Last weekend, I had one of my favorite weekends ever: my annual (well, minus a couple pandemic years) Cape May, NJ girl’s weekend trip!
This year the trip was extra special because all 7 of our freshman year floor crew was present. It was the first time we had ALL been together in probably a decade!
I’ve seen all of them in smaller groups or individually here and there, and the last time almost all of us were together was our friend Lu’s wedding in Maine in 2019, but we were missing Lisa. It was so, so special to all be together again for the first time in so long.
The weather did not exactly cooperate for our trip, but it was the company that mattered anyway.
Let’s back up a bit. When I last left off (<- read that post first if you missed it), it was Thursday (my birthday!) and I was at a concert in Philly with Turner, one of my college friends who was part of the Cape May adventure (it’s her parent’s place we go to in Cape May).
I stayed overnight with Turner and her family in Jenkintown, just outside of Philadelphia, and we planned to head to Cape May on Friday morning, picking up some friends along the way.
On Friday morning, Turner took me to Northwest Athletics, a really fun strength boot camp class that she goes to (usually at 6am, but we went to the 9am since she had the day off work) a few times a week.
The class was hard and so much fun! I really miss doing boot camp classes – I haven’t really found one I love that’s convenient/nearby since the pandemic. I love my yoga classes and run dates but it made me think maybe I should find a strength class nearby…
Post-workout Turner made us spinach and goat cheese omelettes, which were delicious. Plus a latte from their local coffee shop.
After getting cleaned up we hit the road for Cape May, picking up our friend Lu at the train station in Philadelphia on the way!
We met up with a few other friends en route at a cute lunch spot called Sweet Amalia Market & Kitchen. Love this place, their oysters are fantastic.
I of course got the oysters! Plus an unpictured salad.
We pulled in to Cape May mid afternoon and unfortunately found out our tiki boat cruise we had booked for that night was cancelled due to high wind and rain. Bummer!
But we ended up having a great night anyway. We hung out at the house with some wine and caught up for awhile before heading to dinner at Sea Salt restaurant in town.
I started with a seafood bisque that was super savory and delicious:
And then had a fish entree with quinoa and string beans that I can’t remember the specifics of. It was pretty good but didn’t blow my mind – the soup was better!
After dinner we headed back to the house and spent the rest of the night in pajamas talking and laughing. I miss getting to do this with friends – hanging out late in the evening in cozy clothes – it felt a lot like college and was so good for my soul.
On Saturday morning we woke up slowly (I was up around 6 and didn’t think I’d fall back asleep but somehow next opened my eyes at 9, which is basically unheard of and as a parent it was amaaaazing to wake up slowly/on my own terms).
By the time I made it out of my room most of the others were up and had gone to grab a few breakfast quiches from a local coffee shop for us to share. Yum!
Since we knew the weather would be rainy and windy on Saturday as well, we decided to book ourselves a private yoga class at Cape May Yoga as a fun group activity.
Because there were 7 of us and it was a small studio it was only a few dollars more per person to do a private class vs. a regular one! And it was really fun to get to have the studio and the instructor to ourselves.
It was a great class and a really nice anchor to our day given we wouldn’t be hitting up the beach for any sunbathing or swimming!
After yoga we walked over to a spot called Fins for lunch. Typically we tend to go to a lot of the same restaurants on our Cape May weekends but this year we mixed it up with almost all new to me spots!
We all shared some roasted cauliflower and brussels to start and then I had the Mediterranean themed salad with shrimp. I was craving some greens!
After lunch we wandered around town a bit in the rain. So many cute shops!
We made it back to the house mid-afternoon and some of our group wanted to chill and a few of us wanted to go take a walk and see how the ocean was looking in the stormy weather.
Kris, Lu, and I had a blast braving the weather together. It was insanely windy but not super rainy while we were walking thankfully!
It’s about a mile ish from Turner’s parent’s place to the beach, so we walked there and had a little walk on the beach before heading back.
Of course it would have been nice to have sunny weather and be able to swim, but there’s something so gorgeous about the ocean when it’s stormy out – I love it.
Rain jacket selfie:
Lu and I took off our shoes and got our feet wet. The water was actually pretty warm!
When we got back to the house we all very sadly said goodbye to Kris, who had to leave to make it to her dad’s birthday party (and to reunite with her husband and almost 1 year old). So glad you were able to join us for part of the weekend, Kris!
The remaining 6 of us went out to dinner in town at the Cricket Club, another new to me spot. A special apology to anyone near us that evening – we had the BEST time and that involved a lot of very loud conversation and laughter. 😉
Lu and I shared an unpictured salad to start, and our table also shared some savory parmesan muffins that were delicious.
As for my entree, I had the crab cakes! It was good but way too much food – one crab cake would have been plenty!
Such a fun night!
We had another late night cozy pajama chat session on the couches when we got home. <3
On Sunday morning, we were all up by 8 and decided to head into town for breakfast at a cute spot called Bagel Time Cafe.
I got a bagel sandwich with basically a thousand toppings – egg, roasted red pepper, avocado, cheddar, and bacon. It was so good and enormous! I ate half and saved the other half for lunch.
After our feast we headed out to take a walk on the beach, grateful for a break in the rain!
It was actually pretty nice out despite the moody skies!
A nice long beach walk was a great end to a weekend that really filled up my soul cup. So grateful to have friends that have known me for so long, have seen me at my worst (and best), and who still love me.
Until next time, friends! Really hoping all 7 of us can make this an annual thing… and that Cape May weather cooperates for us next time. 😉
