Summer may get most of the attention in South Jersey, but September and October make a strong case for sticking around.
The stretch between beach season and the holidays brings cooler temperatures, lighter crowds and a different kind of weekend outing. Instead of squeezing onto a packed boardwalk or planning an entire vacation, locals can turn a free Saturday or Sunday into a miniature getaway without leaving South Jersey.
Edelman Fossil Park
South Jersey’s newest major attraction offers one of its most unusual day trips.
The Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University, located in Mantua Township, transports visitors back approximately 66 million years to the end of the age of dinosaurs.
Inside, guests can explore full-scale prehistoric displays, interactive galleries, live-animal exhibits, a fossil scavenger hunt and hands-on learning areas. Outdoors, nature trails and play spaces extend the visit beyond the museum walls.
For an additional fee, visitors can spend an hour searching for real fossils with guidance from the museum’s fossil experts. During September, the quarry experience is offered Thursday through Sunday, with additional special dates, making early fall a particularly good time to plan a visit before colder weather arrives.
For more information, visit efm.org.
Batsto Village
For a quieter day trip, take a drive into Wharton State Forest and step into another century.
Batsto Village, near Hammonton, preserves the remnants of a once-thriving industrial community that grew around iron and glass production in the Pine Barrens. During the American Revolution, Batsto’s iron furnace produced goods — including cannonballs — for the Continental Army.
Today, visitors can wander among historic homes and buildings, visit the post office, explore the nature center and learn about generations of people who lived and worked deep within the Pinelands. The Batsto Mansion offers another glimpse into the community’s history, with tours available on select schedules.
Shoulder season may be one of the best times to visit. The village is surrounded by forest, meaning the drive itself becomes part of the outing as autumn colors appear along the back roads.
Special programs continue into fall, including guided hikes and behind-the-scenes mansion tours.
For more information, visit batstovillage.org.
Beach Plum Farm
Cape May feels different after Labor Day.
The beach crowds begin thinning, parking becomes less competitive and the surrounding farmland starts leaning into harvest season. A few minutes from downtown Cape May, Beach Plum Farm offers a day trip that feels far removed from the bustle of the shore.
The 62-acre regenerative farm in West Cape May includes vegetable gardens, orchards, livestock pastures and greenhouses. Its produce, eggs and meats supply Cape Resorts restaurants throughout Cape May.
Beach Plum Farm also keeps its calendar full during shoulder season, including its Golden Hour: Harvest Dinner Series on Fridays and Saturdays from Sept. 4 through Nov. 28, featuring family-style, farm-to-table menus built around late-season produce, orchard fruits and pasture-raised meats
For more information, visit https://www.caperesorts.com/beach-plum-farm.
NAS Wildwood
One of Cape May County’s most fascinating museums sits not along the beachfront, but inside an enormous World War II-era aircraft hangar.
The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, located at the Cape May Airport, preserves Historic Hangar No. 1 from the former naval air station that trained dive-bomber pilots during World War II.
Today, the cavernous building houses a collection of 28 aircraft and helicopters along with engines, military vehicles, aviation artifacts and interactive exhibits.
It is the kind of museum where the building is almost as interesting as the collection inside it. Visitors can get close to aircraft rather than simply viewing them from across a gallery, making the museum appealing even for those who do not consider themselves aviation buffs.
For more information, visit https://usnasw.org/.
Make the most of the in-between season
The umbrellas are disappearing from the beaches, but winter is still months away. The air is cooler, the roads are quieter and attractions that might have felt like a production in July become much easier to enjoy.
So pack a sweatshirt, pick a direction and make a day of it. Around here, summer ending does not have to mean the adventures do, too.
