I Revisited...

The place where my Philly adventure began--Cape May, NJ. Sort of funny that my Philly adventure began in New Jersey, but I love it that that is the case. The highlights from a glorious Sunday spent on the beaches of Cape May:

• How often is it that a native West Virginian gets to drive a couple of hours, park on an oceanfront street, climb a few stairs, and walk on the beach? I'll answer that...not very often because the drive has always been more like about 8 hours to reach the shore of the Atlantic.
• It was monsoon week in Philadelphia last week. So, the unbelievably clear Sunday was a great blessing for a beach trip. We held our breath almost up to the last moment, but Mother Nature pulled through in the end.
• Two semi-inexperienced East Coast drivers made it through on MapQuest directions. The last time I tried this with Pamela, it was a disaster beginning like 4 miles away on Lancaster Avenue. This time, Sara and I took a different way, using the Ben Franklin rather than Walt Whitman Bridge, and we still made it--even through the rather trashy streets of Camden, NJ. On the way home, however, we expanded our sense of adventure by going blindly via the Walt Whitman rather than Ben Franklin...deep down, it was just that I favor the purely literary rather than historical literary.
• The ocean never ceases to please me. If you think about it, it's a pretty reliable crutch. The smell of salt that permeates the shore, the sound of crashing waves, and the ocean breeze will all remain my favorite beach elements.
• Crabcakes are delicious. Crabcakes on a screened in porch, overlooking Cape May shores are like gold.
• Driving home to the same home I departed from just hours before rather than crashing in a not-so-homey motel makes the trip even better.
• What I will remember for the next trip: sunscreen...probably SPF 80.
  

As I laid just as I did 8 months ago, contemplating life and the sounds of the shore, I realized that I have almost made it through the first year. My reaction to that? Just a big wow. I look back to last August 17th, and I wonder how much more a person can change in a year and still be the same person. Life has been good to me...Philadelphia has definitely been good to me...and I'm glad that I can look forward to many times of allowing Cape May to be good to me.