Spring Break

 For a couple of years Kade has been talking about going to see the Pine Barrens in New Jersey which is a special ecosystem that is marked by acidic, low-nutrient water and soils. It is the biggest pine forrest of its kind in the world. That's not the only thing it's known for though.  Those who are into the paranormal are really interested in the area. Not only is it known for many sightings of the Jersey Devil, but for other haunted areas and sightings of ghosts. 

Kade follows a YouTube channel of guys that check out many of these types of places, but this is one that caught his interest.  Since we couldn't fit it in easily this summer,  we decided to go for spring break. The only problem was that we couldn't go camping since the campsites don't open till April 1st and the weather was a little cooler and wetter than we would have preferred,  but we're from Michigan,  so we sucked it up.  (I did pack my winter gear because I seem to not be able to get warm anymore 🙃).

On the way out all we heard from Google maps was that there could be coastal flooding in the area. We knew it was going to definitely rain one of the 3 days we'd be there, possibly even rain for 2 of them, so we planned accordingly. Actually,  Jason did. He's an excellent vacation planner!

We drove out Monday and enjoyed the 10 hour drive together.  Our Airbnb was cute and nice,  though a little chilly.  It was in Somers Point and a five minute walk to the beach. 

We realized at a rest stop tht these 3 repped our college favs!

Our Airbnb

Tuesday was our day for the Pine Barrens, when we knew it would be clear. 

Driving by the Pine Barrens.

We started with Weymouth Furnace. They manufactured munitions for the war of 1812. It's now abandoned and was actually closed to the public, so we just took pictures from outside the borders.

Then we went to The Blue Hole where some people think the Jersey Devil lives. It's 50 degrees year-round. It never freezes. The hike was beautiful and we could see how sandy the soil is. Because of all the rain, part of the path had flooded, but we were able to get around. 

Some water holes on the hike that demonstrated the iron desposits very common in the Pine Barrens.

Water that blocked this part of the trail.

The Blue Hole

Kade maade it!

Signs of a beaver's work.

More red deposits and more flooding.

Next, we went to the Quaker Bridge, where one of the first sightings of the White Stag was, which indicates a warning of danger. The best part was the old abandoned railroad tracks that we walked along for a while,  just for fun. The bridge it itself was anticlimactic,  partly because it wasn't the original. When we left the bridge is when things got really interesting. We had driven on a very bumpy dirt road to the path for walking to the bridge. Our plan was to visit Batsto Village next and Google maps thought the road she led us on was meant for driving. Well, maybe if you're driving a dirt bike,  which was the only vehicle/person we saw for most of the day. We had quite the adventure driving down a 6 mile extremely narrow road, surrounded by trees and encountering enormous pot holes in the ground filled with water. One we had to completely avoid and drove through a clearing in the trees, which also included driving through water. The kids and I pulled back some branches so they wouldn't scratch up the truck. Austin got out at one point to run ahead and make sure we weren't going get to a point where we'd just have to turn around.  He also tested out the holes to see how deep they were before we chanced it in the truck.  It was the last hole that was a little too deep,  but I don't think any permanent damage was done. 

We loved these railroad tracks!

The Quaker Bridge.

This is the only picture I took of the huge holes in the ground and you can hardly see them due to the reflection of the card in the window. If you look closely, you can see 3 of them in  row here. These were at the end.

We were relieved to finally see a few cars when we came out near Batsto Village, which is a historic village dating back to 1766. The 2nd floor window of the mansion is said to have sightings of a ghost in it. To me, the whole mansion itself looks like the ideal haunted house.  I think it's where all haunted houses get inspiration from. At Batsto Village have been the most sightings of the Jersey Devil. Batsto is from the Swedish word "batsu" which means "bathing place".

The ideal haunted house!

After our adventures,  especially the off-roading, we were tired, but after our dinner our boxed jambalaya with fresh andouille sausage, peppers,  and onions (thanks Jason!) we enjoyed games and a movie. 

The steam from the food fogged up my lens!

The next day wasn't as rainy as we expected,  thank goodness,  but that didn't mean we didn't get wet! Well,  Jason and I didn't,  but after we arrived at Cape May, at the very southern tip of New Jersey, the kids didn't care that it was 50 degrees.  They played tag with the waves and lost. Austin took the biggest loss when he jumped off a rock to avoid a big wave and it was deeper than he thought on that side. Since he wasn't hurt or in danger of being washed away,  I was laughing way too hard! The look of shock on his face was hilarious! We got him warmed up and enjoyed the little museum and the lighthouse. We went to a WWII lookout that was closed, but spent about 30 more minutes on the beach looking for Cape May diamonds. They're just quartz washed into the ocean by rivers, getting tumbled along the way to shine them up. People actually make jewelry with them. After the visit to the museum,  when we saw them on the beach we had to collect some. 

They were trying to touch the rock and move back before getting wet. 

We were cold!!

The rock that got Austin was the big one on the far left.

An old WWII bunker.

Looking for Cape May diamonds.

The smaller clear ones are the "diamonds".

Out in the ocean is concrete ship they were tesing during WWI.

WWII lookout

We ate dinner back in Somers Point, at a place called Grilled Cheese and Crab Cake Co, which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives 2 times. We had some delicious crab sandwiches there and fries covered in crab soup, crumled bacon, and Old Bay. I'm not a fries person, nor a bacon person, but it was really good! A super fun hour of charades followed by an amazing movie Grand Turismo is how we ended the day.

The next day was the rainy day. Our plans to drive to Dover,  DE, 2 hours away where we bought our first home,  was perfect. The kids appreciated it, even though Victoria was the only kid who lived there. We showed them around including the Dover Speedway track,  downtown Dover which it quite quaint, and then the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover AFB where Jason was stationed. 

Our old home!

Dover Motor Speeway

At the Air mobililty museum Erik was captivated by all the maps, his interest.

Austin ws captivted by the gagdets and STEM, his interest.

Jason was our private tour guide.

We went to the lookout tower.

The C-5!

Jason, captivated by the C-5.

We warmed up taquitos and rice and had a bagged Mexican salad with it before grabbing some ice cream in the rain, after we returned. The movie we saw the night before was so good that we didn't want to watch another that would definitely not be as good, so we just played some more games, including charades. 

It rained all day in Somers Point, except for this one moment when the sun waaas setting and I caught this beauty.

Before we left on Friday morning we walked down to the beach to take a peek. Erik and I went the first day,  but the rest didn't have a chance with our other activities and the rain. When we got in the car to leave,  we all agreed that it was the perfect vacation.  Enough relaxtion, fun, working out, good food, education,  and great company!

5 minutes from our Airbnb.