Sunset Lake Park and Turtle Gut Inlet in Wildwood Crest - A Must See!

Sunset Lake Park is located on the bayside in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. The beautifully landscaped park includes historical markers for Turtle Gut Inlet and a memorial for September 11th, 9-11. The park is open year-round and is free to visit. It's one of the nicest parks on the Wildwoods island. You'll find a small free parking lot nearby.

The park includes a paved walking trail that runs along the bayfront area along with park benches and a gazebo. There's plenty of places to sit and take in the view. If you're into kayaking or canoeing, you'll find a wooden boat launch nearby. When sitting there you'll often see kayaks, canoes, sailboats and small motorized boats out in the water. 

I don't believe fishing is allowed from the banks...so if you want to do some fishing or crabbing, you'll have to do that while out in the water on a boat. There's a lot of signage posted, so you can read the signs to see what's permitted and prohibited. 

For those who are interested in the history on the area you'll find the Turtle Gut Inlet historical marker located within the park. There's an educational board that explains the historical importance of Turtle Gut Inlet and what occurred there on June 29th, 1776. 

Wildwood Crest remembers what happened on September 11th, 2001, 9-11 and has a small memorial stone that honors those we lost on that fateful day when terrorists attacked our great country. A day that we'll never forget. While thousands of lives were lost that day...thousands of heroes came forward too!

Sunset Lake Park and Turtle Gut Inlet is a beautiful place to visit. When you're down at the Jersey Shore and want to get away from all of the hustle and bustle...head to the park for a relaxing visit. The park is also one of the best places to catch an evening sunset while on vacation down at the shore. Gorgeous sunset views to the south!!! 

The Cape May Hawk Watch and Nature Trail

The Cape May Hawk Watch and Nature Trail is located inside the Cape May Point State Park in New Jersey. The park is 100% free to visit. At the park you'll find the world-famous Cape May Lighthouse, a small indoor museum, nature trails, picnic pavilions, the World War II Bunker on the Beach, a sandy beach for sunning & splashing in the water, and The Cape May Hawk Watch. 

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What is The Cape May Hawk Watch? It's a wooden platform that's built on the edge of the water where you can go to watch various shore birds, hawks, swans, ducks, etc. They keep a posted schedule at the entrance and it's open year-round. 

You'll want to wear clothing that's appropriate for the current weather conditions and comfortable walking shoes. If you're visiting during the hot summertime months bring along your sunscreen and water bottle. You won't find a lot of shade other than going inside the air-conditioned museum building or visitor's center. 

Follow the signs and walk up onto the wooden boardwalk and platform. There's 3 levels to it. You'll find information boards posted along the way that give you history on the area and the wildlife that calls the area home. Bring along your binnoculars so that you can see the ducks, swans, shorebirds, hawks and other animals that live in the surrounding area. 

On the day that we visited we didn't see any hawks, but we did see over 50+ white swans swimming in the water and a few ducks. They were pretty active and you could hear them honking and quacking from 100 yards away. The platform does have a few steps for those who may be handicapped, so please be aware there are a few steps to climb.

Each side of the Hawk Watching Platform contains a Cape May Nature Walking Trail. It's a sandy trail that is pretty level, but lacks shading. We didn't see any benches along the trail, so if you need to sit down and rest...you'll have to do that at the entrance of the trail. 

While walking the trail we found a few more information boards that gave us information on some of the butterflies in the area and I was able to photograph one up close. Another information board gave us information on some of the plants in the area. They keep the trails well-maintained and they were a fairly easy walk.

After checking out the Hawk Watch and walking the nature trail we headed over to the little Cape May Point Nature Center Museum. We spent about 25 minutes in there looking at the exhibits and learning more about the area. If you want more information or to pick up a couple of souvenirs you can head into the information center or over to the little gift shop that sits a few yards away from the lighthouse.

All activities at the Cape May Point State Park are FREE except for the Cape May Lighthouse tour. You can walk around the grounds of the lighthouse for free, but they do charge an admission fee if you want to enter it and climb to the top. Other than that, everything else is FREE and a great family-friendly activity to do with the kids.

Shop for Fresh Local Produce at the PA Open Air Farmer's Market in Harrisburg

The PA Open Air Farmer's Market is a great open-air market to shop for local produce, baked goods, honey, wine, canned jelly and jams, meats, eggs, flowers & garden plants, etc. The farmer's market is located in the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex's parking lot. 

It's open from May to November, Tuesdays and Fridays, from 9am to 4pm, rain or shine! Free parking is available. The Farm Show Complex is located right across from HACC on Cameron Street in Harrisburg. The market typically has about 25 vendors who offer shoppers fresh items at affordable prices.

We had the opportunity to visit the open air market for the first time and were pleasantly surprised! We love supporting small businesses and buying local as much as we can. As we walked around we saw vendors selling corn, lima beans, green beans, peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes, onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, red beets, etc. The type of things you typically see at a farmer's market.

