Life in Cape May

A column about Cape May, NJ through the eyes of a year round resident.

Holiday Christmas Light Extravaganza

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North Cape May, NJ – Just on the other side of the Cape May Canal, two sisters stand in a front yard and plot this year’s holiday decorations. When the post hole digger comes out, you know this will not be  your ordinary strand of colored lights. Tracey and Carollee Schick, along with Carrollee’s son [...]

West Cape May Christmas Parade 2012

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Cape May, NJ – The firetrucks were flashing on and off like 3-D day-glo art works.  Mummers and marching bands filled the night with music. The only thing missing in the West Cape May Christmas Parade Saturday night were winter coats. It was  a remarkably balmy evening. Parade goers along Broadway hopped from open house [...]

Cape May Bed and Breakfasts: The Sandy Effect

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Cape May, NJ – Along Cape May’s bed and breakfast row, all is as it should be. The flags are out,  the fall chrysanthemums are blooming. Tea is being poured, served with homemade sweet treats. Hurricane Sandy spared Cape May, leaving its historic, Victorian homes untouched. Yet the storm is beginning to affect the town’s [...]

Life in Cape May: Lockdown for Sandy

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Cape May, NJ – In the wee hours of  Monday morning I can hear the wind and rain starting to ramp up. Cape May’s on lockdown mode.  Got the robo call Sunday warning of the mandatory evacuation cut off time: 4PM.  No one comes in or goes off the island now. At 3PM Sunday, looked [...]

Life in Cape May: Prepping for Hurricane Sandy

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Cape May -  I’m checking the National Hurricane Center website once again, sifting through tea leaves, trying to see the future. We got the first robo call Friday night  – voluntary evacuations Saturday and  mandatory evacuations Sunday for Cape May city. Irene all over again. I have vivid memories of leaving our house at 5AM [...]

Life in Cape May: Back Bay in October

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October turns the marsh grasses to gold in the back bay. The back bay is that slice of water wedged between the mainland and the barrier islands. An unpretentious place with no zip codes. A workaday kind of place. In the summer, good luck navigating the channel with its surge of pleasure boats and tour [...]

Life in Cape May: Season Opener

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Cape May, NJ – Forget the robins, the daffodils, even the first beach goers. For people who know Cape May, nothing says the season has started  as much as a brand new Mercedes on the Washington Street Mall. Every year, Star of the Sea Church holds a six month long raffle for the car. An [...]

Life in Cape May: Spring Fog

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Cape May Point, NJ – You stand on the dune path in Cape May Point State Park and look out to where the ocean is supposed to be. You take it on faith that, somewhere in that massive mist, huge waves are crashing onshore. You just can’t see them. Spring brings many things to Cape [...]

Life in Cape May: Signs of an Early Spring

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Cape May, NJ – When the chilly west winds stopped blowing this week and Delaware Bay settled into a  placid, deep blue, you just knew spring was on the way. It might seem early to start looking for signs of spring, but then we’ve had an exceptionally warm winter. Record smashing temperatures in some cases. [...]

Cape May Times Pictures of the Year

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Cape May, NJ -  This is our favorite photo of the year. Just two weeks after Hurricane Irene sent all of us packing,  Tropical Storm Lee followed up with massive waves of its own, pounding Poverty Beach.  If one picture is worth a thousand words, this one speaks volumes. The water around Cape May can [...]