CHRISTMAS IN CAPE MAY
What better place to get into the true spirit of Christmas than Victorian Cape May? This seaside town is transformed into a Dickens village for the holidays with garlands of fragrant greens and twinkling gaslights. Wrap yourself in the warmth of holiday spirit and sample a variety of fun tours and events.
CHRISTMAS CANDLELIGHT HOUSE TOURS
Cape May MAC launched its first Christmas tour in 1974 and ever since this tour has been a beloved annual tradition and a highlight of the holiday season in America’s only National Historic Landmark City. This self-guided walking tour celebrates the best of Cape May at Christmas, as you travel Cape May’s gaslit streets, hear musicians and carolers, and visit homes, inns, B&Bs, churches and hotels where you’ll step inside to see both Victorian and more modern interiors beautifully decorated for the holidays. Don’t miss Cape May’s longest running and most popular Christmas tour.
PHYSICK FAMILY CHRISTMAS HOUSE TOUR
Take this guided living history tour of the magnificent 1879 Physick Estate, Cape May’s only Victorian house museum, decorated in authentic Victorian style for Christmas. Your guide portrays a member of the Physick family in the early 1900s and shares stories and traditions. The tour also includes a visit to the Carroll Gallery to see “An Old-fashioned Christmas” exhibit, a popular annual display featuring a huge Christmas tree, model trains, and an elaborate Dept. 56 Dickens village collection.
HISTORIC DISTRICT TROLLEY TOUR
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.
EMLEN PHYSICK ESTATE TOUR
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 built by famed American architect Frank Furness and is one of the best examples of Victorian Stick Style architecture in the country. In 2022-23 the tour them “Meet the Staff” focuses on the Physick House staff. Like many upper-class families of the era, Dr. Physick hired numerous local people to work at his estate. Learn about the staff, their duties, and their importance to the Physick family and the community.
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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.