Cape May



Adore the colorful details, such as the rainbow chairs, iron flower fence, and the "ever-blooming" tulip fence.
That's a lot of work painting those "gingerbread" detailing, but so worth it.



The best way to say farewell to summer is visiting a little shore town.  It's bustling with the summer-home people moving out, last tours being given (the trolley we went on was the last ride of the season), and partaking in the last hurrah of what the seasonal shops have to offer before locking up.

We ventured to Cape May, NJ to ride the trolley on a Victorian Homes tour.  Later we meandered through the the neighborhoods.  I love historic neighborhoods, I like to think about the people there then, and now, what the houses have seen, and how a block can go from aristocrat, to ghetto, to abandoned, to beautiful again.  We enjoyed seeing folks porch-dwelling.  Next time we need to make a weekend of it and stay in one of those houses.

 I LOVE it when people take pride in their surroundings.  Houses are painted in bright, fun colors, and oh-the-attention-to detail; such as the ever-blooming-tulip fence in the top photo collage, the rainbow assorted chairs, or the adorable flower fencing.

*fun trolley tour fact: 
In the Victorian era, most porches or verandas were rounded to accommodate the rounded parlor furniture brought outside for large parties.

I also adore the quaint businesses, like the hot dog shop pictured above, the Ugly Mug bar, and the pizza parlor where we saw some great old pictures.

Love the font choice on the street signs. 

Cape May is officially one of my happy places.

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Take PRIDE in your surroundings, it makes for a better world.

 

Top: From me with a "pin hole effect".
Bottom: A picture of a picture in a local pizza parlor of
victorian Washington St.



THE Engagement Postcard and Venue

As promised here are the front and backs of our postcards designed by yours truly.  We hope that everyone will hang the post card on the fridge for a little while.

Post cards are really a win:win.  Postage is cheaper 0.29, less paper, and you get to make a nifty little website to handle all RSVPS and etc...

I'm pretty excited to take out my calligraphy pens to address them to everyone!

Here's where we are hosting our engagement party... so in love with this place.

  



It's rustic with it's charming 1930's structure, wood floors, and open air views of the city and the back ground creaking of Hudson river boat basin.  There's even a beach on the edge.  The Palisades is one of my most favorite places to explore.

One second you're in dense forest, look down and you'll find a 500 ft

drop of rocky cliffs where it's interesting to drop pebbles off the end and listen where they land.  Look across and you'll see Manhattan, the GWB and the little red lighthouse (built in1880) that not many people know exist.

FUN FACT: that little red light house was built before the George Washington Bridge (built in 1931)...there's a great children's story about it. 

Also, there are abandoned mansions that are hidden in the woods from the late 1800's, check out this site too for better pictures.  The Cliffdale is the one that's most intact, a lot of others just have the foundations. 

John D. Rockefeller Jr., bought the surrounding area in 1930s, in an attempt to halt over-development of the cliffs spurred by the newly built George Washington Bridge.

In 1933, Rockefeller donated the land to the Park Commission with the request that the cliff line be returned to its natural state. In the following years, numerous turn-of-the-century mansions were bulldozed, including Cliffdale Manor.

Back story... Steve and I and our friends Lucy and Eugene went exploring and found The Cliffdale mansion... from climbing into a hole in the floor of the mansion... Lucy and I got poison ivy on out arms...Steve and Eugene... well they watered the bushes, so use your imagination as to where they were itching.

When planning a party what are some ways you are green and save some green?