What really surprised us was seeing vendors selling local wine, honey, baked goods, meats, poultry products, eggs, fresh cut flowers, guacamole & salsa, jams & jellies, etc. A really nice selection of locally-made products. Delicious items to put on your family's table today or to stock your pantry for winter. 

On the day that we were there we only saw one food truck offering hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and drinks. If I could recommend an improvement, I would enjoy seeing 3-4 more food trucks offering shoppers a variety of things to eat. A food truck offering barbecue chicken wings, tacos, ice cream offerings, etc. would be nice. 

If you're looking for handmade craft items...this market isn't for you unless they plan on expanding that in the future. We saw one small vendor selling her handmade crochet items (hats, scarves, booties, etc.) but other than that, I didn't see any crafting vendors. 

Overall, it made for a really nice afternoon and we enjoyed our visit. If you're located in the Harrisburg area it's definitely worth your time to visit if you're looking for locally-grown produce, baked goods, canned goods, honey, and more.

Family Day Trip to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in Halifax

The Lake Tobias Wildlife Park is located in Halifax Pennsylvania and has been in business since 1965. The park has a safari tour, zoo exhibits, a petting zoo and a fun playground for little kids. It's a family-owned business that welcomes over 175.000 visitors every year.

Every summer our family likes to get together and play a fun day trip up to Lake Tobias. You'll find picnic pavilions at the park that you can reserve. They're first-come, first served. They can fill up fast, so you'll want to plan ahead. You can pack a picnic-style lunch to enjoy there or buy food at one of the many eateries located within the park. 

When planning your trip you want to know the weather conditions for the day and dress appropriately. Wear comfortably walking shoes, you'll be doing a lot of walking! We recommend that you bring along your own sunscreen, bug spray, water bottles, etc. Cameras are permitted in the park for personal picture-taking. No smoking or alcohol are permitted except for in the parking lot. No pets allowed. 

After walking through the parking lot you'll come to the admission gate. It's a little building but you'll see signs directing you to it. Visitors are given the option of paying for just the Safari Tour, just to visit the Zoo Exhibits or doing both. We always opt for both activities. Current and past military personnel are admitted free. You need to show a valid military ID. 

Once you're through the admission area you'll walk by the picnic pavilions and head into the park. You can head left to go on the Safari Ride or head right to enter the Zoo Exhibits and Petting Zoo. You'll find public restrooms throughout the park. 

We opted for the Safari Ride first. As we were standing in line we purchased food cups for the grandchildren to feed the animals while we were out on the tour. The Safari Ride is approximately 45 minutes in length, not including the time you stand in line waiting for your tour bus to arrive. The open-air tour buses can fill up fast. You will be out in the sun and if it starts raining you will get wait. Please keep all of that in mind.

While the tour bus is moving you have to stay seated and keep your hands inside. Once it stops the tour guide will give you information on the animals that you're seeing and if you're permitted to feed and pet them. A lot of the big animals are used to people coming through and will come right up to the tour bus for attention...and of course for food! 

The road is unpaved and can be bumpy. I believe we stopped about 10 times while on the tour so that we could see the ostriches, yaks, bisons, deer, sheep, alpaccas, zonkeys, donkeys, etc. Our guide seemed to know the names of every animal that we saw. The kids really enjoyed meeting Burt and Ernie! 

After the Safari Tour we headed to the Zoo Exhbits where we took our leisurely time visiting the tigers, bears, camels, kangaroos, primates, baboons, alligators, lions, lemurs, prairie dogs, tortoises, tropical birds, sheep, etc. There's a lot to see. They had a baby animals section where the kids had to the opportunity to see baby emus! 

If you're visiting with children make sure you stop by the Petting Zoo. You can purchase a cup of food to feed to all of the animals in the petting zoo. They're really used to people and will come up to let you pet them and feed them. There were a lot of goats running around the day that we were there. 

We then headed to the Reptile and Exotics House to see an educational show. There were two zookeepers who brought out several animals for us to see. They educated us about them and walked them up and down the center aisle so you could get a good look. Well, all but the alligator and the sloth! Those two stayed down front. I have to admit...the beautiful Sloth was the hit of the show. Everyone wanted to get up close to see the sloth!

Navigating through the Lake Tobias Wildlife Park is fairly easy. If you've never visited before make sure you get a park map at the entrance gate. The signage throughout the park will also help guide you along your way.

Looking for something to eat and drink? Located inside the park you'll find Grille & Grub (located in center of park), the Lakeside Eats (located in center of park), HUB Concessions (located in center of park), Safari Station Concessions (located above Waterfowl Lake), the BBQ Shack (located in center of park), and The Watering Hole (located at the entrance to the Giraffe Exhibit). 

When visiting you'll want to allow 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours in your schedule. We like to take our leisurely time so typically we're there 3 to 3 1/2 hours. It makes for a nice day trip from most central Pennsylvania locations. Family-friendly and educational. The adults enjoy the visit just as much as the kids!