We often “vacation” by returning home to Europe. It’s a flurry of jet lag, suitcases, visiting family and staying in lots of improvised guest rooms. We needed a real break, an easy journey from home. We rented a vacation home in Cape May, loaded up the car and headed to South Jersey.
After a relaxing week at the beach, I’m feeling very chilled out. And the kids are fairly worn out. So I consider this vacation a smashing success.
A Weekend or A Week: 6 Ways To Make The Most of Cape May With Kids
The Jersey Shore you didn’t expect
Just 160 miles from New York City and a short 90 miles from Philadelphia, Cape May sits apart physically and aesthetically from the rest of the Jersey Shore.
With its delightful mix of pretty streets and lovely old houses, it retains a lot of the charm of yesteryear. This is not the Jersey Shore of reality TV. For a Brit that misses having long history around me, it was nice to see so many old houses lovingly restored and cared for.
Teens will enjoy biking around the quiet streets exploring and maybe even appreciating some of these Victorian and Colonial confections. My young children weren’t going to get excited about old houses, no matter how well-maintained they are.
Luckily, Cape May also has killer beaches, easy dolphin sightings, nearby amusement parks, and a free (yes free) zoo. We were four adults and four kids, ages 3,4,5 and 6, so we put this destination through its paces.
Here’s our top 5 Cape May Capers. They can be the start of a list of things to do for your own weekend or week in this Jersey Shore town.
Read More:
• A Cool Couple’s Getaway Weekend in New Hope, PA
• Our favorite things to See, Do and Eat in Philadelphia with Kids
1. Hit the beach (of course!)
A vast sandy beach that is well-maintained and so large it doesn’t feel crowded even on a hot summer weekend, Cape May’s town beach is a great place to spend a day. We hired some umbrellas and chairs to make it more comfortable and the kids made sand castles and surfed all day.
A week-long stay allowed us a good balance of relaxing out on the beach and enjoying the area’s activities. A weekend visit is very doable, but we would probably would have had to lean more toward relaxing or doing activities, or made some tough decisions to get a little of both.
Cape May doesn’t have a boardwalk, but a few blocks back from the beach you’ll find Washington Street, a pretty, brick-lined pedestrian zone with shops, casual restaurants and the requisite seaside frozen custard and fudge shops.
Tip: You can see dolphins from the beach all summer long. Keep your eyes open, and you are almost guaranteed to see them swimming by in the distance. In particular, look out for the yellow dolphin-watching boats; they tend to swim in their wakes.
Tip: You need a beach pass for the main Cape May town beach. If your holiday lodging doesn’t provide them (ours had seasonal passes for us), you can buy one at every entrance to the beach. If you want to avoid the fee, there are other beaches nearby.
2. Make the most of the Wildwoods Boardwalk
Who knew there could be so many funnel cake fryers, bad t-shirts and ice cream shops in one place? Wildwoods is the louder, brasher Jersey Shore we all hear about. However, it’s still a fun day out. There’s a reason National Geographic named the Wildwoods Boardwalk one of the top ten U.S. Boardwalks.
Wildwoods is the place to go for a classic seaside amusement park, too. Morey’s has three piers with rides for all ages, plus a water park. There is also a more family- (and budget-) friendly park called Splash Zone, which provided plenty of entertainment for our young ones.
The boardwalk has arcades, blacklight mini-golf and an assorment of ice cream and candy shops as well.
We did a few arcade quarter machines, bought some water ice and then headed to the Splash Zone for the afternoon. The kids said it was their best day ever and the adults had fun too. It’s always a little embarrassing when Mom is more scared than the kids on the rides, but thankfully I was able to hold it together.
If your kids are older, and you stay into the evening, there’s often a lot of free live music in WIldwood in the summer.
Tip: Both Morey’s Piers and Splash Zone have half-day deals, from opening to around lunchtime or from mid-afternoon to closing. They’re especially worth considering with younger kids who eventually run out of steam. We could easily have done plenty in that time, saved some cash and not tired out the kids completely.
3. Get out on the water with some dolphin watching
I cannot put into words how magical a sight it was for me to see more than 20 Dolphins swimming just yards from the boat. I’m a boat person. I’ve always loved a boat trip – even if that’s a water taxi to Brooklyn – and my daughter is the same.
