one last time. It must have been a beautiful sunset. But since you can only enjoy it here with patriots at the flagpole, I've canceled it from today's program.

The longing for my bed at home and my own bathroom slowly sets in. But the thought of doing laundry is rather gross. My upgrade to business class seems to have worked out, so I hope to take my folding chair with me. As a second piece of hand luggage.

I want to be in Philadelphia at 3:00 pm, so I'll leave here at 12:00 pm. That should be enough time. The flight is at 6:25 pm.