October in Cape May

I'm fairly new down here. I live in one of the group homes. I'm looking for volunteer work to add to my resume which has a work gap. What are some places that look for volunteers?

Before I got disabled, I worked at the arc and Bancroft as a DSP. I also enjoy gardening.

Any tips?

Looking for where I can find this beautiful greenery! Thanks☺️

I’m excited for my second summer working in Cape May as a student, looking to pick up a serving job or two any suggestions?

Any suggestions on where to view/find monarchs? I’ve heard the dunes and CMP are good places to look.

Cape may point borough sent out an email regarding high mosquito numbers related to the last two weeks of rain. How bad is it? Can anyone on the ground confirm the conditions?

My family will be spending Thanksgiving in Avalon and we’re trying to find somewhere in the area that does a prepared Thanksgiving meal. Any suggestions for what might be available? Thanks!

We will be in Cape May this weekend for birding. Looking for cocktail happy hour places to visit. We all love a good old fashioned or gimlet. In my research I like…

Chalfonte

Cricket Club

Harry’s ( seasonal fin at the Boo Bar)

Bee’s Knees

Any other recommendations?

Can anyone recommend cozy coffee shops in Cape May? The weather isn’t looking great so we are all about cozy. Also anyplace with a fireplace would be awesome. Not interested with anything Congress Hall

Anyone know what the loud boom was downtown today?

We've been coming to Cape May every summer for years, and we usually start looking for next summer's rental around this time. This year I'm seeing almost zero availability. July and August look nearly fully booked on most realtors' sites already.

Am I too late? Too early? Have realtors just not released their summer 2027 listings yet? I know pet-friendly rentals (which is what we need) are always harder to find, but this seems extreme for early October.

Also, what happened to prices? I'm seeing houses that look like they haven't been updated or deep cleaned in years listed at $8-10k a week. That's wild.

Anyway--any info or insight would be greatly appreciated.

TLDR: If your dog is a big part of your lifestyle (beach walks, restaurant patios, marinas), would you consider Cape May/Villas an easy place to live, or would the busy season restrictions get frustrating?

Edit: thanks for the replies! I do now understand culturally people get confrontational with off leash dogs. We won't do that. Now hoping to hear from more dog owners about what life is like there. Hope a few of you exist out there and didn't get frustrated, pack up and leave!!! :)

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My wife and I just had a baby and are considering relocating to the Villas. She has a lot of extended family further north and we’d love to raise our kid closer to them.

We live on the Oregon coast and are big nature people, fishermen, and boaters. So the Cape May area seems perfect.

The biggest concern is our dog-friendly lifestyle. We bring our Labrador almost everywhere!

Oregonians are relaxed about dogs, if they are well-behaved and you clean up after them. Go to any beach and a dozen dogs will be off leash. Most restaurant patios are dog friendly. Fishing marinas don't care. So we're trying to get a realistic sense of what day-to-day life with a dog is actually like in Cape May/Villas.

From what we've read, the rules are more restrictive during the busy season: no dogs on Washington Street, restrictions half the year on Beach Ave, Cape May Beach, Higbee Beach, Cape May Point, Sunset Beach, etc.

But it's hard to tell from the official rules what that actually feels like for someone who lives there year-round. So, please help us understand :)

\- Is it difficult to get your dog to the beach for a walk during the busy season, or are there enough alternatives that it's not a big deal?

\- Are restaurants generally dog-friendly on patios?

\- How strictly are the dog rules actually enforced?(We're not looking to ignore the rules or disrespect. Just understand what living there is actually like rather than reading a list of regulations online)

\- Are marinas dog-friendly?

\- And most importantly: if your dog is a big part of your lifestyle, would you consider Cape May/Villas an easy place to live, or would the restrictions get frustrating?

I am incredibly grateful for any local knowledge you can share. Thank you!

At a beach hotel in Cape May NJ. Any advice?

Looking for recommendations on restaurants that cook up great steaks but can also get a drink or glass of wine in Cape May NJ at the same location, not BYOB. Heading down next week for anniversary. Thanks in advance

1. I’d love to know what kind of food it is!

And why you love it?!

Street vendors? Healthy? Fine dining? Casual?

THANK YOU!!! 😊

My family and I want to visit Cape May in 2027, Mon-Fri end of August. We are 6 adults with 2 kids under 5 and I have been trying for months to book a house as close to Washington St Mall so we don't have to worry about parking but that thought is only based on things we have heard. We heard that we should park the car upon arrival and not use it again until it's time to leave. Problem is, every house is asking for Saturday to Saturday only and we can't stay that long. I checked hotels too but none have a common space we can all be together in, like a living room or dining room in a house which is why we thought house.

What are some pro tips here? Will parking in the height of the season be such a problem that we are only left to walking everywhere? Or can we expand our home search to a wider base knowing we have cars with us to access other parts of the town? Any insight at all would be helpful. Thank you in advance for any and all help you can provide!!

ETA: we are all Long Islanders where there's small villages and parking is virtually impossible in the summer so this is what I expected Cape May to be like...glad to hear it's not as bad!

A lot of you asked about our draw to be near Washington Sq Mall and honestly, it's just come up as what we pictured to be like a village here so all the restaurants, shops, and bars in one spot. All your answers are comforting knowing there's life outside the mall to be seen too!

Lastly, given our assumptions about spending a lot of time at the Mall, we tried to be close bc the heat is unpredictable that time of year and one has a heart condition, another asthma, and another double knee replacement so we were trying to do as little walking as possible as far as distance, while also thinking walking was our only option. Thanks everyone for clearing this up!

My family is hoping to visit in mid October for 4 days. We will be traveling in from out of state for some appointments for my daughter at CHOP and would like to fit some “fun” into our trip rather than just medical stuff.

Any suggestions for kid friendly activities and places? We have a 2 year old and a 6 month old. We have to be semi cautious about germs. We have the zoo on our list! We will be staying at Grand Hotel but don’t mind driving a bit further out for a fun destination.

Thank you!

Hey there, I was hoping to see if anyone knows if there's any Carco inspection sites that are in Cape May or in the surrounding area. Using the Carco inspection locator, the closest one seems to be in Millville, and I've called multiple times and haven't gotten any answers. I was hoping to see if maybe there's a secret one that's not on the locator site. Thanks!

Hello, my husband and I had plans to come in from Maryland from next Wednesday thru Saturday. We were going to stay at the Marquis de Lafayette.

Do you think the flooding will be gone and things will be open?

Stay safe and dry. Thanks in advance.