Plus, the bright yellow Thunder Cat was a speedboat, which was pretty exciting by itself for the two little boys with us. They took us out along the edge of Cape May and around the Point. It was such a clear day, we could see Delaware.
The real fun came when they sped up and fanned out their wake. Dolphins who wanted to play came and chased us, jumping out of the wake. There were babies too and all of them clearly loved the fun they could have in the boat-made waves. It’s an experience I will never forget.
The Dolphins come every year to Cape May from sometime in the spring through to early fall. Nature is never 100% reliable, but you have a pretty good chance of spotting dolphins all summer.
Tip: Remember, kids who are prone to being carsick are likely to be seasick, as well. We learned this the hard way! If a speedboat is your speed, there are more traditional dolphin cruises, too.
Eithe way, make sure to take in the Lighthouse as you round Cape May Point.
4. Get off the beach: the Cape May Zoo & Tree-To-Tree Adventure Park
A 20-minute car ride north of town, the Cape May Zoo is a nice early morning or afternoon trip for toddlers, preschool and elementary-school-age kids. It has snow leopards, giraffes, lions and more, and as mentioned before, it’s free!
Best thing we learned: My husband is about the height of a baby Giraffe. They are about 6-feet tall when they are born!
You cannot bring your own food into the zoo, but since we’ve visited they’ve opened the Safari Café, which has a limited and very kid-friendly menu (burgers, pizza, hot dogs, nachos, ice cream).
Tip: The zoo is inside Cape May County Park Central. So you can bring a picnic and use the park’s picnic tables or find a spot of grass. The picnic area was overrun by summer-camp kids on a weekday in July, but it might be quieter on weekends.
They’ve also added adventure & zip-line courses. There are height and age requirements. The kids-only treetop course is for ages 7 and up. The main 3 treetop circuits and five zip lines start at age 9 who have a long enough reach. But I’d say this is where you’ll find tweens, teens and adults who aren’t afraid of heights.
5. Spend an Evening at Sunset Beach
This sweet little beach sits on the west side of Cape May Island, facing the sunset and earning its name. Plan to arrive about a half hour before sunset to enjoy a lovely sky.
While you’re waiting for the sun to set, let your kids search for “Cape May diamonds,” quartz crystals that have eroded from the upper reaches of the Delaware river. They come in lots of pretty colors and our kids loved them.
Lovers of nautical history can search offshore for the wrecked hull of the concrete ship the U.S.S. Atlantis. These ships were used in World War I, when the lack of steel led to experimental ships with concrete hulls.
The Atlantis inadvertently made a permanent home for herself in Cape May in 1926, when she broke her moorings and crashed.
From May through October, the beach upholds a more-than-40-year tradition of honoring veterans. All the flags you’ll see flying are veterans’ casket flags brought there by their loved ones.
Tip: When you’re done watching the sunset you can find mini-golf nearby (you’ll find mini-golf all over Cape May). There’s a little restaurant and a gift shop at the beach too.
6. Have a Cape May date night
A date night is almost a vacation within a vacation, and we love to plan one when we can.
While in Cape May we hired a sitter from Guardian Angels sitting service, and it worked out well. We had an adult night out that culminated in watching dueling pianos at Harry’s Ocean Bar & Grille, an absolute first for us!
Family-Friendly Cape May Restaurants
When you’re on vacation you want places where your kids can safely entertain themselves, and you can have a nice glass of something cold.
One such place that worked for us was the Inn of Cape May with a huge garden right next to nice outdoor dining on the terrace. Go early and enjoy the casual bar menu at an outdoor table at its Ocean 7 restaurant, or enjoy a late-afternoon drink on The Porch.
For something a little special but still child-friendly, have lunch at the Blue Pig Tavern inside the stately Congress Hall Hotel.
You can enjoy local oysters, crab cakes or tavern mac & cheese with cheddar, gruyere and lobster. Meanwhile, kids can nosh on their own simpler mac & cheese, cavatappi pasta and other kid-friendly bites. At breakfast, don’t miss the tangy buttermilk pancakes.
Beyond these favorites, everywhere we ate had kids’ menus and staff that were incredibly friendly towards the kids.
Pin it for later!
Photos by Cat Jordan© except Wildwoods boardwalk (The Town of Wildwoods) and dolphins (Thunder Cat Dolphin Watch).