Road Trip from MD to Cape May? Practical advice?

[Clarity]

We're starting the 5hr drive to MIL's in S.S., MD, on June 30th and are hoping to sidetrack to the beach after spending a few days there. I've poked around and had decided to point us in the direction of Lewes Beach. Once I discovered that there was a ferry from Lewes to Cape May, I decided that the girls would LOVE the ferry (and so would I) and that maybe we'd just spend a few days in Cape May instead of Lewes.

Will we be missing any "must do" items if we skip the Lewes/Rehoboth area in favor of Cape May?

If we skip Lewes, does it make sense to drive from SS, MD to catch the ferry across to Cape May or would it really be better to drive around using 1-95?

Dh was thinking of leaving SS on July 4th, around 1p.m. - can anyone tell me how difficult it maybe to cross the bridge and drive towards Lewes on the afternoon of July 4? We went to Annapolis a few years ago in the days leading up to the 4th and I recall traffic being troublesome.
(Likewise Rt 95 and the traffic that direction?)

We could always head out on Tuesday (5th) first thing in the morning, drive to Lewes and check out Henolpen, etc. on Tuesday then head over to Cape May on Tuesday evening.

Is traffic going to put a hole in my plans? And, would anyone have hotel suggestions? Although, to be true, I have so much anxiety about bedbugs that I'm a little skittish about travel in general. We're staying in a hotel when we visit MIL though so I'm going to have to relax about it.

Thanks so much!

[Clarity]

bump

[ThreeofUs]

sent you an email

[egoldber]

95 northbound from DC Metro to NJ could easily be a parking lot at 1 PM on the Monday of July 4th. But the worst of the traffic comes before the toll plazas on 95. There is one particular toll plaza in Delware where we leave 95 and drive around it on surface streets it's so bad. We are typically headed southbound on 95, but northbound is always worse. Do you have an EZPass? That also helps a lot.

So I personally think that driving to Lewes via 50 and taking the ferry is a better bet. Heading toward the beach on Monday afternoon should be relatively light as far as traffic goes both on the Beltway in Silver Spring and on Highway 50 eastbound. That is a federal holiday and most of the traffic will be people coming home from the beach in the opposite direction.

[weech]

Like a pp said, traffic in the Silver Spring area (on 495) might be awful on July 4th. Once you get north of Baltimore and especially north of the Delaware toll, you should be fine. Either plan should be relatively okay, with 95/NJ route being slightly more problematic.

Rehoboth is my favorite beach - we go there every year. I can recommend hotels there, but not in Cape May. I don't think you can go wrong with either, they're both really nice, quaint beach towns. I've enjoyed both but I prefer Rehoboth

I don't think traffic will totally ruin your plans. I'll be driving up 95 from Silver Spring to Baltimore on the 4th for a wedding so I'll cross my fingers for decent traffic

[lizzywednesday]

Ugh, I wouldn't take 95 to get to Cape May! Take the Ferry!!! And take your car; the ferry comes in at "North Cape May" or something, which is not walking distance from the main tourist areas.

As for places to stay in Cape May itself ... look now. It's mostly overpriced and "quaint" for stuff in the downtown/beachfront, but the further away from downtown you get, the better rentals look.

It has a very short "boardwalk" with a couple of amusements (read: "they have skeeball & mini-golf"), tons of tourist-trap shops (one of my favorites is "Bath Time Cape May" for bath items and "Whale's Tale" for quirky gifts & souvenirs, often made by local artisans) and sometimes have a few "cultural" things going on.

If you stay there, there's an Acme grocery store near the main touristy pedestrian mall area that you can probably pick up basic groceries & beach supplies. I find them to be fairly overpriced. IIRC, they charge you something like $15 to park for a couple hours. (Park in the metered lot next to the liquor store further down; get there early.)

There's a wide assortment of restaurants, from super-pricey (Althea's) to a quick bite (Dairy Queen, Kohr Brothers and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, for example) and a lot to see.

IDK what other help I might be ... my mom lives in Wildwood, so I never have to worry about anything more than parking!