Cape May
National Historic Landmark · Cape May, New Jersey
A small city at the southern tip of New Jersey that is ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES DESIGNATED A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK IN ITS ENTIRETY — not a district within a town, the whole town. About six hundred Victorian frame buildings stand in it, the largest such concentration in the country after San Francisco, because a fire levelled the resort in 1878 and the rebuild happened in a single decade and a single style. It also claims to be the oldest seaside resort in America, and it is one of the three best places on the continent to watch autumn bird migration.
609 Lafayette Street, Cape May, New Jersey, 08204, United States
A public town, open at all hours and free to walk. BEACH TAGS ARE REQUIRED AND CHECKED IN SEASON, roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day, and are sold daily, weekly or seasonally. Shops on the Washington Street Mall generally run late morning to evening in season with much shorter hours otherwise, and A GREAT MANY BUSINESSES CLOSE ENTIRELY FROM JANUARY TO MARCH. Restaurants book out for dinner all summer. The lighthouse, the Emlen Physick Estate and the trolley tours each charge separately and keep their own seasonal hours. Cape May Point is two to three miles from the centre and is not walkable.