Is That Any Way to Treat Visitors We Welcome?

New Jersey Turnpike Authority ought to have a new Garden State Parkway sign painted and placed at the entrance to Cape May County, just south of the bridge over Great Egg Harbor. “Attention, Visitors. Don’t Expect Any Favors From Us.” On the northbound side, another could state, “Hope you enjoyed the food. The rest of the Parkway has restrooms you can use! Have a nice day!”
Curious why such a sign is needed at the entrance to Vaca-tionland U.S.A., where the tourist is the cash cow that feeds us all? Let’s just say it’s little amenities that are missing.
For starters, heaven forbid motorists should feel nature’s call shortly after they enter the Jersey Cape. Restrooms are closed, and have been closed at the Shoemaker “rest” stop between the north and south roadways.
It’s nothing new, of course, but the more one thinks about it, to have such a place, and to close it 99 percent of the time is just plain wrong. At best, the Parkway should plant sheltering hedges, so that people in dire need could relieve themselves without fear of public embarrassment. If, for some reason, the bathrooms there cannot be opened because of sewage problems or whatever, place a call to Caprioni’s Sewage Service, and have them place a few port-a-potties there.
Ages ago, when there was a Garden State Parkway Authority, and that outfit hosted a once-a-year holiday extravaganza at the Shoemaker holly tree, one of the oldest in the state, that site received more traffic than was usual.
The holly still stands, but the restrooms remain shut.
Then, just a few miles south, one finds the Ocean View food and fuel stop. Trouble is there is no food.
Huge signs declared the gut-wrenching fact that, after Oct. 9, food would no longer be available there.
It is unthinkable that the place visitors can stop to learn about the charms of Cape May County, get brochures about lovely restaurants and fine motels in which to stay, is the same location where they cannot grab a bite to eat or coffee to quell a splitting headache.
Would this be allowed to happen in any other state? I seriously doubt it.
Cape May County is on the cusp of spending a bundle of Canadian dollars to entice Montreal visitors to stay here next summer, the 40th year such an arrangement has taken place. Would it be fair to place on all those brochures, “Don’t enter Cape May County on an empty stomach,” or “Make a bathroom call before you cross the bridge?”
Translate into French, “Once you cross the bridge into Cape May County, hold it ’til you get to your campground or Wildwood, whichever comes first.” Perhaps they ought to be urged to pack a few extra pair of undies, just in case.
This is not a laughing matter. These are but two examples of why we, the citizens of Cape May County, are often the butt of jokes about living in “another state.”
Consider the competition for tourists’ dollars. Virginia, for ex-ample, operates beautiful state-run rest stops on Route 13 enticing visitors with a nice facility and bathrooms. Delaware, if you know where to look just over the Delaware Memorial Bridge at the Delaware River and Bay Authority’s headquarters has splen-did bathrooms and a place to eat, right next to the tollbooths.
Pennsylvania, well, Philly is another thing, but that’s not what I really consider a vacation destination. However, out on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, there are rest stops that have a full complement of places to avail yourself of the rest facilities and places to grab a quick bite to eat.
Even north from here, there are massive places to eat and answer nature’s call, but then, that’s up there, where there are no traffic signals to stop traffic.
Even in tough economic times, we ought not to forget the wallet that feeds us all. We ought to be open to the needs of every traveler who forks over money to come here. Such a cold act, no bathroom and no place to eat, is, in my view, tantamount to telling visitors, “Just stay at home,” and if not that, “Bring all the food you want to eat, because we don’t have anything for you here.”
It’s a subliminal thing, an unspoken message from us to them. It is as if we have rolled up, and stowed away for the winter, the welcome mat.
If that is the intent of the operators of the Parkway, they have, indeed, succeeded in their mission.
Perhaps some dialog with officials from the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce could convince them of the error of their ways. We, who reside here, know such things, but those who are coming to visit do not know, and expect to have such amenities available to them.
We expect nothing less when we travel, why should we not offer such things to those who come long distances to stay with us?
Don’t think now that the summer season is over; it is all right to close such things. Remember this, the chamber and many merchants have worked diligently to extend the tourism season in this county. Thus far, they have done a commendable job.
They have brought masses of people into the county for such things as festivals and celebrations. The least we, the residents of the county, can do is to be hospitable to our visitors, and offer them a bathroom and something to eat.