Parking on the main tourist streets of Cape May are metered. However, if you are willing to walk a little further, towards the beginning of the Promenade (down near Queen Street), the parking in the residential area of town is not metered and is free all year round. And, fortunately, the Promenade begins just past Queen Street, so this is a great place to park and start your day along the coast.
On your way into town, be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center, on the corner of Lafayette Street and Elmira Street across from the Acme. Here, pick up the "This Week In Cape May" booklet to find out what tours, events and activities are going on in town during your stay. (http://www.capemay.com)
The Promenade shops are short and mostly your traditional tourist shops. However, there are plenty of other shops located along Beach Street and the Washington Street Mall area.
But there is much more than shopping to be done here!
There are two individual companies that host whale and dolphin watching cruises from the Miss Chris Marina, just a short drive from the center of town.
A few years back, Miss Chris Marina was up for sale as a potential site for luxury condominium development. Well, the family that owns Cape May Whale Watchers decided to get a loan and purchase the marina. They run deep sea fishing tours, dolphin and whale watching tours, bird watching and more, not to mention a lovely gift shop and FREE parking. (http://www.capemaywhalewatcher.com/index.htm)
For whale and dolphin watching, the 1 p.m. tour is three hours and you are guaranteed to see either (or all) dolphins, porpoises or whales. On our trip, we saw over 100 dolphins, but nothing else.
Right near the marina there are a few restaurant options, we chose Dock Mike's Pancake House, open until 2 p.m. serving breakfast and lunch. (http://www.dockmikes.com/)
Their chocolate chip pancakes have been named the best in Cape May, so of course we had to try them. They were delicious and are served with regular and chocolate whipped cream. We also tried their famous buttermilk pancakes, which were also fabulous.
At Cape May Point State Park you can visit the Cape May Lighthouse, which is still a working lighthouse after all these years. The lighthouse was built in 1859 and was an oil burning lighthouse. It now houses two 1,000 watt light bulbs that mark the area for incoming and outgoing boats. (http://www.capemaymac.org/attractions/lighthouse/index.html)
You can climb to the top of the lighthouse, 199 steps, and look out over Cape May Point State Park from the terrace (and what a view!).
Just down the road is the World War II Lookout Tower, which was part of the harbor defense during the war. You can climb to the top and get a 360 degree view from the top. There is also a memorial to those living in Cape May, NJ who served in the military. The memorial shows pictures of the veterans then (in their uniforms) and now. (http://www.capemaymac.org/content/subpage_main.aspx?id=2030)
At the top of the tower, there is a very knowledgeable person who can tell you what you're looking at, as well as more about the area and how New Jersey, and Cape May specifically, played a part in the war.
There is much more to do in Cape May than what I have discussed here, however, we only had one day in town. But don't worry! We're playing on heading back soon so stay tuned to find out what more there is to do in Cape May!
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