Below are some photographs taken by New Years Eve Birthday Girl Marie Rose Bloomer. Marie has celebrated many birthdays with us here at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast, as well as other special events.

The photographs are from Marie Rose’s 2010/2011 stay at our Bed and Breakfast Cape May. We’re already looking forward to next year!

Marie Rose Bloomer on the front steps of our inn.

20 years of welcoming the New Year on the beach of Cape May, and still going strong!

Thank you, Marie Rose, for sharing these wonderful photographs.

Get away from the weather and come to Cape May for an Artie Party. We will sit around the fire and laugh with Artie Hoffman – plus he will do individual readings for guests. Monday evening he will actually broadcast his radio show Angels and Answers from the John F. Craig House on Monday evening.

Visit his website for more information: www.artiehoffman.com

Call us to save you a spot!

We first met Craig McManus not long after taking possession of our new Bed and Breakfast Cape May. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that has blossomed over the years.

Craig McManus at our Cape May B&B, February 4, 5, 2011.

Craig McManus lives in our world – the world of the living, that is – but he has strong connections to the dead. Craig feels ghostly spirits and they in turn communicate with him. It may be difficult for skeptics to believe, but once you’ve met Craig, doubts tend to vanish.

Craig is a sleuth at heart. He feels presences and does his best to figure out who and what they are. He is drawn to places with a good deal of paranormal activity, and thus he is drawn to the Victorian Seaside town of Cape May, New Jersey. He’s been coming here regularly for about twenty years.

Our Cape May Bed and Breakfast, the John F. Craig House, first caught Craig’s attention in the early 1990s; but it wasn’t until a few years later that he visited the house during a house tour. Once inside, his curiosity was truly piqued.

Over the ensuing years, Craig has stayed at the inn many times. He now regularly offers weekend events at John F. Craig. Guests have the opportunity to participate in a group séance and to meet with Craig one-on-one. We never know what we’ll get, but thanks to Craig’s warmth and humor, we always have a good time.

Upcoming Craig McManus weekends are February 4-5, 2011 and March 18-19, 2011. As of this writing, there are two rooms available for the February weekend.

For more information about the Craig McManus weekends at our Bed and Breakfast Cape May, please see our events page or call 877-544-0314. For some of Craig’s observations about our inn, please see his recent article in capemay.com.

As we were decorating our Bed and Breakfast Cape May for the holidays, Chip said “Why doesn’t anyone have electric trains under the tree anymore?” It’s a good question.

Maybe these days, with computers on every lap, i-phones in every pocket, and e-books in every purse, electric trains under the tree just don’t have the same allure. Yet for some of us, the thrill of watching the train circle the tree on Christmas morning is one of the best memories from our youth, permanently embedded with the scent of evergreen and the taste of eggnog.

Well, we have an electric train under the tree in our Cape May NJ Bed and Breakfast. In fact, we may be the only B&B in Cape May that does. Chip’s small, but intense, layout features mostly prewar Lionel.  One train dates to 1925. They’re well built and never let us down. It’s the perfect accompaniment to Barbara’s beautiful, live (dare we say alive?) tree.

We hope you’ll come see Chip’s pride and joy this holiday season. Enjoy a glass of eggnog and the company of friends old and new as you watch the train bring in the spirit of Christmas.

For the past 19 years, Linda and Richard Gibbs and Will and Judy Downham have come to our Cape May bed and breakfast during the first weekend of December. We’ve all gotten just a little bit older over the years (hardly noticeable at all), but we still have a grand time.

Holiday cheer runs rampant at our Cape May B&B.

Have we said that the very best part of our job is the people we meet? It’s true. Like the Gibbs and the Downhams, many have become friends over the years.

The Christmas season is our favorite time of year, and a time when we see many old friends. The entire town of Cape May decks itself out in colorful lights and festive decorations. People ride the trolleys to see the holiday lights, learn about the Ghosts of Christmas past, and hear tales of Victorian Christmas traditions.

Here at John F. Craig, guests come and go, busily shopping and enjoying a host of festive events around town. Many of us come together as the sun sets to enjoy good company, a glass of wine, and to watch our antique train travel around the Christmas tree. We then head our separate ways for dinner and the evening’s activities.

Weekends are filling up at our bed and breakfast Cape May, but we still have room during the week, when the shops of Cape May are a bit less crowded. As of this writing, we have two openings on New Year’s Eve.

Our favorite time of year is here once again – the Holidays. Each year we look forward to dusting off our decorations and transforming our Cape May bed and breakfast with lights and trains and wreaths. It’s a way for us to honor the past, for as we decorate, we remember the origin of each ornament and elf.

Stay in our cozy, well-lit inn during the holiday season.

We’ll be about 95% decorated come Thanksgiving (Chip insists on keeping our traveling Santa hidden until the turkey is consumed). Guests of our Cape May bed and breakfast will find the holiday spirit infectious, which is, truly, why many stay with us at this time of year. (more…)

Psychic communicator and ghost writer Craig McManus returns to our Cape May bed and breakfast in early November for a weekend of spirits and good fun. Craig has stayed with us several times in the past, each time connecting with ghosts and/or spirits. It’s fascinating to speak with him about the supernatural world – his experience is vast and his knowledge deep.

Spend a weekend here with paranormal expert Craig McManus.

According to Craig, the John F. Craig house is one of the most paranormally active homes in Cape May. No one knows exactly why some spots draw more ghosts and spirits than others, not even Craig. It is true that our Cape May bed and breakfast is located on Columbia Avenue – formerly the town’s Beach Avenue, close to the dunes and the sea. Most of the homes on this street were built just after the Civil War.

Craig has felt a number of presences here. At times he has felt Emma Craig, second wife of John F. Craig, while other times he’s met ghosts that have wandered in and have no known connection to the actual place. Craig says that “ghosts are transient”; and really, why wouldn’t they be?

Of course, many of the guests who participate in Craig McManus weekends hope to have news from a departed loved one. Craig cannot guarantee any particular experience of course, but past events have at times drawn many such spirits.

No matter what your hopes or expectations, we think you’ll find a weekend with Craig McManus at our Cape May inn fascinating. We know that we always do. For more information, please contact us. The weekend of November 5 – 6, 2010 is full, but we would love to invite Craig to return in the future.

Some couples like long engagements. They enjoy the planning and the suspense. Others don’t feel the need to wait. Once they’ve decided to get married, they figure they may as well do it as soon as possible.

Bill Harleman and Kate Oliveria - newly engaged.

Either option is wonderful, of course.

It is always an honor and a joy for couples to choose to marry in our Cape May bed and breakfast. While we can’t host large events, we can certainly make room for small affairs – even fairly spontaneous ones. We are also happy to host couples before and after the big event. If need be, we may even be called upon to bear witness at a Cape May wedding. Give us a call.

Fun.

It’s almost time for the annual Kentucky “Derby Days” at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast, and we still have a couple of rooms available. We’re doing our part to keep this longstanding tradition alive! (more…)

Sometimes, it’s the simple things that provide the most pleasure. Decorating a cake. Sharing home made cake with friends, old and new. Traditions.

One tradition at our bed and breakfast Cape May is to create a bunny cake for Easter, and to let any guest who feels the creative urge help decorate it. It is always fun to see what masterpieces lurk inside even the most untried bearer of the frosting. It is always hard to make the first cut.

Join us for this simple, enjoyable tradition. Celebrate Easter at our Cape May bed and breakfast.

Easter, 2009

Go on. Make the first cut.