Cyberspace drum roll please as we announce the 2009 winners of the 5th Annual Best of Cape May survey. Every year, winners of the Best of Cape May are determined by online voting. There were 58 categories and awards will be presented to 25 of the winners – many won awards in multiple categories. Voters cast their online picks for 26 days in August, and it was a record turnout for voters. It took us half a day to tally the results!
So now without further ado – the Winners, knowing that this is Cape May and there are no losers. We don’t allow them to cross the bridge. We sent them back to someplace else.
The Best Places to Stay
Best B&B The Queen Victoria
Best Guest House The Columbia House
Best Hotel Congress Hall
Best Campground Beachcomber
Best Pet-Friendly Accommodation Billmae Cottage
Best Kid-Friendly Accommodation Congress Hall
The Best Customer Service
Best restaurant customer service The Washington Inn
Best accommodation customer service The Queen Victoria
Best store customer service The Whale’s Tale
Best overall customer service The Queen Victoria
The Best Shopping
Best store for clothing Caroline Boutique
Best store for beach wear Dellas 5 & 10
Best store for jewelry The Whale’s Tale
Best store for bargains Dellas 5 & 10
Best store for accessories Kaleidoscope
Best gift store The Whale’s Tale
Best store for candy & fudge The Original Fudge Kitchen
The Best Dining
Best Coffee WaWa
Best Pizza Louie’s
Best Hamburger The Ugly Mug
Best Sandwich The Ugly Mug
Best Fine dining The Washington Inn
Best cheapest breakfast George’s Place
Best brunch The Mad Batter
Best takeout The Lobster House
Best kid-friendly restaurant Uncle Bill’s Pancake House
Best ice cream Kohr Bros.
Best overall restaurant The Washington Inn
Best seafood The Lobster House
Best crabcakes The Lobster House
The Best Beaches
Best beach for tanning Steger’s
Best beach for surfing The Cove
Best beach for families The Cove
Best place to escape the sun The arcade
The Best Activities
Best thing to do on a rainy day Shop
Best theater company Cape May Stage
Best movie theater The Beach Theater
Best kid-friendly activity Miniature Golf
Best festival The Lima Bean Festival
Best birding spot Cape May Point
Most interesting tourist spot The Lighthouse
Best area golf course Cape May National Golf Club
Best mini-golf course Ocean Putt on Jackson Street
Best watersports activity Parasail
The Best of Nightlife
Best place for a cocktail The Brown Room at Congress Hall
Best music venue The Boiler Room at Congress Hall
Best nighttime hangout Cabanas
Best overall bar The Ugly Mug
The Best Around Town
Best place to meet people Washington Street Mall
Most likely place to meet a local The C-View
Best Victorian building The Queen Victoria
Most interesting architectural building The Emlen Physick Estate (MAC)
Best history tour Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts
Best ghost tour MAC’s Ghosts of Cape May Trolley Tour
Best water/boat tour Cape May Whale Watcher
Best photo spot Sunset Beach
Best bicycle route Sunset Boulevard
Best Cape May publication or website CapeMay.com / Cape May Magazine
The Queen Victoria may be a nice place to stay, but I still think the Angel of The Sea is by far the best place to stay in all of Cape May.
Crabcakes??? Washington Inn…for the past 20 years…completed with their sauce…Heaven!
Was too late to vote, but I think the best place to eat any meal is the Oceanview.
The best place to stay any season is Summer Station.
Gotta love Exit Zero too!
I have another suggestion for best crabcake…the Lucky bones! one of my top three restaurants at Cape may!
Summer Station is the greatest. They have everything you need and more. It is open year round too. I would also suggest the zoo and parasailing!!!!!!!
Did not get to vote, The Pier House would be my number one choice for dining!!!! Great food & great portions.
Voting is open in August for the "Best of Cape May" for nearly the entire month. Mark your calendar for next year!
Wow, that many people can afford to shop in Carolina's? Don't get me wrong the clothes are great but high priced. Hey Maureen, I'm staying at LaMer in 2 wks, looking forward to the Pier House for dinner. One other thought, having a hard time believing that stuffy Congress hall is kid friendly – Star Inn Definitely, Congress hall not so sure! Great survey capemay.com, its always good to see what other cape may lovers think! thnx
I did not get to vote, however- Cape May Whale Watcher- Best Boat Tour- I agree! These guys do it right!
The most interesting, distinct restaurant in Cape May is 410 Bank Street. Unique, so small you could overlook it, the food is phenomenal. My second choice is the Moonfish Grill. Neither one is mentioned, and, of course, it is too late to vote, but how could these be overlooked????
Regardless, Cape May is an awesome little town and easily accessible.
Hi, Cindy – Thanks for your comments. Winners of the "Best of Cape May" are determined by our readers. The "Best of Cape May" is open for voting every August from the 1st through around the 25th. This year, we had voting open an extra day. Please mark your calendar for next year and share your opinions with us! It's the only way to help your favorites make the winners' list next time.
I think the Washington Inn is overrated. The Ebbitt Room is so much better and The Virgina Hotel is simply wonderful. Also, the best crab cakes I have had were at Union Park. I thought they were much better than the ones I had at the Washington Inn.
Cape May rules!
Mark your calendar for next August! The "Best of Cape May" is an annual survey, and you have almost a full month to share your opinions with us.
I see that Cucina Rosa isn't mentioned. We dine there at least 3 times during our 2 weeks in Cape May.
The food is great & service is always top notch. It's worth our 7 hour ride from boston to experience the city.
Good Luck to Eric & his fiance in their upcoming (on the beach?) wedding.
Also Georges is always a good choice….OOOPAAH!!!!
Cucina Rosa did receive votes but not enough to take a category. Please vote for them in our next "Best of Cape May" in August 2010!
the survey seems so limiting in giving or getting the dish on the best of the best and once a year is too seldom. also too few people vote this way or seem to agree with the results. you should have an ongoing forum, for cape may, nj with businesses, restaurants, b&b, leisure activites, tours, etc all on one website with a means for rating and comments section so the consumers can have one stop shopping not just to rate businesses but to contribute feedback (mostly very positive). there are soo many great places that are surely overlooked or just plain unknown. this could help locals and frequent visitors a forum to help tourists findf what they are looking for and maybe some things off the beaten path too and get the most out of their day trips and vacations and maybe increase the number of visits or duration of visits.
The Best of Cape May is a way to promote our area and local businesses who have overwhelming support from tourists and locals. Since the results come directly from our readers' opinions, we feel pretty confident in saying that CapeMay.com's readers do agree with the results. At the end of the day, it's just a fun way to celebrate where we live and work.
If you check out the rest of our website, you'll notice that we do have listings for hundreds of Cape May businesses, but we have no intention of making ourselves into a ratings website or a forum. There are enough that already exist. And just between us, we doubt most locals want to help the tourists to find places "off the beaten path." ;-)