We’re excited to bring you the eighth Cape May Restaurant Week, today through June 7th, featuring fixed-price dining at Cape May’s best restaurants.
If you’ve ever wanted to try some place new, this is the time to do it. Our lunch tier is just $15 and includes an appetizer or dessert and an entree. Dinner ranges from $25 to $35 per person and includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert.
Get the full list of participating restaurants at cmrestauratweek.com
The Gallagher House still stands today at 45 Jackson Street. In this photograph, a Miss Taylor occupies the upper level, and the Gallagher family the lower.
I have known nothing but the beach my entire life, and it has become a massive part of who I am. From long walks down sandy shores to longer days spent in the water, my memories are filled with the beaches of Cape May. Their beauty and power will endlessly attract locals and tourists alike, as its appeal is timeless. Generation after generation has come and gone, often returning more than once, but I find that even when you leave the beach, the beach never really leaves you. Plus there’s always this little souvenir called sea glass that can keep the salty air fresh in your mind.
Sea glass is pieces of broken bottles that have been tossed around in the ocean for weeks and months at a time. After brushing up against sand and rocks and who knows what else, the glass edges are smoothed and loose the clear complexion to become foggy instead.
Over the years I’ve collected enough to keep multiple jars of it my room, with colors from green, brown, and clear to even blue and purple. Green, brown, and clear are the easiest to find because those are common colors for bottles, but the blue and purple are the ones I take the most pride in finding. As my eyes scan the beach, they immediately jump to brighter colors in hopes of a good find. Every once in a while, if I manage to get lucky, a blue one will work its way in to my greedy palms and ever growing collections.
If you’re lucky, you might find a piece here and there from the Cove to Poverty, but that’s definitely not the best place to look. The treasure chest of sea glass is Sunset Beach, which many know for its stellar sunsets and sunken ship that pokes out of the water. Low tide is prime time to look for sea glass because the water is all the way out, leaving more sand, sea glass, and shells that have been washed up. While Sunset Beach fills with so many people that the parking lot over flows and cars line the street, the beach to the left, Alexander’s, and my personal favorite, offers a view just as gorgeous and is less picked over for sea glass.
But collecting sea glass has never been merely a matter of filling a jar to me. It’s so much more than that. When I walk down the beach, round pebbles massaging my feet and slipping between my toes, the lull of the waves lapping on to the sand eases my mind and opens my thoughts. The symphony of sounds that surrounds me at the beach allows my mind to wander freely and fearlessly.
While not everyone would agree that teenagers exactly have it hard, we have enough on our plates that it can be overwhelming at times. We have to figure out what we want to do for the next forty years at the young age of eighteen and then pick a college or career from there, and, quite frankly, it’s scary. We make decisions now that will impact the rest of our lives. No pressure, right?
I find that the beach makes all of these problems smaller. Just like the way a piece of sea glass starts out jagged and sharp edged, the unfinished edges of my life will round themselves out in time. Looking for sea glass, the salted breezing ruffling my hair, I know that my problems are not as major as I once thought when compared to the vastness of the ocean.
When I leave for my freshman year of college in just a couple of months, my jars of sea glass will come with me. Their unique colors and shapes will remind of the stunning beaches that make up such a large part of Cape May as well as the mental freedom that picking them has taught me.
As a has been the tradition since Convention Hall opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2012, Veterans, active duty military and their families and the general public gathered to remember the fallen from all of America’s wars again this year.
The audience of over 500 listened quietly as the Cape Harmonaires offered a collection of patriotic hymns and songs. Speakers ranged from the leaders of the American Legion and the City of Cape May, West Cape May and Cape May Point to a WWII survivor. Each offered a different point of view on the meaning of Memorial Day.
The ceremony continued onto the beach where the Coast Guard color guard and rifle squad saluted the war dead as a commemorative wreath was pulled out to sea and dropped into the surf by the CMBP.
Unlike previous years the boat filled with flowers, put together by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, was shore-bound due to very choppy surf.
Washington Street, circa 1900
Vintage photograph of the Cape May Beach Patrol, courtesy of the Steger family.
The Liberty Theater, on the 500 block of the Washington Street Mall, where Liberty Way is located today. Dellas General Store is located on the left, where it still stands today.
The George Hildreth House, known today as Poor Richard’s Inn, stands at 17 Jackson Street. It is the sister to 45 Jackson Street, the Christopher Gallagher House. Poor Richard’s was built in 1882.
Do you recognize the top of this building, which has a sister just down the street?
Long before whalers and yeomen of European descent came to New Jersey’s lower cape peninsula, Native Americans lived on its sandy shores. He recently gave a fireside lecture on the history of Native Americans in the county, held at the Museum of Cape May County.
As a tribal legend keeper, Chief Robert Redfeather Stevenson, of Townbank, has spent decades sharing the oral history of his tribe and Native American culture throughout the area. His tribal affiliation is with that of his mother, the Montaukett. His father’s people were Lenni Lenape.
Honored for his work in preserving the Native American history, Redfeather holds his audiences spellbound with stories that explain the history of Native Americans.
“In order to belong to a land,” stated Redfeather, “the roots of the tree of your life must grasp the rocks and soil.”
According to Redfeather, the history of Native Americans in Cape May County is a fascinating one that has never been explained. “There are remnants of the Lenni Lenape people still here in the county today,” Redfeather, an octogenarian, said. “The Creator saw fit to leave some of us.”
Photos and historical information appear courtesy of the Museum of Cape May County
A Beach Walk in September
Cape May County volunteers help NC town affected by Hurricane Florence
Two new hotels coming to Cape May in 2019
Five reasons to Visit Cape May in September
Here are the winners of the 2018 Best of Cape May
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