Although I live in New Jersey and I love the splendid New Jersey coastline, known as The Jersey Shore, there have been many summers of my life when I have never been able to go there. Worse, I am a Cancer for my zodiac sign, a water sign, and that makes the pull of the ocean stronger for me. That is very sad because being there, so close to the sea, being in the wind, and breathing the ocean air so pure and ameliorating, is very healing to me. The reasons why I am kept away are many, and there is no need to enumerate them now, but they mostly center around the need to be working or attending to responsibilities at home, making the departure to the sea impossible for me. But that was then, and this is now, and I am so pleased to share the happiest of news that I have just now returned from two days in my favorite New Jersey sea shore town, and the one designated the best and the oldest, that being, Cape May. It is the furthest south, so it takes the longest amount of time to get there, but the ride is well worth it. The biggest attraction in the town is a large district of authentic Victorian homes that have been saved. Many of them are bed and breakfast inns that are very authentically preserved and an enormous amount of fun to stay in. You truly do feel as if you are in another time and place when you are there. You can feel the worry and distress dissipate from you with every mile south that you drive, knowing you are getting that much closer to the enchanted town of Cape May. I consider it my own shore hometown I go there so often. Several times I have gone with my borzoi, and with Kenzie, my Silken Windhound. There is a pet friendly Victorian inn in Cape May West called the Highland Inn where dogs are welcome. I am home now, and the first few hours were difficult because I missed it, but now I feel happy and grateful for having been in Cape May and I feel as if I was so lucky.
A wonderful friend of mine took me, and together we attended an art show of paintings by Elan Leith-Zingman, who formerly owned a Victorian Inn where my husband and I used to stay before we had our borzoi, called Leith Hall. He and his wife sold it and it is now a private residence. It must have been difficult to walk away from such a magnificent house, so eminently Victorian. I used to enjoy listening to Elan talk about the decor of the house, and how he decorated it so authentically to the period in which it was built. It was truly a living museum and an honor and a privilege to stay there. After my husband and I had borzoi, we stayed elsewhere where dogs were welcome, but we were invited in for tea at Leith Hall whenever we came to town. Elan and his wife Susan were curious about our dogs, who were in the van parked outside. One of our dogs was invited inside the doors of this extraordinary house. We had one dog who was especially suited for the privilege of being a guest at Leith Hall, our one and only, “Mikhailya”. You can look at her photographs on the Blysskennels.us website to see how extraordinarily beautiful she was.
“Mikhailya” was always a wonderful ambassador for her breed and she was especially so when she was a guest at Leith Hall. I was always so proud of her whenever we went anywhere with her. She had a light that shone from within and made everyone she met feel happy and loved. “Mikhailya” was magical. She was a once in a lifetime dog. She had one litter that produced one male that went on to become one of the best producers and show dogs in the breed. He sired a daughter, “Lucy”, who is the top winning borzoi in history, who is Mikhailya’s granddaughter. Her name is in the five year pedigree of hundreds of borzoi around the world. My life was blessed to have her. I am so glad I got to share her with my friends in Cape May.
Today, many years later, I am looking back on yet another brief getaway to this special and magical place, feeling so grateful! I am grateful to my special friend who took me there, grateful to Elan and his wife for meeting up with us, and for the gorgeous weather we got to enjoy as we walked around and toured Cape May! We enjoyed the splendid Victorian district, different beaches, bird watching on special observation walkways newly built, trolly tours of the Victorian district, and other fun things to do in Cape May. Undoubtedly, it is the best Jersey Shore town, located at Exit 0, on the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey, USA.