Cape May’s Annual Spring Festival Celebrates the Season

CAPE MAY — Celebrate the beauty of spring during Cape May’s 20th annual Spring Festival, co-sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) and the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May.
Experience this National Historic Landmark City’s charm and discover its fresh flavors, dramatic architecture and lively culture during the 10-day springtime celebration from April 24 to May 3. Step back in time with costumed characters during Cape May Time Capsule Trolley Tour, taste chocolate desserts during the Chocolate Tour & Tasting, and see how the beloved watercolorist Alice Steer Wilson worked to capture the essence of Cape May with her brush at the new exhibit at the Carroll Gallery. Enjoy lunch or afternoon tea at the newly reopened Carriage House Café & Tearoom, visit the Cape May Designer Show House, stop by a crafts and collectibles show, step inside Cape May’s private residences for house tours, hear spooky stories on a ghost tour and discover local gardens.
Cape May’s 20th Annual Spring Festival features a tempting selection of food and wine events:
Enjoy the 2015 season reopening of Cape May’s Carriage House Café & Tearoom on the grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St. with a café menu that features signature sandwiches, salads and tea sandwiches, as well as homemade soups and quiche, plus the popular Classic Tea Luncheon and Elegant Afternoon Tea featuring loose tea service and specialty teas from the House of Tea in Philadelphia. If you have a busy schedule, everything is available for takeout. The Carriage House Café & Tearoom re-opens for the season on April 24. Hours are 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily and parking is free. For reservations call 609-884-5111.
Back by popular demand is the Chocolate Tasting Tour on April 25 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Taste some of the area’s most irresistible chocolate concoctions as you visit participating historic inns and B&Bs. Adult tickets are $20; children (ages 3-12) are $15.
If you delight over a good whodunit, you’ll enjoy Murder Mystery Dinners at Aleathea’s Restaurant at the Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean Street. Join the Impromptu Players as they set the scene for the original mystery, “Where There’s No Will” and enjoy a four-course dinner as you contemplate the clues, interact with the cast and help solve the mystery as it unfolds on Saturdays, April 25 and May 2, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person.
New in 2015! See in detail how beautiful and unusual jewelry of the Victorian era was made and worn during Cameo Appearances Fashion Show & Brunch at the Carriage House Café & Tearoom on the grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St. Living history presenter Thomas Tear of Grand Oak Plantation will present this fashion show that includes museum quality Victorian hair work jewelry, portrait jewelry, mourning jewelry and cameos on April 26 at 10 a.m. Admission is $25 and include brunch.
Ready for an afternoon of good spirits? Try these events that celebrate the flavors of the Cape May area’s outstanding vineyards and brewery:
Have you experienced the variety of vineyards flourishing in the Cape May area? Join the Cape May Wine Trail on April 25 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and you’ll discover them at your leisure. First enjoy a delicious lunch at the Carriage House Café & Tearoom, then board the trolley that will transport you to the Willow Creek Winery, Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery and Natali Vineyards. You’ll learn all about viniculture and visit each of the tasting rooms. $75 includes lunch, wine tastings at each vineyard. This is a limited event, so please reserve early.
Learn all about French Bordeaux wines at the Washington Inn, 801 Washington St. during the Cape May Wine School. Discern and appreciate the flavors of each and increase your knowledge of pairings. 1 p.m. May 2. Admission is $40 per person.
Relax over a glass of wine at the Cape May Winery, 711 Townbank Road as you take a Winery Cellar Tour & Tasting. See how the grapes are grown and learn about the winemaker’s art as you enjoy a barrel-tasting accompanied by cheese and fruit on Saturdays, April 25 and May 2, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20; the event is limited and tickets must be purchased in advance at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth at Ocean Street. If you prefer, explore at your own pace during the Self-guided Wine Trail. Visit Natali Vineyards and Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery and taste the unique flavors at each. Offered daily from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 and includes a map with the wineries listed. What’s brewing in Cape May? Some great spirits, as you’ll find out on the Self-guided Wine & Brewery Tour of two area wineries, Natali Vineyards and Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery, plus the Cape May Brewing Company. Take a tour at each stop and sample some of their products. Admission is $13 and includes a map with directions. Tours are offered daily from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Taste while you tour during the Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery Tour! Learn how the grapes are grown and the process that turns them into delicious Hawk Haven wines at the Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery, 600 S Railroad Ave, Rio Grande. The tour includes a gourmet cheese tasting on the vineyard-view crush pad. Offered at 1 p.m. Saturdays, April 25 and May 2. Tickets are $20 if purchased at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth.
