This Wonderful Life, now at the Cape May Stage.

Watching It’s a Wonderful Life never fails to lift our spirits. Watching This Wonderful Life at the Cape May Stage is sure to have the same effect. If you’re planning a getaway at our whimsical Cape May Bed and Breakfast in the coming weeks, we’ll hope you’ll check it out.

This Wonderful Life is a one man show based on Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Steve Murray steps into the characters of George Bailey, Clarence the Angle, and other residents of Bedford Falls with aplomb. His transformations are stellar. While we’ve never doubted that life is well worth living, it is reaffirming to see that realization dawn in George.

An evening at the theater is lovely, but “Dinner and a Show” is better. The Cape May Stage has partnered with several Cape May restaurants to offer just that, at a discount. Arrangements must be made through the participating restaurants: The Blue Pig Tavern, The Ebbitt Room, The Mad Batter Restaurant, Tisha’s, and The Washington Inn. More details are available at Dinner and a Show.

There is still time to squeeze in a short getaway to our Cape May Bed and Breakfast before the end of the year. Wrap up your gift shopping at the Washington Street Pedestrian Mall, just blocks from our inn, or spend your days comfortably ensconced in our festively decorated parlor as you put the finishing touches on knitting and sewing projects. Then in the evening, step out to the theater.

This Wonderful Life runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., weekends at 3 p.m., and December 20, 21, 27, and 28. The Cape May Stage is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Tickets are available at Cape May Stage.

A stay at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast will put you in the holiday spirit.

Cape May has been the proud host of the New Jersey State Film Festival for the past ten years. For just as long, our Cape May Bed and Breakfast has been providing comfortable lodging to filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We’re looking forward to the 2011 New Jersey Film Festival, which takes place October 21-23.

See The Redemption of General Butt Naked at the NJ State Film Festival in Cape May.

The New Jersey Film Festival is all about New Jersey filmmakers. The festival both showcases the work of filmmakers from New Jersey and provides educational opportunities. A variety of workshops are offered during the festival, both for people already working in the industry and for New Jersey youth (including at-risk youth) interested in pursuing careers in film.

Highlights this year include the NJ Premiere of The Redemption of General Butt Naked, which took home awards from the Sundance Film Festival, and a selection of scenes from the Best Mob Movies ever. If you love a good ganster film, be one of the first of your friends to own a copy of “The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies”, which will be on sale during the Festival.

New Jersey film buffs are also looking forward seeing International Dance Films, the Black Maria Film Festival, Best Short Films, and of course Late Night Films, which tend to be quirky, edgy, and even scary.

If you have reservations at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast the weekend of October 21, we hope you’ll check out the 2011 New Jersey State Film Festival.

Additional information and tickets are available online at Cape May NJ State Film Festival.

Let yourself be spooked in Cape May this October.

There is something inherently spooky about Victorian architecture. Certainly it’s beautiful, especially when preserved and in like company. Yet the towers and turrets invite speculation. Hidden rooms and secret passageways hint at intrigue. Drafts cause drapes to flutter, or was that a hand pulling the drape aside? Creaking floors break the still of the night, or was that a ghostly cry?

It’s fun to let yourself be spooked, especially with Halloween on the horizon. Perhaps no where lends itself more towards spooking than the Victorian Seaport of Cape May, home of our Cape May Bed and Breakfast.

It is no surprise, then, that Cape May embraces Halloween with vigor. There will be dozens of Halloween Happenings in town from October 14 to the 31st, 2011. Book a room in our Cape May Bed and Breakfast during that time, if you dare…

A sampling of spooky events in Cape May, NJ:

• Murder Mystery Luncheons and Dinners.
• Haunted Lighthouse Tours with psychic medium Craig McManus.
• Tales of Terror Trolley Rides.
• Historic Haunts House Tours. October 14, 21, 28.
• Cape May City Halloween Parade and Trick or Treating. October 23.
• Halloween Party at the Physick Estate. October 23.
• Annual Phantom Ball, theme Weird Science, at Congress Hall. October 28.
• First Annual Spooktacular Extravaganza at the Ocean Club and Sea Salt. October 29.

