Does This Crowd Surprise You?

What is it about us humans that causes us to want to be some place else rather than our same ole place? As much as we enjoy being home, and delight in fixing it up to make it ever-more comfortable, most of us have a longing to get away. Half of the residences of Cape May County are populated by those of us with such yearnings. Of all the places we could go, we desire coming here.
My cousin’s family has had a second home on Crystal Lake near the New York border in northern Pennsylvania for a half century, which they, and we, thoroughly relish. But one thing which strikes him when he visits here is the large number of desirable restaurants which Cape May County boasts. At Crystal Lake, there was one within a reasonable driving distance, until lately, when a second one appeared. By comparison, we have a countless number of them.
I’m not going to list all of the additional attractions which make our islands and peninsula such a draw, other than one relatively new one. For the last eight years, the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) has sponsored the “Lessons of History Distinguished Lecture Series,” with the latest  one Oct. 13 being “Roosevelt & Churchill: the Friendship that Saved the World.” It was given by a leading authority on Churchill, Lee Pollock, and showed how the interaction of these two men impacted  their times and  reshaped  the course of history.
I’ve attended these lectures in the past, but was struck this time by the large attendance; two hundred people had paid forty dollars each to attend this event in mid-October. To say I was struck is really an understatement — I was dumbfounded.
I have lived in our county for over four decades and have seen it transformed over those years, from just a beach resort to what is becoming more and more a well-rounded community. My wife and I have always enjoyed going to New York and Philadelphia for the things large cities offer, but we find ourselves doing so with less frequency, given the growing number of attractions being offered right here.
If you are one who takes interest in history, mark your calendar for the next iteration of this series in this same timeframe next year. Not only will you benefit, but you will be adding to the cultural and social development of Cape May County.