Ocean City / New Jersey

Tuesday 15.06 - Cape May / Ocean City

Bright sunshine - I have breakfast at the end of my street, which leads to the beach, in a small diner.

The waitress is bored, the view is beautiful over the white sand to the lighthouse. Since the weather forecast is a bit changeable, I use the sun for a two-hour walk through Washington Avenue and the streets leading there to take pictures of the houses.

At noon, I sit on a bench with a book and look at the beach. Wonderful, finally being lazy, no more sightseeing. But then it starts to drizzle again, so I decide to drive to Ocean City. I lived here for a month 30 years ago. After three quarters of an hour, I am there and I am curious if I can still find the places of my first stay in the USA - and bingo! - it works.

The McDonald's where we could eat for free for a month (or had to), because it belonged to Virgie's son-in-law, is still there. The former field around it is now a parking lot. The bus station next to it is also still in place. From here, we took the bus to New York City at the end to fly back.

I'm almost sure that a small white wooden house, which is a seafood take away now, was George's office, where we lived in the back room and where mice ate the filling out of the McDonald's apple pies in our kitchen at night and left droppings in the coffee pot. I remember that after a mouse sat next to Jeannette's pillow, we stretched a line in the room and attached clothes and banknotes with clothespins so that they wouldn't be eaten either.

In memory, I get a burger and walk to the boardwalk on the Atlantic. Here too, I find the access we always used. What did we actually do all day back then? At least Ocean City has retained more of the past and is not as repulsive as Atlantic City.

It's a bit like an old English seaside resort trying to meet today's expectations of families. At least there are still T-shirt booths, salt water taffy (cream candies in various colors and flavors), and an unchanged beautiful beach here.

Since parking is only possible for a short time, I make my way back, stocking up on blueberries and raspberries, salad, water, and dressing before returning to Cape May shortly before 6:00 p.m. The weather has also calmed down here, and I grab my camera and book and sit at the end of my street in front of the restaurant where I had breakfast this morning and where the flagpole is that holds a flag ceremony every evening. The restaurant is closed, so no one cares if you use the plastic chairs outside. I get into conversation with people who also settle down there to enjoy the great evening sky and the atmosphere.

The sun slowly sinks around 8:00 p.m. and suddenly loud music starts playing. In our country, we would announce the entrance of the circus artists like this, but here it's probably well-known marching music. The man sitting next to me burps in my direction every 5 minutes so as not to bother his wife, because he ate onions.

Then, also here, the flag is solemnly lowered. We have to stand up again and sing God Bless America. In the end, an old woman farts three times and the children next to me are almost bursting with joy.

The sky is incredibly beautifully colored. I take pictures and stroll back to the hotel around 8:30 p.m. Today I can see quite far from my lookout point in front of the room. Not like yesterday, when everything was swallowed up in the swirling sea fog. I eat my blueberries and raspberries with cottage cheese and enjoy a glass of Beringer wine and think of G., who has been working again for a long time and doesn't drink Beringer wine.