2 Best Sights in New Jersey Shore, New Jersey

The diverse mix of ocean shoreline, dunes, freshwater coastal marsh and ponds, islands, forests, and fields makes the 235-acre park at the southern end of the Cape May peninsula a mecca for sea and shore birds during the fall migration. Bird-watchers follow in droves and gather up-to-the-minute information from the Cape May Bird Observatory's Northwood Center. Attractions like surf-fishing, marked trails, observation platforms, the Cape May Lighthouse, picnic tables and shelters, a visitors center, and a museum also make the park ideal for year-round visits.

Drive—or better yet—bicycle the 3 mi to the south end of Sunset Boulevard for the sunset flag ceremony held from May to September; listen as Kate Smith belts out "God Bless America" and the flag is lowered for the night. Cape May "diamonds" (pebbles of pure, rounded quartz) wash up on this privately owned beach not far from the Cape May Lighthouse. Just off shore, the hulking wreck of the concrete ship Atlantus pokes out from the water and creates a tideflow that causes the quartz diamonds to collect in such abundance. Find your own, or visit the gift shops where they sell them already cut down and mounted in jewelry. Then, stop into the on-site Sunset Beach Grille for homemade crab cakes.