May I Tempt You to Visit Cape May?
 

Hello Fodor’s

Members of my family get a beach rental on the Delaware Seashore and this year, I joined them after visiting a friend in Philadelphia by taking the ferry from Cape May to Lewes Delaware. Since I had never been to Cape May before and heard it was charming, I opted to spend several hours in the town before catching the ferry.

What I did: Catch the number 316 NJ Transit bus from Center City Philadelphia to Cape May. Then took an Uber from Cape May to ferry terminal.

This was my first time travelling from Philadelphia in this direction. Highlights included crossing the Great Egg Bay Harbor with the Tuckahoe Inn on the shore, admiring the wakes left by boaters and seeing the communities of North Wildwood and Wildwood for the first time. One woman I met in Cape May did not seem to hold Wildwood in the highest of esteem, but to my possibly untrained eye, I thought it looked kind of charming and would be curious to check out more!

The bus arrives in the heart of Cape May, at the welcome center. Within minutes, I had walked over to the Washington Street pedestrian plaza, a charming stretch of stores and restaurants, replete with flower baskets and fountains. At one end, I snapped a photo of the L-shaped yellow columned Congress Hall Hotel as it seemed architecturally interesting, not aware in the moment that it had been visited by numerous presidents and that President Benjamin Harrison had used it as a summer White House.

I was hoping to have lunch at Mad Batter’s but the wait was a bit long, so ended up instead at the Cape May Fish Market restaurant on Washington Street, where I had some New England clam chowder and some flavourful fish tacos which used what was described as fresh flounder.

With only a few hours in Cape May, I opted to do the Welcome to Cape May trolley tour as I felt it would give me a nice overview given my limited time. Other than just generally seeing the gorgeous Victorian and Queen Anne homes, highlights of the trolley ride were seeing the Southern Mansion, the Physick Estate and the Cape May Lighthouse, with informative and entertaining commentary on sights seen.

One thing of note is the historic center of Cape May is maybe a 20 or so minute ride from the ferry terminal; be sure to allot enough time to get from one to the other. I ended up catching an Uber to the ferry terminal and was pleased with the ferry waiting area, which was quite modern and had pleasant grounds surrounding, plenty of seating and even a cafe and restaurants on premises. The 75-minute ferry was fun with food and concessions available on board even if the water on this stretch where the Delaware Bay reaches ocean was not the calmest. One had to be careful walking so as not to lose balance! Historic Lewes on the other side looked delightful too, although with family waiting for me, I did not have time to explore.

Cape May definitely seemed like a jewel on the eastern seaboard and I’m glad I finally saw it.

Hope all are enjoying their summer vacation!

Daniel

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Washington Street pedestrian plaza
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Congress Hall
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Inn of Cape May
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Southern Mansion
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Passing the sister Cape May-Lewes ferry boat during the crossing

Cape May and Wildwood are VERY different.
As you stated, Cape May has a Victorian feel to it. Wildwood has more of a honkytonk feel. It is a fun place with an active boardwalk. Some people tend to look down on it, much like the women who spoke to you. The beach in Wildwood is VERY wide and quite nice.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Thanks Daniel! I spent a night in Cape May many years ago. It was over Easter. On Sunday people dressed in Victorian garb paraded around while a violinist (or fiddler) played "Easter Parade." I had my first dish of shad roe there. I've often thought of going back but so far haven't made it. Glad you enjoyed your visit.

Schmerl—I’d like to check out Wildwood some time. The trolley guide mentioned the large beach at Wildwood and its being the result of some man-made interventions combined with some natural processes (she went more in-depth but I don’t recall precisely and am afraid I’d mess up the exact wording). And that some don’t like the growing size of the beach, being further to walk to the surf for example. I am curious to read more.

Fradiavolo—What fun! Sounds like you hit Cape May on an interesting and unique day. Alas, no one was walking around in Victorian garb that I saw and nor did I see any violinists. Still, the main drag was vibrant—and I imagine more so on the weekend than the Monday I was there.

Daniel, thank you for another interesting report. You certainly made good use of your time there.

Thank you for taking time to share your trip. It was a pleasure to read it.

Thanks for reading gomiki and sassafrass! Glad you enjoyed!

Although I filled my several hours with activity, I think Cape May would be a place that would be fun to linger for longer. Hotel prices were not cheap though—maybe off-season would be better? I prepared myself mentally to pay up if say the ferry had been cancelled, but was glad it wasn’t!

Yes, after Labor Day the hotel prices at all the shore towns are lower. Another perk is the towns are not as crowded and easier to enjoy.

Cape May has a longer shoulder season than most shore towns. We’ve had trouble getting restaurant reservations there in Oct. Plus, it’s world-renowned as a birding hotspot which brings in birders during spring and fall migrations so I’d recommend checking the dates for the Spring and Fall Festivals.

Wildwood is big so there are nicer areas and areas that aren’t particularly attractive. It’s known for its kitschy mid-century hotels which are disappearing one by one. I like to drive through and look for the themes: pirate, South Seas, etc
Re: the sand. Stone Harbor would like its sand back. 😉

I’m glad the trip worked out for you, Daniel. If you haven’t already, it’s worth your time to check out Lewes.

Daniel, thanks for your report and pictures. We have taken the ferry several times when DS was at UNCW and we wanted to take the slower, more interesting route. Your description of the trip across the bay is spot on.

it is nice to bring back fond memories. Thanks

Thanks schmerl & birdie for the extra time-of-year relevant information about these NJ southern shore communities. My Mom used to do birding trips from northern Virginia and I noticed Cape May in one of her guides as a recommended outing.

emalloy—Glad to have brought back memories of the ferry. The terminals were more modern than I expected!

Thanks, Daniel!!

My NYC neighbor spend half the year in Cape May and adores it...

Here is another enclave away from the mania of Long Island...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/realestate/living-in-orient-ny-historic-hamlet-low-key.html

https://www.southoldtownny.gov/248/Orient

These links are not great...I will try to take some local photos and post them here.....

Birdie-- This may sound odd to some, but those mid-century Kitsch hotels in Wildwood sound kind of appealing to me. :)

ekscrunchy-- I'd never even heard of Southold or Orient before! Thanks for mentioning them!

Thanks for this, Daniel. Rhody and I drove to Cape May then took the ferry to Lewes on one of our Thanksgiving getaway trips*. The water was pretty rough and there were several folks "ralphing" along the way. We couldn't afford any of the beautiful hotels but took some tours. A nice visit. I'm told that Lewes has a nice art vibe.

*On Thanksgiving morning, we just drove some place on the water.

You’re welcome tdudette! The waters sound rougher the day you took that boat relative to when I took it! There were a few people who kept their eyes closed during the crossing but I did not see anyone get sick. The ride did feel you were going into something more “Atlantic Ocean”- like than “Delaware Bay”-like; leaving Cape May, it wasn’t terribly long until the Delaware coast was visible but it wasn’t immediate; perhaps 40 minutes into the ride or so?

Sounds right, Daniel.