History and Charm Come Alive in Cape May

Put on your bustles and boaters, discover a town that vanished into the sea, attend a Tony-nominated theater production and celebrate the city’s Victorian history during Cape May’s 16th annual Spring Festival.
Founded in 1894, in its heyday, the town of South Cape May had more than 40 homes and hundreds of summer residents. It disappeared by the 1950s, with all of its homes either destroyed by storms or physically moved to other locations.
One of the town’s last residents, Joseph Bucher, chronicled life in this seaside town before it was swallowed by the Atlantic. “Remembering South Cape May: The Jersey Shore Town That Vanished Into the Sea,” is co-authored by Bucher’s son-in-law Robert Kenselaar.
The Carriage House Gallery located on the grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate hosts the “Remembering South Cape May” exhibit, with guest curator Robert Kenselaar. The exhibit examines the rise and fall of the community that once stood west of Cape May’s beachfront on land that today is the Nature Conservancy’s Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge.
The town was washed away by mid-century to create the current Cove. Join the community and the people who helped make this exhibit possible at the free opening ceremony on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. at the Carriage House Gallery.
Kick up your heels as they did in Cape May during its Victorian days at the Vintage Dance Weekend, Saturday, April 30 to Sunday, May 1.
Vintage Dance Instructors Al and Jan Seabra will teach you the traditional dances of the 19th century at a Vintage Dance Workshop, Saturday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m., put your newfound expertise to good use at a costumed Vintage Ball with live music of the period by Spare Parts.
A Tea Dance, also with live music by Spare Parts, is on Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m. Victorian dress encouraged but not required. All events take place at the historic Chalfonte Hotel, 301 Howard St.
Hunt for unique hand-made crafts and one-of-a-kind antiques at the Spring Festival Crafts & Antiques Shows on Saturdays, April 30 and May 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Emlen Physick Estate becomes an outdoor marketplace as vendors from throughout the Northeast display their wares. Admission is free.
Celebrate Cape May’s unique history as local experts and educators bring the fascinating seaside town to life during “A Victorian Primer in Cape May,” a series of informative lectures, programs and seminars at the Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean St.
From Monday, May 2 through Friday, May 6, learn about Victorian social history, customs and traditions during lectures and seminars that will include topics like Victorian music, Cape May’s architecture, Victorian spiritualism lecture and much more!
Programs offered:
• May 2: Introduction to the Victorian Era and Cape May at 10 a.m., Cape May’s Victorian Architecture at 1:45 p.m., and An Evening of Victorian Music at 7:30 p.m.
• May 3: Victorian Etiquette and Manners at 9:45 a.m., Understanding the Victorians at 4 p.m., and An Evening with the Physick Family at 7:30 p.m.
• May 4: The Cape May Lighthouse at 9:45 a.m., Victorian Spiritualism at 1:45 p.m., and An Afternoon of Supernatural Victorian Music and Literature at 3:30 p.m.
• May 5: Seminar on Victorian Women at 9:45 a.m. and An Afternoon with the Victorian Literary Society of Cape May at 1:45 p.m.
• May 6: John Philip Sousa at 9:45 a.m.
Cape May Stage presents “For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf: A Choreopoem by Ntozake Shange” on Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 1 at 3 p.m. at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse, Bank and Lafayette sts.
This staged reading of Shange’s choreo-poem is produced by Chase Arts and directed by Rodney Gilbert with actors from the Cape May County Community along with featured actors from New York, Philadelphia, Newark and Atlantic City.
The play appeared Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre before commencing its original Broadway production in 1976 and was nominated for a Tony for Best Play in 1977.
The work is a modernist painting, abstract and minimalist, told in verse and movement, with anonymous characters identified only by the color of their dresses.