a lovely living

Stone Harbor 2021

This past week we spent with our toes in the sand in Stone Harbor, NJ with our dear friends. We typically visit every year and it truly feels like a second home the second we pull into town. We have a routine, know the local spots we like to hit and enjoy every bit of it. Since I know a bunch of friends and followers vacation there as well or have inquired about visiting, I decided to share some insight into our week.

Even though we stayed a few blocks from the beach, the walk was pretty much a breeze now that we’re past the baby/toddler phase. Well, maybe it was a workout for the dads, but I didn’t hear any complaining ;)

We’ve stayed at numerous places over the years, bayside, beachside, close to downtown and there honestly isn’t a bad area in my opinion. I think my personal preference is to stay within walking distance to downtown since it’s a place we frequent both morning and night. Coffee Talk is our morning ritual for the best flavored coffee (salted caramel iced coffee is my go-to!).

Even though we had a party of ten, and the town was quite busy, we didn’t have much trouble getting into restaurants, although having a reservation would be recommended when possible. Quahogs is a favorite and they offer both restaurant seating as well a a to-go Taco Shop. Some of our other restaurant favs include The Watering Hull, Stone Harbor Pizza, Mack’s pizza, Fred’s Tavern, Borgies on the Bay, The Fishin’ Pier for breakfast, Playa Bowls (for acai bowls) and Green Cuisine for healthy lunch options. There’s also Crespella Gourmet Creperie which offers amazing sweet and savory crepes and Springer’s Ice cream Shop which is all the rage.

The bulk of our days were spent on the beach, enjoying the sun and the sand and the boogie boarding.

This girl and I grew up less than 30 minutes from each other in Pennsylvania, but didn’t meet until we were both living in Hoboken 12 years ago. We didn’t yet have children, became instant friends and have been raising our families together ever since despite being separated in miles once again. We think alike, act alike and now not only do we get mistaken as sisters, but our kids were assumed to be cousins <3

It’s been forever since our kids have gotten to spend this much time together and I can’t tell you how much they enjoyed it. I know mine were quite emotional to say goodbye at the end of the week!

My beach babes, growing up much too quickly.

Every year I enjoy running around town, admiring the homes and getting inspired by their beauty. There are homes of all shapes and sizes, each with their own personalities. Plus, the landscaping is to die for <3

I always get asked where we stay and for the most part we tend to bounce around quite a bit. We’ve always worked with Diller & Fisher Realtors, renting through them, and would recommend searching through their site. We don’t always luck out with a pool, but it’s a huge perk when we do!

The dads and the older kids took a boat out to fish one morning, so the moms and these cuties headed out to brunch.

This year we stayed on the bay which was quite convenient for our fishermen.

The neighboring town of Cape May has a local zoo that we have been to a number of times and the kids love. It’s great to visit on cloudy days or when you need a beach break.

We also took a drive down to Cape May’s Washington Street Mall which was full of cute shops and eateries.

We grabbed lunch at Big Wave Burrito where we surprisingly found some of the best smoothies and acai bowls!

This guy started out the week a little under weather due to what was eventually diagnosed as a staph infection. Thankfully he was able to quickly get on the right meds so that he could finish out the week strong! So very thankful for this time with him, our kids and our best of friends in one of our very favorite places <3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Shop Instagram