Discover Cape May’s “other” side during tours that focus on the paranormal; hear haunting tales about the nation’s first seaside resort and maybe even experience an actual ghost or two:
Board a MAC trolley for the Ghosts of Cape May Trolley Tour, a 30-minute evening ride through the haunted streets of Cape May. The paranormal findings of Cape May’s popular psychic medium and ghost writer Craig McManus come alive as your guide relates McManus’ spooky stories. Ride past the flickering gas street lamps and the haunted properties of Cape May and experience the spine-tingling tales exposed by McManus. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for children (ages 3-12). Tours are offered on Fridays, April 24 and May 1 at 7:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., April 25 at 8:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Saturday, May 2 at 9:30 p.m.
Get into the spirit of things on a guided tour of the historic (some say haunted) Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., with a discussion of Victorian spiritualism during Historic Haunts House Tours offered Saturdays, April 25 and May 2 at 7:45 p.m. There you will visit a home séance room of the 1890s and learn of the Victorians’ fascination with spiritualism along with today’s methods of “ghost hunting.” Take the Historic Haunts Combo Tour and combine the Ghosts of Cape May trolley tour with a visit to the 1879 Emlen Physick Estate, Cape May’s “original” haunted house. Admission is $22 for adults and $14 for children (ages 3-12). Tours are offered Saturdays, April 25 and May 2 at 7:15 p.m.
Take a trolley tour through parts of West Cape May to the Cape May Lighthouse and hear tales of ghostly activity along the way during the Ghosts of the Lighthouse Trolley Tour on Saturdays, April 25 and May 2 at 8 p.m. Meet the Lighthouse Keeper who will relate a ghostly tale inside the Cape May Light and climb the 199 steps to the top. Admission is $22 for adults and $15 for children (ages 3-12).
A National Historic Landmark City and one of “America’s 20 Prettiest Towns,” Cape May is the perfect place to step back into a gentler era and explore the city’s magnificent Victorian architecture and seaside beauty:
Experience Cape May’s history up close, through the eyes of those who lived it during the Cape May Time Capsule Trolley Tour. Meet characters from the past who visited, lived and worked in Cape May, as your trolley travels through town. Costumed historical interpreters bring to life 200 years of the town’s history. Offered at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on May 3. Admission is $22.
Cape May from sunset to sunrise — for the Victorians, was it a time of engaging entertainments or dangers in the darkness? Did our Victorian ancestors embrace the shadows, or avoid them? Hear how the proper, and not so proper, moved about in the evening hours during Cape May After Dark Trolley Tour. Offered April 25 and May 2 at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for children (ages 3-12).
Hunt for unique hand-made crafts and delightful collectibles at Spring Festival Crafts & Collectibles at the Physick Estate shows on Saturdays, April 25 and May 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., becomes an outdoor marketplace as vendors from throughout the Northeast display their wares. Admission is free and free parking is available.
Take advantage of the rare opportunity to see inside some of Cape May’s fine private residences on the Spring Festival Private Homes Tours, Saturdays, April 25 and May 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enjoy touring these interesting and stately homes from the Victorian era to the 21st century that are not normally open to the public. Tickets are limited, so purchase early. Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for children (ages 3-12).
See how over a dozen designers have interpreted a different holiday in each room inside the Cape May Designer Show House:
Cape May’s Designer Show House, The Ocean Victorian, 25 Ocean St., officially opened to the public on Oct. 10, 2014 and continues through June 7 with the theme “Celebrating Holidays.” Presented by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC), this year’s Designer Show House is sponsored by DesignNJ magazine. The Ocean Victorian is located within steps of Cape May’s beaches in a majestic row alongside some of Cape May’s most recognized historic structures. Visitors will see how the region’s top designers creatively portray a different holiday in each of 12 rooms in this circa 1880 Cape May landmark. Guided and self-guided tours of the Ocean Victorian are offered through June 14 at various times. Self-guided Designer Show House Tours are offered daily, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Guided Designer Show House Tours are offered at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. Each visitor receives a full-color program book with information about the designers, products and vendors. Admission is $20. Tickets may be purchased at the door, by calling 609-884-5404, or by visiting www.capemaymac.org.
Designer Show House Dinner Packages with guided evening tours are available with selected Cape May restaurants on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. Dinner at 5:30 p.m. is followed by a Show House Guided Tour at 7 p.m. Admission is $50. Reservations can be made by calling 609-884-5404, ext. 1-115. Participating restaurants include: Sundays – The Merion Inn or Tisha’s; Mondays – Blue Pig Tavern; Thursdays – The Merion Inn or Blue Pig Tavern; Fridays – Union Park or Aleathea’s.
