To the Editor:
Our family discovered Cape May by accident. It was not a planned destination. We went on a summer vacation to Atlantic City in the early 1950s and my parents decided to travel south to sightsee. It was then that they stumbled upon a quaint, charming, historic, peaceful, and very family-oriented seaside town; a place to go to eliminate stress, to sit on a quiet beach and relax, and your biggest decision of the day is what to eat for dinner and where.
Which small, unique, privately owned and operated restaurant would you choose? Will you eat at a small, shaded table outside the front door of that bistro, or will you get carryout from the local pizzeria, travel to Cape May Point, sit at a seaside picnic table and watch the sunset?
A town with limited chaos, huge crowds, and traffic jams. A town void of 30-story hotels, condominiums, and huge convention hall complexes. A town void of nationwide corporate stores and huge, franchised restaurant chains, yet filled with privately owned boutiques, antique stores, artist galleries, and ice cream and coffee shops operated by a friendly staff hand-selected by the proud owner. A place to take a carriage ride after dark down a gas-lighted street.
Our visits to Cape May from Ohio span four generations. My first trip there was with my family in 1954. During the 1960s and 70s, my parents took my two sisters and I on numerous vacations to Cape May. During the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, my wife and I took our son and daughter and visited often.
In 2012, my sisters and I made one last visit with my mom before she passed. We are returning this September with my granddaughter. She just turned 6 years old and will soon have been on a summer vacation to Cape May all six years.
The reason I tell this story is that I worry the qualities that make Cape May so special to all four generations are threatened. Plans to build a multi-story motel/convention center complex, which will dump huge crowds and traffic onto scenic Beach Drive and the boardwalk. “Promenade Arch” structures that clutter the boardwalk, obstruct the view of the beach, and provide a perching and pooping spot for seagulls. Why were structures not allowed to be constructed on the vacant lot next to Congress Hall? Was it not because the homes behind those vacant lots would lose their view of the ocean? Yet the City Council allows structures to be erected on the Boardwalk? Does that not obstruct the view?
If your reason is supposedly historic because similar structures were there in early Cape May history, then does that mean the next thing the government will approve is elephant statues to also line the area? That would be a nice touch! Maybe each “Arch” could be a hitching post for a red elephant statue! If you are into Cape May history, these last comments will have meaning.
Long story short… if you are seeking charm, peace, quite, serenity, tranquility, shops, restaurants, and family-oriented activities, there are few places remaining with all that Cape May has to offer. If the only things you truly desire on a beach is beautiful sand, gorgeous surf, a sea breeze, shells, sand dunes, sea grasses, an occasional life boat, and lifeguard stand, then Cape May has that to offer.
If your family seeks water and amusement parks, carnivals, fairs, roller coasters, Promenade Arches, parties, crowds, traffic, huge convention complexes, retail malls, college spring break crowds, and huge franchises, there are numerous options all up and down the coast (may I recommend Atlantic City, Wildwood, Ocean City, Virginia Beach, and Daytona Beach).
You have inherited a gem! Cape May is unique! Keep it that way!
TIM IRELAN
Kettering, Ohio
