There we were on the last leg of our recent road trip to see family- or as we nick-named it, "The George Family Tour". In just a few days' time, we had driven from Illinois to Northern Virginia. Then piled back into the mini-van with the three babies and drove up and around to Cape May, New Jersey to visit more family. For the last destination, of our week-long "vacation", we had to make it down to Virginia Beach to visit the last few family members on our list for the region and get a couple of babies baptized.
Now we could have driven back up and around the Mid-Atlantic region to reach that destination. But it would have taken about 10 hours to backtrack and then drive down through Virginia. And let me tell you from experience, the middle part of Virginia is not an area you want to try and make up time on the road. It is the speed-trap capital of the world! So we decided that the best way down would be to hop aboard the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
I was worried about how frequently they ran because I would hate to waste time when we were already super limited on it this trip. But I was pleased to learn this ferry runs about every 1 to 2 hours. It just depends on the number of employees they have working that day and the volume of cars and passengers that need to make the crossing. So my husband got online and booked us a reservation. The cost was a flat rate for the car and then we just had to list our names and ages so they could have a headcount as to who was on board.
This was the 1st time my husband and I had been on a ferry with a vehicle in a very long time. The last time we had been on one, we were children with our parents, respectively, so we were a little anxious about how everything would flow. Another concern was how the kids would do. Our 5 year old loves to always be moving, but we figured he might be fine as he was looking forward to being on a boat. Plus he had his kid's tablet charged and ready to entertain himself with games and videos. The babies were the bigger concern. Would they get seasick? Would our 1 year old want to take off and climb everything? Surprisingly, things did work out well for all of them- but more on that later.
The morning had come and we needed to be at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Port at 9am. My husband wanted to be sure we didn't miss it and got us there at 8am. The lady working the booth was very friendly, checked us in, and directed us into the lane we needed to park in to wait. We were informed that we still had plenty of time to walk around and go to the terminal to use the restrooms or get coffee. So we did just that.
The terminal area was very cute and nicer than I expected. They had a good-sized playground for the kids. They even had a small, free mini-golf course. Clubs and balls were available to borrow at a little shack on the grounds. But we didn't entertain that idea as the grass was being cut while we were there. Once we had looked around the peir and allowed some binoculars to swallow up our quarters, we headed inside.
You can tell they take great pride and care of the terminal, both inside and out. Everything was squeaky clean. The coffee and snack bar was a little sad-looking though because of the low selection. And the coffee was scalding hot and burnt, but caffeine is caffeine. Especially when you are on the road and didn't get to sleep the night before.
Once we refreshed ourselves, an announcement was made to please return to our vehicles if we were driving aboard. If we were biking or just going on as a pedestrian, we would have taken the bridge footpath. But that didn't apply to us. So back into the car we went.
After a few minutes the lines began to move and we were directed onto the ferry. We probably could have stayed in our vehicles for the duration of the trip, but I don't see how that would have been fun. Plus you can't see anything down where the cars are parked. So we grabbed the kids and headed up to find a good place to sit.
Just up the stairwell, we found some booths that were adjacent to the cafeteria they had onboard. We put the kids in first and then sat on the ends. I was baby-wearing our infant. (I highly recommend doing this if you find yourself on a ferry with a baby. I couldn't imagine navigating the carport area and tiny stairwells with a stroller.)
Because of our proximity to the snacks, our 5 year old spotted chips. We indulged him as we just needed him to eat and keep entertained. Plus we wouldn't be on the boat all day. The whole crossing was only going to take about 70 minutes. (Much better than 10 hours!) So we could ensure he ate something more nutritious once we were off the ferry and it was lunch time.
The time passed reasonably. The kids loved looking out the windows. Snacks and Sesame Street on the tablet were the real MVP's. Overall it was smooth sailing. There wasn't too much pitching and rolling at all. I only saw two people and one dog get sea sick out of maybe 200 that were on board.
We enjoyed the fresh sea air and moving around the cabins and decks to check out the different views. I was happy to see so many various seating arrangements were available so you could find what felt the most comfortable to you. My favorite were the Adirondack chairs that were safely bolted down on the front deck. I would have gladly soaked up the sun and salty air out there if I didn't have babies hanging off of me.
After an hour had passed, we were informed that it was time to start heading back to out cars. So back down we went.
Once we landed in Deleware. The bridge was lowered and we were directed off of the ferry.
Overall, from start to finish, I can confidently say that we as a family were very happy with our experience voyaging on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry! Everything went as smoothly as it could have, especially for traveling with 3 babies that are 5 and under.
If you ever find yourself in that area and need to use a ferry, we highly recommend them! It was a lot of fun and saved us so much time traveling down the Eastern Shore.
Bon Voyage!
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