Brigantine, NJ

We left Cape May at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 13 bound for Brigantine, which is next to Atlantic City. We left early to take advantage of calmer seas on the Atlantic Ocean as we made the 5 hour cruise. The winds and seas pick up in the afternoon so we’ll be traveling early as we make our way up the New Jersey coast.

It was a sunny day with calm seas and comfortable temperatures as we cruised about 1 - 2 miles off the coast.  Unfortunately, it was just far enough from land to make it difficult for me to do my Spanish class by Zoom so I rescheduled it for when we stopped for the day. The Atlantic City skyline showcases the many casinos still operating there.  Unfortunately the town has seen better days.

We arrived at the spot where we would be using a mooring belonging to a friend.  We planned to keep Zendo there while we rented a car to drive to Connecticut for the weekend. We arrived at Glenn’s mooring ball by 11:30 and tied up.  Jonny took Archie into shore in the dinghy while I had my Spanish lesson.  We packed for our weekend away and had a light dinner.

The next day we dinghied to a marina by the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City where we met Glenn who let us tie up our dinghy to his dock while we were away. We had rented a car from Turo (individuals rent their own cars) and the woman we rented from brought the car to us - so convenient!  We drove the four hours to Fairfield where we stayed with our good friends, Peter and Paula.  I’ve known Peter since 5th grade, growing up in Fairfield together. We both met our spouses at UConn and we’ve all been friends ever since.  It was great catching up with them as we hadn’t seen them since last year and this was the first time that we had seen their new home. They had moved to Fairfield from Longmeadow, MA about a year ago. We went for a great walk in the woods with our respective dogs who got along fine by basically ignoring each other!

The next morning we all took another nice walk and drove by my childhood home.  Later Jonny and I drove to Stratford to attend a Celebration of Life for his cousin Steven, who very sadly passed away from Legionnaire’s disease this winter.  He had to be airlifted from Barbados, where they were staying, to Miami where he was hospitalized.  The event which was held at Steven and Anne’s home was very special with no more than 30 people, all of whom were either family or very close friends.  Lots of stories were shared amidst tears and laughter. Steven was a unique personality and he made an impression on everyone who knew him.  He will be sorely missed.

That night we went out to dinner with Peter and Paula. The next morning, Billy, another friend I grew up with, came over to visit after  having just flown in from Israel the night before where he had attended a second wedding celebration for his son and new Israeli daughter-in-law.  It is always great catching up with my old buddies who have now become Jonny’s as well!

After a quick visit, we said our good-byes and by 11 we were driving back to Atlantic City and Zendo to continue our 2024 cruise.  It was a weekend  packed with family and friends and lots of love.