Featured Events

VICTORIAN WEEKEND

Overhead photo of Victorian homes in Cape May

October 11 – 14, 2024

This is the best time of year to visit Victorian Cape May and celebrate the unique heritage of America’s first seashore resort. Enjoy a weekend of exciting and entertaining activities focused on history and Victorian Cape May culture.

VICTORIAN WEEKEND
HISTORIC HOUSE TOUR

Victorian house with fall decorations

Saturday, October 12 from 1pm – 4pm

Visitors have the unique opportunity on this self-guided tour to go behind closed doors and see restored private homes, bed and breakfast inns and guesthouses. Tourgoers can meet the homeowners, managers or innkeepers, see unique furnishings and décor, and find inspiration for their own homes and hearths.

FOR THE LOVE OF HATS

Monday, October 14th at 12pm

Guests enjoy a three course luncheon at the Inn of Cape May along with a presentation by Lynne Anne Donchez, the author of For the Love of Hats. This will be a unique and chic show of Lynne Anne’s hat collection including pill-boxes, cloches, fascinators and more; approximately 60-70 women’s and men’s hats from a broad range of eras, for your guests to explore and enjoy.  The show is a one hour talk on the history, fashion and etiquette of hats followed by a Q&A session.

EMLEN PHYSICK ESTATE TOUR

emlen physick estate on washington street in cape may new jersey

Take a guided tour of the first and second floors of the 1879 Physick House Museum, for an in-depth look at Victorian architecture and the period, reflecting one Victorian family’s lifestyle, and detailing the way the Physick family and their household lived, worked and spent their leisure time. Built in 1879, the 18-room mansion is an architectural wonder designed by famed American architect Frank Furness and is one of the best examples of Victorian Stick Style architecture in the country.

HISTORIC DISTRICT TROLLEY TOUR

Cape May MAC Trolley filled with people on a tour of the town

Known as the “Queen of the Seaside Resorts” for its quaint Victorian cottages and pristine beaches, Cape May is the oldest seaside resort in the country, and in 1976, the entire city was declared a National Historic Landmark. Possessing one of the country’s largest collections of 19th century seaside wood framed buildings, the historic district features a variety of styles of Victorian architecture. It’s beautiful. It’s charming. Wonderful tour guides will explain Cape May’s history and architecture and how and why it has survived and thrives to this day. This narrated tour travels through portions of Cape May’s historic district. Guides discuss the architecture and history of the area. Offered year-round either separately or as combo tours. Begins and ends at the Ocean Street trolley stop.

GHOSTS & MYSTERIES TOURS

a group of people looking down at a camera from above with shocked faces

Cape May is one of the most haunted towns you’ll ever visit. Is it any wonder? It’s such a marvelous place, even the spirits don’t want to leave Cape May! Dozens of Victorian gems have been investigated and documented to have “spirit” residents, all of whom are quite friendly, we assure you. Take a giant step back in Cape May’s past and see if a ghostly encounter is in the cards for you!

Learn More

Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture), as a nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to the preservation, interpretation and cultural enrichment of the greater Cape May region for its residents and visitors, proudly joins the chorus of voices decrying racism, prejudice, discrimination and injustice, in all its forms, in every corner of our nation.  As the steward of three historic sites and the storyteller of more than 200 years of area history, Cape May MAC is well aware that, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” We will continue to strive to serve a broad and diverse community, to illuminate all the threads with which the fabric of history is written, seek out all voices, and include and encourage full participation.