BigTrip2011–Day 11–A Trip to the Beach is the Cure

August 8, 2011. “Beep, beep” sounds filled the air, and I remembered it was my alarm. I didn’t want to get up. I was very comfortable in my sleeping bag. I pretended I didn’t hear it, but it just got louder. I left it across the room out of arms reach. I had to get up to turn it off, and then I was awake. George had mentioned he needed to be at work by 8am, so I planned to be out the door by 7:45. I didn’t want to delay him. We had a great time the night before.

I came upstairs and we had breakfast together. I mentioned it was a shame we didn’t get to ride together. George’s wife asked me what my route was. I told her that I was going to take George’s recommendation and ride down to Cape May, NJ to admire the Atlantic. Upon hearing this, George called into work. He didn’t look that sick. He was dying to ride his new Yamaha Super Tenere. He had just received it a few days before and still hadn’t broken it in. I was quite happy to have a riding companion and tour guide for the day!

He took me past a military base where he had told me the guards yelled at him for taking a picture of the airplane. The GoPro did a nice job, and no guards even blinked.

We stopped for a quick break to get some water and play with our phones. A beautiful day and we were geeking out with our cellphones.

We rode into Atlantic City to look around. I hadn’t been there before. It reminded me of a smaller Vegas. Still plenty of sand around (beach), but with an ocean view. George wanted a picture of his new bike in front of the Taj Mahal. I was surprised how many of the buildings had “Trump” on them.

We stopped to get a picture of “Lucy”. According to their sign, it is the largest elephant in the world.

While George tried to get the perfect shot, I went to the beach. The sea air smelled nice, but it was getting too hot to stay in one place while wearing moto gear, so we set off again.

I was following, so I had more time to look around and enjoy the sights instead of trying to navigate. It was nice.

We came to this dead end with a beautiful view. (above/below)

Since I had a GPS, I was asked to lead the rest of the way to Cape May, NJ. I accepted and off we went.

When we arrived at Cape May we rode around for a short time before picking a lunch spot.

We settled on a pancake place right on the beach. I was happy for the air conditioning. It was very humid outside and getting way too close to 100F. I loved the architecture of Cape May. Lots of building like the one below.

Eventually, it was time for me to board the ferry to Lewes, DE. George and I said our goodbyes, and I rode into the ferry terminal.

The ferry cost $33 to cross the Delaware Bay. It took about 70 minutes.

This ferry was much larger than the ferry on Lake Champlain. The other ferry could have fit inside of this one with room to spare. This one had multiple levels with a bar on the top. I thought it was a bit strange to be serving so many drinks to people about to get in their cars.

The three Harley riders next to me had so many drinks that when it was time to go, one of them couldn’t remember how to start his bike. I was annoyed. Normally, bikes get to leave first, but we had to wait for most of the cars to leave before the bike was started with the help of his friend.

Drenched in sweat, I finally rode off into Delaware on my way to Annapolis. I crossed into Maryland. This was the last “new” state of the trip. I liked their big signs on the border proclaiming “handheld cellphone use illegal” “texting illegal”. I’d love to see signs like that in Minnesota. I did find it ironic while passing one of them I looked over and saw a woman texting with the sign in the background. It was a shame not to get a photo of that.

I crossed the beautiful Chesapeake Bay bridge, and pulled into a state park called Sandy Pointe. It was free admission, so I parked the bike in the shade. I took off all my gear and left it with the bike. I grabbed a bottle of gatorade, snacks, and my camera. I set out in search of some shade. I found some right at the end of the sand under a big tree. Perfect.

I sat there for some time enjoying the coolness of the shade just relaxing. It started to get dark, so I rode to Annapolis and got a cheap room just outside of town.

Today was a good day.

 

About 250 miles.

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• BigTrip2011 – Day9 – WWI Military Expo Video
• BigTrip2011 – Day8 – Raingear to the Rescue
• BigTrip2011 – Day7 – Mountains and Rainstorms
• BigTrip2011 – Day6 – NY & VT – Adirondacks and a Ferry
• BigTrip2011 – Day5 – Buffalo, NY to Watertown, NY
• BigTrip2011 – Day4 – Buffalo, NY
• BigTrip2011 – Day3&5 Videos
• BigTrip2011 – Day3 – OH, PA, NY – Lake Erie and Niagara Falls
• BigTrip2011 – Day2 – Indiana to Ohio – MotoVlogger Meetup
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• Trip Starts After More Delays!
• Announcement: Big Trip of 2011!