Designer Show House Tea Luncheon Packages with self-guided daytime tours are available daily with the Carriage House Café & Tearoom. Reservations for tea luncheon or afternoon tea at the Carriage House Café & Tearoom are available between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. The self-guided tour of the Designer Show House is offered from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission for this combination package is $35. Reservations can be made by calling 609-884-5404, ext. 1-115.
A special event, Reinventing Your Home: Tea, Talk and Tour will be hosted by designer Carole Roach, ASID, NCIDQ, President of NEWH Atlantic City/Greater Philadelphia Chapter, and a long-time Cape May Designer Show House participating designer. Carole will talk about how to use “found” items to decorate your home during this special event on May 2, beginning with a tea and lecture at 3 p.m. at the Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean St., followed by a private tour of the Cape May Designer Show House at 4:15 p.m. Admission is $45 and includes tea, lecture and tour. The event is limited and advance purchase is required.
The new theme for guided tours of the Emlen Physick Estate, “At Home With Nature,” begins April 24. The Victorians’ love of nature included a strong desire to dominate it. See how they demonstrated this fascinating paradox in the ways they sought to study, master, and display the wonders of nature in their own homes. Tour Dr. Physick’s mansion, Cape May’s only Victorian House museum, and enter the world of the late 19th century. The new theme will run through April 2016 (except during the holiday season). Tours are offered year-round and admission is $12 for adults and $8 for children (ages 3-12). Tours can also be combined with trolley tours of Cape May’s Historic District. Meet with the good doctor, Dr. Physick himself, when “The Dr. is In” on Saturdays, April 25 and May 2, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the grounds of the Estate.
Board the Cape May Whale Watcher for a sightseeing cruise around the island of Cape May during the Around Cape Island Cruise. View the majestic Victorian architecture and enjoy tales of local heroes, legends and history. Offered at 10 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, April 25-26 and May 2-3. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children (ages 7-12). Purchase tickets in advance at the Washington Street Mall information Booth or at the Hill House office at the Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St.
Board the 110-foot Cape May Whale Watcher for the Cape May Whale & Dolphin Cruise, a three-hour cruise and the chance to see humpback whales, dozens of bottlenose dolphins, unusual sea birds or rare sea turtles, with guaranteed marine mammal sightings. Purchase tickets in advance at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth. Offered at 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, April 25-26 and May 2-3. $40 for adults, $25 for children (ages 6-12).
Stroll Dr. Physick’s neighborhood on tree-lined Washington Street and hear about the families who lived there and the architecture of the homes during Dr. Physick’s Neighborhood Walking Tour. Explore one of Cape May’s great mysteries – why the Doctor chose to live in this area of Cape May. Offered on Fridays, April 24 and May 1 at 2:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for children (ages 3-12). Combine lunch at 1 p.m. with your walk on Dr. Physick’s Neighborhood Walking Tour & Café Combo, at the Carriage House Café & Tearoom on the grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St. Admission is $20.
Learn why Cape May attracts so many artists during the Carroll Gallery Exhibit: “Light, Particularly: Alice Steer Wilson’s Cape May.” From the summer of 1971 until her death 30 years later, Alice Steer Wilson worked to capture the essence of Cape May with her brush. From the pages of the book of the same name, Wilson’s daughter, Janice Wilson Stridick, brings alive this beloved painter’s vision of Cape May’s dynamic period, when it was growing to become a national treasure – a premier historic, cultural and natural resources destination. At the Carroll Gallery in the Physick Estate Carriage House, 1048 Washington St. Admission is free. April 24 through Nov. 1. Open daily; times vary.
Browse among artisans and crafters displaying and selling accents and accessories for you, your home and your gardens as well as eco-friendly resources to help promote a Green Cape May during the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May Spring Festival & Home Show Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rotary Park, Lafayette & Lyle Lanes, Cape May. Enjoy the sights and smells of a variety of Cape May gardens during Cape May Garden Tours. Your guide will lead you on a scenic hour-long stroll. Tours are April 25 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Cost is $10 per person. Rain date is April 26. Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May. For more information call 609-884-5508 or visit www.capemaychamber.com.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation, and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. MAC membership is open to all. For information about MAC’s year-round schedule of tours, festivals, and special events, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit MAC’s Web site at www.capemaymac.org. For information about restaurants, accommodations and shopping, call the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May at 609-884-5508 or visit www.capemaychamber.com. For information about historic accommodations, contact Cape May Historic Accommodations at www.capemaylodging.com.