Cape May

Cultured beach beach culture. One way to describe a Victorian beach resort located at the tail end of New Jersey. Add in a charming main street plus a warm early November weekend and we have a great long weekend trip with my buddy Vishal.

Cape May is a place to visit. Having spent most of my life in NJ, it’s something I had always heard from a number of people, and I am glad that I can now join their ranks. Experience can now take over empathy in this area.

Some key attractions

• a large collection of historic houses and ornate mansions
• a beach
• a lighthouse
• a pedestrian main street with nice stores including a bookstore
• whale watching tours
• bird watching

Victorian resort

There are a number of tours offered in Cape May throughout the day and evening. Due to time constraints, I did just one evening tour — The Magic and Mystery House Tour — at the Emlen Physick Estate (Vishal chose instead to enjoy a calm meditative hour on the beach, an equally great option). The tour was informative and enjoyable, providing insight into the types of entertainment that the Cape May Victorians enjoyed, including covering famous performers like Houdini and “The Great Lafayette”.

Exploring the neighborhood on foot was also a real delight. There is a bit of that familiar feel of an old-style walkable NJ suburb, like a Metuchen or Westfield, but with a little more density due to Cape May’s tourism. The walk from the Emlen Physick Estate to the pedestrian mall on Washington Street was a highlight, with lots of well-decorated, colorful mansions that I could imagine having an equally colorful past.

Place for the birds

The lighthouse is something to see, and see from. Just next to it is a bird watching site, where supposedly you can see hawks in November. We did not see any, although we had only spent an hour there. Not sure if it’s the kind of experience that calls for a whole day, or if certain times or locations are preferable. There are workshops available, which we may consider next time. Bring binoculars and patient wonder.

Peanut butter fans

The Cape May Peanut Butter shop in the Washington Street area is special. Besides peanuts and peanut butter, they have peanut butter cookies, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on banana bread made fresh (white or whole wheat also available), peanut butter ice cream sandwiches, giant peanut butter cups in multiple flavors, etc. They also carry sister nut butters, but peanuts rule here.

One memorable highlight was biting away at a slightly crumbly peanut butter ice cream sandwich while sitting outside by the store on a pleasant autumn day, having just done an uplifting twenty minute stroll on historic Washington Street from the Emlen Physick Estate, and now having the pleasure of seeing others stroll by as well, a few every so often trusting their gut to stop by and create equally legumey memories.

Last resort

The one thing we could not find in Cape May was Indian food. We saw a restaurant listing in Wildwood, or unfortunately “Deadwood” at this time of year, but it was closed (tip: don’t trust Google maps, call instead). We eventually got our desi needs met at Maharaja’s on our way back, about 40 minutes north.

But it had me thinking - can we build and design towns and cities that have more than just seasonal / summertime value? The traffic was certainly low in Cape May too (certainly lower than the summer, which I have only heard but have no desire to experience), but it was far from dead in November. My feeling is that a unified aesthetic experience (e.g. like a whole Victorian district) goes a long way in providing a city with a healthier and more sustainable year-round tourist experience. I could imagine some urban designer making a statement to the effect of — a city must reflect on itself, through which a unique and compelling architecture and urban design will manifest.

Tips

• Whale watch
  • if you are prone to motion sickness, don’t eat on the ship, and don’t eat before as well.
  • If you don’t know, don’t eat as well.
  • I have no problem with ferries, but after 1 hour on this boat, I was not feeling well, and even after the ride I was still a bit queasy. I felt like I lost a day.
    • We both ate somewhat reflexively at the start as the trip, which is from 1 to 4 and coincides with lunch.
    • Lesson learned
  • We saw a few dolphins, barely. But no whales.
  • The whole crew was professional and friendly, and the excursion could be a memorable experience. But if you are short on time, prone to motion sickness, and want to squeeze in the other attractions, you could consider skipping this.
• If you like to walk, the city is walkable with ample sidewalks.
• I am not comfortable biking on roads shared with cars, but I did notice a few bike rental places and bike lanes.
• There are nice food options, but if you are vegetarian / vegan, it’s probably best to get a room with a micro and fridge to have some flexibility. A balcony with an ocean view doesn’t hurt either.
  • Mad Batter has a few vegan items
  • Bella Vida Cafe has some nice breakfast / brunch options
  • We enjoyed pizza at Blue Moon