So Long, Summer Crowds

I started to title this column, “So Long, Summer,” but then thought, Oh no, the chambers of commerce will get on me for that, saying, “Don’t say summer is over, we still have nice weather here well into the fall, with more and more to do, and ever more people coming down to enjoy it.” They are right, of course, so I changed it. 
Case in point; take the breweries, wineries, and distilleries which now populate Cape May County – they are here all year, not just in the summer months. I mention them because our daughter’s family was here last week, and I invited my son-in-law to test some of them. I now shamelessly plug our “Kegs, Corks & Spirits” map and write-ups in Do The Shore which we used to direct us around. These new establishments are only the latest addition to the many things to do in our county. Let me also mention Stone Harbor’s new dine-in burger bar and theatre which now draws us there in the winter.
That point was driven home to me by some of our visitors only a couple of days ago. They were renting one of the new homes which were just constructed on the lot across the street from our home in the Crest, where the Methodist church had been. I noticed the New York plates on their car, and stopped to ask them the reasons they chose to vacation with us as opposed to some place closer.  They said they had vacationed here years ago, but the amount of traffic kept them from coming back for a long time.
But now that some of the Garden State Parkway has been widened to three lanes and the lights have been replaced by overpasses, “We can just zip down here now.” Prior to that they had been going to LBI, but “there is so much more to do here, and the kids like it better.”  I can identify with what they were saying; my cousin and his family from rural northern Pennsylvania have referenced all our attractions and have come back for years.
When my wife, Patricia, and I built our home we intentionally stretched a point and built it larger than normal, looking to the day that our children would be grown and have their own families. We wanted to be able to accommodate them and were counting on the attractions of our fun and beautiful county to draw them in. It’s working (Of course they’d come to see their parents, but we did not want to take any chances. Our neighbors just told us they are considering adding a second floor to their house for the same reason).    
I do watch the summer leave with some regrets, but really not that many. I am frequently asked by summer residents, “What do you do all winter? Isn’t it boring? My answer is, I’ve never been bored. Even in the off-season there is so much to do. I do enjoy the big cities which surround us, and I tell myself, when things slow down, we’ll go to a play, the ballet or a concert at Carnegie Hall. The fact is, however, we seldom make the time because we are so busy right here.
Sometimes I feel so very blessed; as a matter of fact, I feel that way most of the time. If you live here or vacation here, chances are you feel that way too.