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"On The Way To Cape May" is a song by Maurice "Buddy" Nugent. It is aJersey Shore sound summertime anthem for thePhiladelphia,Delaware Valley, andSouth Jersey areas.
The song circulated from one band to another aroundCape May County in the second half of the 20th century. Early versions were sung by singers like Daddy Beans andDon Cornell.Cozy Morley popularized it among his large local following.[1]Al Alberts recorded it and increased its broadcast exposure on local radio and TV.[2]
The song has been played through a variety of 21st-centuryradios, includingXM,Internet andDelaware ValleyAM andFM.
The lyrics are about a love story and journey which begins with the intro mentioningOcean City. Traveling southward, they mention ofSea Isle City,Avalon,Stone Harbor, andWildwood leading to talks of marriage around the town ofCape May Court House. While Cape May is the destination in the lyrics, the song's theme is more about the journey throughCape May County.
Comedian Cozy Morley, who owned Club Avalon, a nightclub in North Wildwood from 1958-89 and where a life-size statue of him now stands in front of the site of the club (which was demolished in 1989 and is now Westy's Irish Pub), made "On the Way to Cape May" his signature song and performed it many times during his acts in thePhiladelphia andSouth Jersey areas. Morley lived inHaddon Township, New Jersey and retired to North Wildwood. He and his wife Bobbie also owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.