Family-Friendly Accommodations at Jade East Motel in North Wildwood

The Jade East Motel is one of the nicest and most affordable motels located in North Wildwood, New Jersey. This small, family owned & operated motel sits on the beach block and is a short walk to the beach. You'll find free, off-street parking, one car per unit.

Steve and Jane Lawrence own the motel and are two of the friendliest people that you will ever meet. I recently had a total knee replacement and they were extremely helpful in accommodating my disability and found us the perfect room to stay in.

Contact Information:
Jade East Motel
510 East 4th Avenue
North Wildwood, NJ 08260
(609) 522-1867
Web: http://jadeeastmotel.com/

Our check-in process was quick and easy upon our arrival. Check-in time is 2 PM with check-out being 11 AM. If you need to make other arrangement, they will try to accommodate your request. A few of their rooms offer guests some pretty ocean views.

We reserved a 1 bedroom apartment with 2 full-size beds, a kitchenette, full bathroom and sitting area. You can browse their website to see room layouts, amenities offered and current reservation specials. As soon as we stepped into our room we were impressed with the furnishings and cleanliness.

If you reserve a room with a kitchenette you'll find a full-size refrigerator, microwave oven, stove-top, toaster, coffee maker, dinnerware and utensils that you can use. They provide liquid dish soap, dish cloth and dish towel. You'll need to provide your own paper towels and any disposable paper products that you think you'll need. There are no ice makers for guests to use, but they do include "filled" ice cube trays in your freezer. We opted to just go up to Wawa and purchase a bag of ice.

The bedroom has 2 full-size beds, a large dresser and a small hanging rack where you can hang some clothing. There isn't a lot of space in the bedroom, but then again...it's for getting dressed and for sleeping. My only issue with the bedroom is that it doesn't have a TV. Our family is used to laying in bed at night and watching some television before going to bed. Hopefully in the future they'll consider adding one, even a small one would be a real winner in my book.

Regarding the bathroom...it's small, but extremely clean! You'll have a toilet, sink and tub/shower combo. We did receive guest toiletries in our bathroom on a daily basis. If you use a hairdryer, you'll want to bring that along with you. Every day we were treated with a new supply of bath linens and plenty of them at that!

In the living room area you'll have a sleeper sofa, television, an extra sitting chair and plenty of room to stretch out. The grandchildren liked pulling out the sleeper sofa and watching TV and playing games at night. We had 3-4 guests in our room and all of us had plenty of sitting room and room to stretch out.

On-site you can enjoy a sundeck located up on the 3rd floor of the hotel. Each guest room has 2 sitting chairs outside their unit, so you can sit out on the balcony and enjoy the fresh air. There is a gas barbecue grill located down near the pool area with a patio table & chairs that guests can use. When using that area, please be courteous and clean-up after yourselves.

My family, especially my grandchildren really enjoyed the motel's swimming pool. It's a heated pool with the water being heated around 82 degrees on most days that we were there. The pool closes at 6 PM daily and on some days we had wished that it was open a little bit later. Let's face it, the kids loved being in the pool and on extremely HOT days, it would of been nice to have it open just a little bit later into the evening.

This was our first time staying at the Jade East Motel in North Wildwood, New Jersey and it won't be our last! We've been coming down to Wildwood multiple times every year since 1999 and were really impressed with Jade East. If you're looking for motel & hotel accommodations in Wildwood, we highly recommend that you check out the Jade East Motel.

Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address Historical Marker

For the past 5 years we've been documenting some of the historical markers that we find when we travel. Millions of people pass by historical markers every day and never stop to read them. They're a wonderful source of information about some of our forgotten historic past.

On a weekend trip down to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, we located several historical markers. The one that we're featuring and documenting today is the famous Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address historical marker that's located right outside the fence line of Soldiers' National Cemetery. It marks the famous Gettysburg Address that President Abraham Lincoln gave...just a few yards away.

