Guide Exploring Cape May, New Jersey | SolarTravels.com

<body> Destination Guides Search for a City Destination Guides > North America > USA > Mid-Atlantic > New Jersey > New Jersey shore > Cape May Cape May Travel Options Flights Hotels Vacation Rentals Cars • Cape May · The Town • Arrival, Information And Getting Around • Eating • Nightlife And Entertainment • Hotels in Cape May CAPE MAY BE THERE NOW Hotels in Cape May • Marquis De Lafayette Hotel Cape May from $306.00 USD • Sandpiper Beach Club Cape May from $175.00 USD • Congress Hall Cape May from $120.00 USD More Hotels in Cape May >> Vacation Rentals in Cape May • Bedford Inn Cape May from $135.00 USD • Carroll Villa Hotel Cape May from $125.00 USD • The Albert Stevens Inn Cape May from $185.00 USD More Vacation Rentals in Cape May >> READ IT HERE CAPE MAY was founded in 1620 by the Dutch Captain Mey, on the small hook at the very southern tip of the Jersey coast, jutting out into the Atlantic and washed by the Delaware Bay on the west. After being briefly settled by New England whalers in the late 1600s, it turned in the eighteenth century to more profitable farming and, soon after, to tourism. In 1745 the first advertisement for Cape May's restorative air and fine accommodation appeared in the Philadelphia press, heralding a period of great prosperity, when Southern plantation owners, desiring cool sea breezes without having to venture into Yankee land, flocked to the fashionable boarding houses of this genteel "resort of Presidents." The Victorian era was Cape May's finest; nearly all its gingerbread architecture dates from a mass rebuilding after a severe fire in 1878. However, the increase in car travel after World War I meant that vacationers could go further, more quickly and more cheaply, and the little town found itself something of an anachronism, while the gaudier charms of Atlantic City became the brightest stars on the Jersey coast. During the 1950s, Cape May began to dust off its most valuable commodity: its history. Today the whole town is a National Historic Landmark, with over six hundred Victorian buildings , tree-lined streets and beautifully kept gardens , and a lucrative B&B industry. It teeters dangerously on self-parody at times, thanks to its glut of cutesy olde shoppes, but if you avoid the main drags and wander through the back streets, you'll find an appealing combination of historical authenticity and good beaches . The Town Cape May's brightly colored houses were built by nouveau riche Victorians with a healthy disrespect for subtlety. Cluttered with cupolas, gazebos, balconies and "widow's walks," the houses follow no architectural rules except excess. They were... Cape May's brightly colored houses were built by nouveau riche Victorians with a healthy disrespect for subtlety. Cluttered with cupolas, gazebos, balconies and "widow's walks," the houses follow no architectural rules except excess. They were known as "patternbook homes," with designs and features chosen from catalogs and thrown together in accordance with the owner's taste. The Victorian obsession with the Orient is everywhere: Moorish arches and onion domes sit comfortably next to gingerbread- and Queen Anne-style turrets. The only old home open as a museum, the eighteen-room Emlen Physick House , 1048 Washington St (daily 10am-4pm; $8; tel 609/884-5404), was built by the popular Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. It has been restored to its 1879 glory, with whimsical "upside down" chimneys, a mock Tudor half-timbered facade, and much original furniture. Various B&Bs and hotels, given enough notice, also conduct informal tours of their premises: the Mainstay Inn , 635 Columbia Ave, was once an elaborate Italianate 1872 gambling club (main floor open for self-guided tours daily 11am-2pm; tel 609/884-8690), and the Abbey , Columbia Avenue and Gurney Street, is a Gothic mansion with a 60ft tower and blood-red etched windows (tours Tues, Thurs & Sat 4pm; $8; tel 609/884-4506). West of town, where the Delaware Bay and the ocean meet, the 1859 Cape May Lighthouse , visible from 25 miles at sea, offers great views from a gallery below the lantern (199 steps up) and a small exhibit on its history at ground level (summer 9am-8pm, call for winter hours; $4; tel 609/884-8656). Three miles north of town on US-9, Historic Cold Spring Village , 735 Seashore Rd (June-Sept Tues-Sun 10am-4.30pm; $7; tel 609/898-2300), depicts a typical nineteenth-century south Jersey farming community. Restored buildings from the region house a jail, school, inn and shops, and there are various craft shows and special events. Cape May's excellent beaches literally sparkle with quartz pebbles. Beach tags ($4 per day, $8 per week) must be worn from 10am until 6pm in the summer, and are available at the beach and from B&Bs, official vendors or from City Hall , 643 Washington St (tel 609/884-9525). </body>