Miss The Indian Summer? I Did The Next Best Thing. Took A Road-Trip To This Magical Beach In NJ

The ocean, sound of crashing waves, butterflies and a dash of sunshine - that is pretty much all it takes to let go of the neurosis of city life.

East coast is always cold, if not frozen. Back in India, the sun is always high, no matter what season it is...all you have to do is step outside in the warmth to feel completely recharged and revitalized. I miss that and get a little sad every morning while popping in supplements of vitamin D. I miss how wearing colourful clothes, flip flops and stepping out in the sun was something that was taken for granted back there.

Nevertheless, my love for New York is endless. The magnificent skyscrapers, always all-black clothes, fast-paced walking, zero eye-contact - that's Manhattan in a nutshell and as much as we embrace it, once in while, we can't help but let a sudden wanderlust consume us.

My husband and I, we knew what we wanted. A laid-back getaway, to simply be barefoot, fill our lungs with a fresh dose of oxygen and mainly just chill. So it was Friday evening and after a quick research, we decided on driving to Cape May. We reserved a beach house, packed beach essentials and hit the roads in our new Toyota RAV4 Adventure Grade.

Twilight sprayed on our window panes, our favourite playlist was on, drinks and snacks were loaded in the back seat.

Aishwarya Nalla

3 hours just flew by and we had arrived in Cape May. The moon was beautiful and the beach house was cute! That's all we could see at 11 PM and we hit the sack right away.

We woke up at 6 AM the next day and couldn't stop grinning because we could hear the sound of waves nearby. We were still in our house-clothes, but we hopped into our Toyota RAV4 to follow the sound of waves and look what that led us to.

Aishwarya Nalla

Day 1

There's something so beautiful about 6 AM beaches when the pristine water changes colour with every passing minute during the sunrise. Beige sand, phthalo blue water, and not even a seagull in sight. We were the early birds (pun intended)!!

Aishwarya Nalla

We stayed there until sunrise, watched the colour of sand turn from beige to golden and headed back.

Aishwarya Nalla

Only then did I notice how beautiful our beach house was! It was a pale blue, old Victorian building and the interiors were very tastefully done.

Aishwarya Nalla

We made some cheese toast and enjoyed it in the backyard, music courtesy of tinkling wind chime and chirping sparrows.

Aishwarya Nalla

After exploring the beach house, we took off to drive around the town and spotted all those gorgeous Victorian buildings, vintage stores and all this, in flip flops, a tee and a pair of shorts. Ah! The bliss of not having to wear shoes and coats.

Aishwarya Nalla

Cape May is a charming little town. There were horse-drawn carriages all around the town. Every residence had a sprawl of Bougainvillea and each Victorian building was a masterpiece of its own! I was just thrilled to have landed there.

Aishwarya Nalla

Day 2

Next day, we had breakfast at a cute coffee house which had blue and yellow painted exteriors with fresh flowers on display.

Aishwarya Nalla

We walked around Washington street mall, which is not a building but is a street that is lined with beautiful restaurants, boutiques and gift stores. Every store is decorated as if to outdo another. There was also a Sunday fair going on...so there were many pop-up stalls throughout the street. The artists had their paintings on display, designers had their summer collection displayed, all under $10, all of them handwoven and beach themed.

There was sun, there was music, there was food and it was all so colourful and lively! In short, the street had a French vibe to it. I was so much in love with Cape May!

Aishwarya Nalla

We later went to a church, drove to the beach again, watched seagulls, got a birds-eye glimpse of Cape May from the top of the lighthouse, made biryani for dinner (We had to. Lol) and it was already time to leave.

Aishwarya Nalla

It was just a weekend and the place was just 3 hours away. But the change in scenery made it seem like we had escaped to Europe - not joking! Also, do you notice how less crowded the place is in all the pictures? I love places that are not over-exposed to tourists.

Aishwarya Nalla

We weren't sad that the vacation was over because we knew we'll be back again. When the ocean beckons, we and our Toyota RAV4 Adventure Grade will be back for a road-trip, and this time probably combine it with some hiking too! Those 18-inch, 5 spoke black alloy wheels would definitely love to take a challenge!

About the author: Aishwarya Nalla is a software engineer by profession, but a creative explorer by heart. She moved from Hyderabad, India to New York City with her husband, a year back after they got married. She travels, writes stories, paints, upcycles and creates beautiful things from every little thing that inspires her.