8-23 Vacation Day and 1:51 p.m.

We headed down to Cape May today.  The first stop was the lighthouse mainly because of the need for a restroom at about that time.  We took a quick walk through the little free museum and then headed into downtown Cape May for some shopping and lunch.

We were in a little shop called Tea By the Sea which sells tea ware and is also a little antique mall when at 1:51 the earth literally moved.  I was standing in an area of the shop that had a wooden floor near the outside of the building and I could see HWNSNBP about 20' from me on the concrete floor more towards the center.  Things on the wall started shaking, the ceiling and floor included.  Much like you would feel if you were standing near a railroad track as a train approached, but there were no tracks in the area.  I could feel the floor move under my feet and looked at the gentleman that was a few feet from me and made a comment to him wondering if that was an earthquake.  It lasted a good ten seconds, which doesn't seem long, but just sit and count to ten and realize how long that is.  Mere minutes passed and someone in the store got a phone call and the news was out - there had been a 5.9 earthquake centered in Virginia that was apparently felt up and down the whole east coast.  I know probably everyone with a blog is writing about this tonight so I might as well as this is definitely a first for me. 

When we walked back to retrieve the car, people were clustered in the parking lot and strangers were sharing information.  Our son called but the call was cut short and then for what seemed like hours, the lines were so tied up, we could not contact anyone by phone, only text messages were getting through.

To continue on our journey of the day, we headed down to Sunset Beach and I splurged and bought myself a piece of earthquake jewelry.  Well, that's what I'm calling it.  This sterling silver ring with the circles entwined in the center and the bars radiating outward.  Don't think I won't always remember when I got it!

Again, there were people still clustered in small groups attempting to make calls and not getting through, but sharing any information that they had.  What was particularly scary was speaking to a woman who had been on the beach.  She said that she thought someone was behind her shaking her chair before she realized what was going on.  She also said that all the birds came off the water and dogs that were on leashes were pulling to get away from the water.  We wondered if there was a chance of a tsunami. I know we weren't the only ones thinking that way. 

I had to take a picture of this wonderfully colorful umbrella that was so pretty with the sky today.  It was a gorgeous just below 80 degree day with a lovely breeze. 

We headed back to Barnegat making a quick trip to Smithville and the candy store there (well, it is vacation!).  The chickens have quite a life there walking around among the shoppers quickly snapping up any morsels or crumbs that were accidentally or intentionally dropped.

By the time we got home it was getting late, but not late enough to do some fishing.  Here are the results - HWNSNBP's dinner.  Eight snapper blues were caught (5 by him, 3 by me) in less than an hour.  We stopped only because this was quite enough for one night. 

Just a quick dredge in flour and then a few minutes in the frying pan with a little oil and there you have it.

By the way, the reason that this earthquake was felt so far and wide up and down the east coast has something to do with the plates.  They are layered, rather than side-by-side which apparently causes the sensation to travel longer distances.  We have not felt any aftershocks and don't know if we will. 

In addition to this earthquake thing today, the other big news has been the prospect of Hurrican Irene coming this way by the weekend.  Sheesh!  What a vacation, huh!