Cape Henlopen, Cape May, and New York City
June 9, 2024
This week’s ultimate destination was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but we took a meandering route to get there. We spent several days on Cape Henlopen in Delaware, where Larry unloaded the bikes for us to explore the area. There is a network of hiking and biking trails in and near this park, so we spent several hours biking around Cape Henlopen Loop and Walking Dunes Trail.
Another day, we biked the 16-mile round trip on the wide and hard-packed gravel Gordon Pond Trail to Rehoboth Beach. The boardwalk wasn’t too busy and struck us as a tamer version of Venice Beach in California.
We also explored the Fort Miles Historic area, where we had fun walking around the artillery and buildings, though the museum and nature center were closed during our visit.
Found this fierce little guy on the path, too.
Larry started going through his two bags of “concentrates” from Crater of Diamonds, which would make anyone cross-eyed as they closely examine each small rock!
On Thursday, June 6, we were first in line for the ferry from Lewes to Cape May.
It was a clear day with some wind but not enough for rough seas on the 1-hour crossing.
We had deviled crab cakes, scallops, onion rings, and clams fresh from the sea for lunch at Rick’s Seafood in Cape May!
Our campsite at Brendan T Byrnes was pretty rustic for a State Forest. Still, it was a good overnight when Larry finished sorting through the Crater of Diamond concentrates and was reasonably sure he found a little diamond!
He called the park, who said that we would have to return in person to check it out and get a certificate—so maybe we’ll have to go back and do some more digging, too.
Since Larry has relatives buried in Middle Village, New York City, we went to the cemetery and took flowers to pay our respects. We underestimated both the time it would take and the Friday traffic in New York City. Our various navigation apps and devices tried to route us in the best possible way, though we ended up on side streets with either pop-up restaurants or parked cars, leaving only a narrow passageway.
Larry did an excellent job driving in the crazy traffic, and we actually leaned into the experience, stopping on the fly at street vendors for a hot dog and then sliced mangoes with chili lime sauce.
We eventually got to our campground right off the Hudson River within view of the Statue of Liberty. The Liberty Harbor RV Park is a parking lot, but the amenities were clean, and we felt secure. We had two quiet nights there, which we didn’t expect in the big city.
Look who we can see!
On Saturday, we took a 20-minute walk to the Liberty Cruise Terminal and boarded our ferry under a bright blue sky.
The Empty Sky Memorial whose steel walls point to Ground Zero are inscribed with 9/11 victim names.
We skipped Ellis Island and went to the Statue of Liberty first.
We had purchased tickets to the pedestal, which gave us a great view of the harbor.
When you are under Lady Liberty, you can see her robes and a part of the torch.
Behind my head in the harbor are people on a wave runner tour—how did I not know about this?!
There is a small museum in the Statue and a more extensive museum on the Island where Larry got his Junior Ranger badge.
This is the original beacon flame.
The blue dot is us, and the aqua target is our campground!
We split a pastrami hamburger and a pineapple mango smoothie for lunch before reboarding the ferry for Ellis Island.
Ellis Island was a much more extensive visit than we had imagined, and we spent several hours there watching movies and exploring several floors of exhibits.
A photo of Slovak mother and her children
The collections and displays of how the Island looked during its time as an immigrant entry point were captivating. Much of the building is as it originally was, well built and old, even to the bathroom sinks. Thinking of all the hopes and dreams of those whose feet walked the same floors and steps as ours was sobering. Since Larry’s parents were sponsored by family already established in New York City, they did not come through Ellis Island. We ferried home inspired by the independence and determination of those who traveled here and the patriotism embodied in Lady Liberty.
Quotes about liberty from the museum under her feet:
