Friday, September 12, 2014

Cape May Lighthouse


Surprise surprise, this adorable little seaside town has an equally adorable lighthouse and museum.
And, surprise surprise, I insisted we visit! 
 

The lighthouse is located in Lower Township's Cape May Point State Park, which is filled with walking trails that wind through dunes, freshwater marshes and ponds, and is one of the most popular spots in North America for old people bird watching! (I'm looking at you, Kris Stephenson.)

Migrations

Cape May Point is known as a major migratory route. Many sea/shore birds and songbirds migrate through this area in the spring. At the end of the summer, Dragonflies and Monarch Butterflies migrate through the area stopping briefly to gain their strength before continuing their journey across the Delaware Bay. Cape May also hosts the annual migration of the Horseshoe Crab along the Delaware Bay, where they come ashore to lay their eggs. These protein rich eggs are an important food source for Ruddy Turnstones and Red Knots. Cape May is viewed by many as the premier Hawk migration route of North America. In the fall hundreds of hawks are counted as they pass the narrow corridor of land along the Cape May peninsula heading south. This offers birdwatchers of all ages the opportunity to see these beautiful birds in flight as they soar across the fields and meadows, on their southward trek across the Delaware Bay.

 

The lighthouse stands 157 ft tall and was constructed using the bricks of another lighthouse, originally built high on a bluff but later dismantled due to subpar location and design. Should you wish to visit the top, there are 199 steps up an internal spiral staircase which will take you there.  But it's steep and TIGHT.  Don't get dizzy.



Mini doors near the entrance to the tower looked like the front door to a mini-lighthouse-keeper's house and reminded me of a Roald Dahl story.  Alas, I spied no grumpy munchkin staff scurrying about.

 
Bonus baby bump selfie with the jawbone of a baleen whale BOOM


1 comment:

  1. we're going to have a scurrying grumpy munckin in about a month and a half.

    ReplyDelete

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