A chance meeting of like minds and hearts

Rita Lynn Lyman & Justin Scott

Sept. 13, 2020, in Highlands, N.J.

The sailors left their tall ship, the A.J. Meerwald, docked at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal and drove into town for some fun.

Rita Lynn was enjoying the festivities of that night’s Howard Street Ramble with friends, one of whom introduced the Meerwald crew to her. She knew their ship — which is New Jersey’s official tall ship — and excitedly told them she had led yoga classes for previous crews.

“Well, let’s do that!” the captain said. At 11:15 p.m. that September evening, four sailors and two yoga instructors walked to the shore.

Justin, a volunteer crew member on a two-week stint, ripped off his shirt and ran full speed toward the water. He and Rita Lynn had barely spoken, but as she watched him run, she felt an inexplicably strong pull to join him.

“Hey! Wait for me!” she yelled, tossing her sandals onto the sand.

“Be careful, the water has been so rough this week,” warned Rita Lynn, a Cape May County native who is now 39. It was she who the surf knocked down. As she got back on her feet, Rita Lynn again had a strange and profound feeling about Justin, who is now 32. He interrupted her thoughts with a question: “I know this is weird, since we just met, and I’m not wearing a shirt, but can I give you a hug?”

With her yes, Justin pulled her close and spun her in a circle.

“I was overcome with joy,” he said.

“Everything else disappeared,” said Rita Lynn.

Back on the beach, Rita Lynn, who owns MoonGlow Massage Therapy and Healing Arts, led the group through some yoga poses.

When it was time to drive back to the ship, Justin couldn’t remember where he parked his truck. Rita Lynn volunteered to help him find it. As they walked, she pointed to the cupola on the Chalfonte Hotel. “Want to go up there?”

As they enjoyed the view, Rita Lynn told Justin about the hotel’s history, but he was more intrigued by the woman telling the stories. He looked directly into her eyes. “She gave me a little nod, so I kissed her.”

Discovering a mutual affinity for poetry, they sat on the porch writing haiku. After parting, they texted all night. They spent the next two days together, finding more in common: Rita Lynn’s father died when she was 20, and Justin’s mother died when he was 26. Each felt the late parent’s presence when seeing a cardinal. Both enjoy the open mic performance scene — he plays guitar and drums, and she is a spoken word artist who organizes events.

Justin’s family members were in town, and on Friday, he told them he had met a magic woman. On Saturday, he gave Rita Lynn a phone number he reserves for family only. “You are my family,” he told her.

After his two weeks of volunteer crewing ended, Justin, who is originally from the mountains of California, returned to his home in Highlands, N.J. He is a security systems technician for C & M Door Controls Inc. and works part-time for Water Witch Coffee cafe.

He and Rita Lynn spent nearly every weekend together despite the 101 miles between her home, then in Wildwood, and his. Less than a month in, they were talking marriage. By January, they had begun moving Rita Lynn to Highlands.

At a spring dinner with Rita Lynn’s mother and stepfather, when Rita Lynn wasn’t in the room, Justin received their blessing to propose.

The next weekend, he suggested that he and Rita Lynn place a love lock on the Sandy Hook bridge to mark their six-month anniversary. They were enjoying the views of Highlands and New York City when Justin knelt and asked Rita Lynn if she would marry him. Crying, she fell to her knees, too. Justin put the ring — the one given to her mother by her late father — on Rita Lynn’s finger. After they kissed, Justin realized she had not actually said yes, so he asked again, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” said Rita Lynn.

With permanent marker, she wrote “Lock it down! Justin and Rita get engaged here” on the small padlock they brought and they fastened it to the bridge.

COVID-19 arrived. Rita Lynn couldn’t provide massages or yoga instruction. She plans to eventually split her work time between Cape May and Highlands and is now also working at Water Witch.

Justin continues to work, but had a surprise break when he tested positive for COVID-19 in April. He had relatively mild symptoms but his loss of taste and smell lingered for three and a half weeks, during which time he was not allowed to work. “We quarantined together and took the time to build our nest,” said Justin. “We cooked great food and we planned our wedding.”

They had hoped to marry near their one-year anniversary and the original plan — hatched before the proposal — called for a big wedding at the Chalfonte Hotel. But by the time their COVID-19 sequestering began, big weddings were out of the question. They did not want to gamble on what type of wedding could be held in September, and even waiting until September 2021 seemed unsure. So they got creative.

Justin and Rita Lynn started their wedding day with a sunrise swim. “We wanted to have salt hair for our wedding pictures,” said Justin.

They exchanged vows on their friend Henry’s sailboat, the S.V. Peace, at the Bahrs Landing Marina — beneath the bridge where their love lock is still fastened.

The bride walked across the dock where 10 guests stood. About 15 others were at the Bahrs Landing Seafood Restaurant and watched from their dock, and more people watched on Zoom.

After the ceremony, the couple rode their beach cruisers to the Highlands VFW Post, setting off a flurry of car horns.

The bride took an open mic night approach to the wedding reception. She performed a spoken word piece, Justin played guitar, and other family members and friends took their turns, providing five hours of live music for the outdoor event.

Color-coded microphone covers and a nearby jug of hand sanitizer protected the musicians. Guests were seated by household or COVID-19 bubble. The couple ordered food, and friends — one a chef and one a caterer — handled the logistics of heating and serving on the mismatched china the couple spent months thrifting.

So many aspects of the wedding were gifts from friends, old and new. The owner of a local retro-style ice cream shop whom they had recently met surprised them by bringing his old school truck to the VFW post and serving free ice cream to anyone who wanted some.

“There was so much love,” said Rita Lynn.

A total of 60 people attended, coming and going in waves so that no more than 35 were present at once and social distance could be maintained.

The Garden State fans spent a two-week honeymoon traversing New Jersey. “We didn’t want to leave the state with COVID, but New Jersey has everything, anyway — mountains, waterfalls, and the ocean,” said Justin.

They began at the Chalfonte in Cape May, then enjoyed Wildwood beaches, the Grounds for Sculpture, Buttermilk Falls, and High Point. They visited the Meerwald at her home port of Bivalve and took a three-hour sail on the ship that brought them together.