The blogosphere is holding this thing called Blog Action Day today. Thousands of bloggers around the world are writing about the environment.
Well, Cape May, NJ is on the environmental frontline.
Not only are we at the nexus for bird and butterfly migration in eastern North America, we’re just a few feet above sea level and just a few yards away from the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
While others talk about rising sea level in abstract numbers, we see our beaches getting nibbled at each year by the incoming waves.
Today, a minor inconvenience.
Tomorrow? We don’t like to think too much about that here.
This is the oldest seashore resort in the United States. We’ve weathered many, many storms. Yes, we lost part of a town years ago, after one very ferocious storm. South Cape May now sleeps with the fishes.
But real estate is too sought after and too expensive these days to imagine losing another inch. It just can’t happen.
Here, right on the frontline, we forget there’s a battle to fight.
Posted by: lois lane @ 7:35 am
Cape May gets the nod in a recent MSN article as one of the top ten family beach vacation destinations in the country. Victorian houses, boutique hotels and great restaurants, plus family friendly amenities, including neighboring Wildwood’s boardwalk, helped seal the deal.
Also on the list:
Cannon Beach, near Portland, Oregon
Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Coronado, San Diego, California
Daytona Beach, Florida
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Newport Beach, California
Orient Beach State Park, Long Island, New York
Poipu Beach Park, Kauai, Hawaii
Sanibel Island, Florida
Not bad company to be in, at all.
Have a tidbit for Lois Lane? Send her an email!
Champagne Island is becoming party island for boaters. And local birders are not amused.
The island is just a spit of sand between Stone Harbor and North Wildwood. On the tiny portion of the sand bar that stays above sea level, endangered birds like Piping Plovers and Black Skimmers and Royal Terns nest. (Click to read more on Royal Terns.)
These days, the tiny chicks and their mothers share the space with hundreds of boaters who zip out to Champagne Island and squeeze together on the narrow sandbar for a little sun and surf.
Birders counted more than 80 boats and 400 sun bathers one day last week alone.
This past Sunday, there was even a floating snack bar docked at the sand bar.
Local birder Chris Vogel says he’s counted close to 30 Royal Tern nests on the island in the last week. Apparently, it’s the northernmost nesting spot for the terns.
He’s also counted as many as 900 Skimmers there recently.
Vogel wants to get the island protected so the birdies can fledge peacefully. The question is - who owns Champagne Island?
Lois Lane dutifully put a call into the NJ Divison of Fish, Game and Wildlife. She asked a simple question: Who owns Champagne Island?
Lois Lane was referred to DEP’s public relations department. We are still waiting for a call back.
We’ll let you know when we know.
Unless you know. Then, by all means, let us know.
Posted by: lois lane @ 2:23 pm
You’ve heard the stories about possible wireless internet all over Cape Island. Well, Cape May’s snail mailing out a survey with its property tax bills. The city wants to know if taxpayers would ditch their current Internet Service providers and, instead, pay the city for wireless internet service.
You really didn’t think internet access would be free, did you?
40 transmitters would have to be placed all around the island to connect Cape May, West Cape May and Cape May Point to the web. (Photo above.) Projected cost is $1 million. Here’s where the transmitters would go on the island:
The city has tentative plans to hook up police cars and 24 hour beach surveillance cameras to the wireless internet plus all sorts of nifty things - liike water meters, electric and gas meters, and, of course, parking meters.
Wonder who’s going to take those midnight calls when someone can’t get online.
The Cape May Taxpayers Association will count the surveys and report back on the yeahs and nays.
Posted by: lois lane @ 10:19 am
Here’s an update to that Beach Theater story we told you about a couple of months ago.
Cape May’s Beach Theater is now open for the summer, still being run by the same owners. (See movie schedules.)
But don’t buy any movie tickets for the fall.
Cape May’s Historic Preservation Commisison this week gave the owners permission to demolish the theater.
To make matters more interesting, Cape May is also in the process of lending $100,000 to a group that’s trying to save the Beach Theater. (See earlier story)
Confused?
The $100,000 is supposed to pay for a year’s rent on the theater, with an option to buy the place.
While that process is moving forward, the theater owners can now go right ahead and demolish the theater once the summer’s over. The only question left is what will replace it.
Apparently they’re proposing a combo of condos and shops - in a Victorian theme of course. If we hear right, the plan would include private garages all along Stockton Ave. Not very pedestrian friendly.
On the Beach
The good news for film lovers is that Wildwood’s Sunset Cinema - which shows movies on the beach every night in the summer - is back! And the even better news is that Wildwood gave the Sunset Cinema a three year contract to continue to show their first run movies with great sound in that unbeatable location. (See this week’s movie schedule.)
Cape May’s Chamber of Commerce also is taking up the beach movie mantra. (Maybe not a moment too soon.) The chamber will be showing three classic family films on Cape May’s beach for the first time this summer.
Dates are July 11th, 18th and 25th at 8:45PM.