We spent the few days there mostly at their house not far from the Jersey shore. It was very nice. Mom and I stayed in their sun/sitting room and had a lovely view of their backyard garden. Talk about green thumbs, they are botanical geniuses. The last night before we left, they took us to the Ocean City boardwalk. I had never been to this particular one.
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| View from boardwalk of water. No bad storms for erosion yet this year. |
Of course, I had to get some ice cream. Gelato was calling my name. Pistachio and chocolate/hazelnut. (We also went to Shrivers to get salt water taffy and it was some of the best I've ever had. It was in rope form, instead of disc, and was soft and flavorful. Go there if you get the chance!)
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| What's with the pretzel? |
The very last day we were in for an interesting treat. My mom's friend's son is a chef and his good friend opened up a restaurant in a historic area of New Jersey called Cape May. (I think certain people on TV give Jersey a bad name, but it has lots of really wonderful areas that should not be overlooked.) In this historic village of Cold Spring, they probably have a dozen buildings or so. And they set up demos for the visitors. Blacksmith, baker, banker. (And other ones that don't begin with 'B'.) I'm always so glad to see the preservation of old buildings and reenactments of colonial ways of life. It reminds us not to forget the dear people who came before us.
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| It's much bigger than most buildings in the area. Wrap around porch. |
At the very back of the village there is a building called "The Old Grange." Which is now a restaurant. (I believe it has been other restaurants at times in the past.)
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| Old fashioned signs. |
Something that makes this story even more interesting is that the new owners had only a month to get the building ready. It had been in a state of disrepair and needed a lot of work.
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| What a fresh coat of paint won't do. |
They refinished the place in authentic design and color. He even had his mother sew the chair covers. (What moms won't do to support their sons.)
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| Wine racks and other the other side was the kitchen. |
The menu is growing, but was off to a good start with the recent opening. We began with what was similar to the Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill, only my mom doesn't like anything hot, so we had them put the spicy remoulade sauce on the side. Which I devoured with the lightly fried, tender shrimp. They were all gone before I got a picture. Man, my mom is fast with a fork when she wants something.
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| Creative creations. |
Normally I only get water with my meals, I just prefer it, but the mango tea sounded too good to pass up. I was right! It came with a simple syrup on the side to sweeten it.
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| It hardly needed the syrup. Just a splash. The tea was incredible. |
Mom and I decided to split an entree. (Thank goodness.) I let her choose. So we shared the chicken cheese steak. This was half a portion! Toasted bread, sliced chicken, melted cheese and mushrooms. I only made my way through half of my half!
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| Also has some pickles and lots of fries. |
I never would have thought to come to a restaurant in a historic area, but since mom's friend knew the owner, we were lucky enough to get to check it out. The portions are generous and you just might get to see how an old barrel or a horse shoe was made as you saunter down the road to the Old Grange.
If you're ever in the Cape May area, I recommend first dropping into the quaint downtown area with its darling storefronts and then driving over to this historic area for lunch.
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| Sweet little shops in downtown Cape May. |
Discover New Jersey for yourself. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
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