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to give a speech during the dedication ceremony at Soldier's National Cemetery. On Thursday, November 19th in 1863, President Lincoln gave a brief speech at the dedication, the Gettysburg Address.

Gettysburg Address Historical Marker

Nearby, Nov. 19, 1863, in dedicating the National Cemetery, Abraham Lincoln gave the address which he had written in Washing and revised after his arrival at Gettysburg the evening of November 18.

If you're looking for the exact spot of where Abraham Lincoln gave the infamous Gettysburg Address, you'll find that spot in Soldiers' National Cemetery. The spot is marked by an information plaque provided by Gettysburg National Military Park. That plaque gives you a lot of information about it and marks the approximate spot where it was given.

Nearby the spot you'll find the Soldiers' National Monument. They started construction on the monument back in 1865 and then held the official dedication of the monument with a ceremony that was held on July 1st, 1869. The monument is pretty tall and on each of the four corners you'll find four marble statues representing: history, plenty, peace and war. The statue "Genius of Liberty" crowns the monument's shaft. It's one of the tallest monuments in the cemetery and is pretty close to were President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.

At the Gettysburg Military Park Museum we took a photograph of one of their exhibits that gives the wordage of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (shown above). Here's what it says.

"Four Score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal...

We here highly resolved that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19th, 1863.

We felt it was important to document the historical marker, the spot the Gettysburg Address was given and the important speech that went along with it. By doing so, it puts it all into context for our readers.

Here's an additional "fun fact" for you. Gettysburg was named for James Gettys, one of the first settlers. The town was founded in 1780. 

As your driving around the great state of Pennsylvania...take a look around you. If you see any historical markers sitting along the road, in front of a building, etc. Take a few minutes out of your day to stop and read it. (We like to photograph them). Once at home...take a few more minutes to look up information online to learn more about it.

Exploring The Natural Bridge Caverns in Virginia

The Caverns at Natural Bridge is a family-friendly attraction located in Natural Bridge, Virginia. The caverns were discovered early in the 20th century and then officially opened as a park in 1977. It is open seasonally from March through November, depending on weather. You'll find the caverns, the Natural Bridge, a gift shop, walking trails, a picnic area and more...all located here!

When visiting, you'll want to plan ahead and wear comfortable clothing and footwear. You'll be doing a lot of walking through the park and then descend down 34 stores into the cavern. They recommend that you wear tennis sneakers and bring along a light-weight jacket or sweater. The caverns maintain a year-round temperature of around 54 degrees.

The guided tour will last for approximately 46 minutes and new tours begin every 30 to 60 minutes, with the last tour leaving at 4 PM EST. These tours can fill up fast, so during the peak of the tourist season & on weekends, you'll want to arrive early. If you plan on visiting ONLY the Natural Bridge Caverns the admission price is as follows: Adults $18.00 and Children ages 6 to 12 years of age $12.00 each.

While you're there I recommend that you visit the nearby Natural Bridge. If you plan on doing that, you can purchase an adult combo ticket for around $20.00, which includes Cedar Creek Trail and the Monacan Indian ​Exhibit. You can get all of the pricing details and tour schedule directly on The Caverns at Natural Bridge website.

I took my camera down into the caverns and frankly, I didn't have any luck in grabbing some nice photographs. I should of taken my larger, more professional camera down there with me, instead of my easy-to-use point-n-shoot. If you have a nice camera, you should be able to get some decent photographs, but you'll need to use your flash because it's dimly lit in most areas.

During our visit I really enjoyed walking the Cedar Creek Trail (beautiful walk) to reach The Natural Bridge. It's amazing that nature can create beautiful things like the Natural Bridge formation. It was a fairly easy walk and one that the entire family would enjoy.

If you're going to be visiting the great state of Virginia or just passing through...a visit to The Natural Bridge and Caverns would be a great family-friendly activity for you to enjoy. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there before hitting the road again.