A Summer Guide to Cape May, NJ

My family has been vacationing in Cape May, New Jersey for as long as I have been alive, and then some. After renting many different houses for the summer, my grandparents purchased a large beach-house two blocks from the Jersey Shore. Cape May is my favorite place on earth and holds a remarkable amount of sentimental value to everyone in my family.

However, we are not the only ones who think so. Cape May is one of the largest and best-kept secrets of American travel and vacation. But for those who do know about this quaint Victorian city on the southernmost tip of New Jersey, it is a goldmine of enjoyment and a place of summer fun and relaxation.

Cape May is considered a National Historic Landmark due to its giant population of Victorian architecture. Around the turn of the twentieth century a great fire ravaged the entire city, devastating the infrastructure and burning down most of the buildings. So, in an attempt to rebuild according to the times, the vast majority of the city, as it now stands, was rebuilt in the fashion of Victorian style. Large turrets, wrap-around latticed porches, widow-walks, cedar shake and whitewash siding and an array of vibrant and exciting colors, as well as deep reds and solid whites greet anyone who enters the city of Cape May.

Now, the buildings and homes may sound exciting, but they are dwarfed by the majesty of the Atlantic Ocean just blocks away from the Victorian masterpiece. With a beach stretching from Wildwood, another local island city, to Cape May Point and beyond, the sands, rocks and shells of the Atlantic have long deposited themselves on the shores of this idyllic summer escape.

The city itself is very much a tourist getaway, with the population expanding in the summer some fifteen to twenty fold its normal size. But the happy year-round residents who own many of the shops and services in Cape May are always willing to help any tourists or visitors to their lovely city.

Cape May features a few full-scale marinas and houses some of the largest fishing fleets on the Atlantic seaboard. Thus one thing that cane be said by anyone residing in the city is the fantastic amount of fresh, succulent seafood. If you are looking for quality fine dining, many establishments, whether walk-up clam bars or four-star steak and seafood houses, make their homes in Cape May - always reaping the benefits of a constant flow of fresh fish and other oceanic bounty.

As with any sea-side town, Victorian Cape May offers boat tours, fishing day-trips, parasailing, whale and dolphin watching, tours of the famous Cape May Point Lighthouse, and historic and ghost tours as well as plentiful places to shop and enjoy the local Atlantic culture.

The local thoroughfare, Washington Street, has effectively been turned into a walking-mall. The Washington Street Mall features many antique shops, local taverns and restaurants, gift stores, a traditional soda fountain, multiple book stores, art galleries, ice cream parlors, surf shops and other fun and unique shops.

However, there is so much more to do in this beautiful Victorian sea-side location, and I will write several other guides to more specific parts of what you can make into a fantastic vacation for yourself, your family and your friends. Personally, despite how much I love to swim in the Atlantic, enjoy local food and see the sights, nothing beats sitting in a rocking chair on my porch, sipping some iced tea, enjoying the salt-air breeze whipping around my house and delving into a great book just a few blocks from the sea. For to me, Cape May is the ultimate getaway, and there is never a wasted moment.