For a complete list of spooktacular events, please see Cape May Events.

When we drive back towards our Cape May Bed and Breakfast after being away, we keep the windows open. We can always tell when we’re approaching home, even if sitting in the passenger seat with eyes closed. The air becomes noticeably cleaner, with a hint of tanginess thanks to the salt water marshes.

We know we’re home when the tension is gone from our necks and shoulders. The buzz of cities and freeways recedes, replaced by the lulling rhythm of the surf. This happens every time we return to our Cape May Bed and Breakfast, no matter the season.

The beauty of Cape May.

Yet autumn has always been a favorite time for us. Cape May doesn’t have the most spectacular fall colors (though the leaves do exchange green for muted shades of red, orange, and yellow), and it doesn’t always have glorious fall weather. Sometimes days are blustery, sometimes they’re grey, and sometimes they are warm and clear. It doesn’t matter.

Autumn beach walks in Cape May are a panacea – they make everything better. We bundle up to the nose on cold days and unzip our jackets on warm days. We sit on driftwood in the sun, and lean against each other when it’s windy. We return to the inn refreshed, ready to greet guests, make another pot of coffee, and serve glasses of Barbara’s special punch.

Spend a few days at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast this autumn. Come here to celebrate a special occasion, or simply for a little R&R. Take advantage of our Midweek Special if you can, or come for a weekend. It doesn’t matter when you come, so long as you walk on the beach while you’re here.

For some folks, summer vacation means lounging on the beach. For some it means touring old homes and browsing shops. And for some, summer holidays mean more time for golf.

Barbara's fruit punch will cool you after a round a golf in Cape May.

Cape May is best known for the beautiful beaches and charming Victorian downtown, but there is great golf here, too. Read what some golf experts have said about Cape May National Golf Club:

• “Cape May National is like going back to see an old girl friend, perhaps the one you should have married. It might be the most beautiful golf course in the state.” PUB LINKS GOLF MAGAZINE
• “South Jersey’s jewel is Cape May National Golf Club. The course flows through the superb mix of wetlands, natural grasses, mounding and ponds.” THE WASHINGTON GOLF MONTHLY
• “Voted, Top 50 Best Places to Play in America.” Golf Digest for Women

Cape May National Golf Club surrounds a 50-acre private bird sanctuary. It bears the moniker “The Natural” for good reasons – you’ll see no houses here, just green trees, rolling greens, and reflective ponds. Spend a few hours or a whole day at The Natural, basking in beauty as you tackle this challenging, Par 71 course.

Cape May Par 3 is a great course for everyone, but perhaps most of all for novices or folks who are returning to the game after an absence. It’s a short course, requiring no more than a couple of hours to play, and it has a good driving range.

Break your fast at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast, so you’ll have plenty of energy once you hit the greens. In the evening, we welcome you to relax with a glass of Barbara’s Fresh Fruit Punch, Chateau Blanc, or a combination of the two.

Lovely Historic Cape May

Mondays through Saturdays at 10:45 am, guests of our Cape May NJ bed and breakfast may ride through history on the Mansions by the Sea Trolley Tour. Sit comfortably in a historic trolley and gaze at some of the most magnificent buildings built in Cape May. You’ll see small beach and large cottages from the 1870s, enormous hotels from the same era, and contemporary architecture as well. While you look, you will listen to a fascinating story by the guide.

It’s fun to consider the development of Cape May this way. Our town was destroyed by a fire in 1878, and out of the ashes rose the beautiful town that we see around us today. There are a good number of colorful mansions decked out with gingerbread trim – affectionately known as “painted ladies”. They were summer homes for the well-to-do back in the day, when Cape May was playground to residents of Philadelphia and New York. Once these homes became unaffordable for the families who owned them (not many people need 8+ bedrooms these days), they faced demolition by bulldozer. Fortunately, they were saved in 1976 when the entire town was listed as a National Historic Landmark. Now many of those grand old painted ladies are Cape May bed and breakfasts, like our own. We love our old girl, and hope she’ll be around to be enjoyed by many generations to come.