This article originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of Cape May Magazine.

The allure of Cape May County and its surroundings is undeniable. Visitors and residents are in agreement about the charms of the Victorian town, and have been practically since the resort was established.

Artists of all kinds have been attracted to the coastal town almost from the beginning. That hasn’t changed one bit today as legions of creative types, each in their own way, translate their visions of the town and adjacent environs into works of art.

The following artists have been inspired by Cape May so much that they’ve each produced many different works, and they share their views on why they keep returning.

Stan Sperlak

Stan Sperlak

When Stan Sperlak was studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts the thrust of instruction there was with oil painting. Pastels, his area of choice, weren’t part of the academic setting; you had to pick them up on your own.

“I always played with pastels since probably I was a kid,” he says. “That’s why I went full-circle and came back to them.

“I think in the grand scheme of color theory, how you would work a painting from start to finish, pastels are much more related to oil painting than they are to watercolors. With oils and pastels you pretty much work from dark to light. You establish all your dark areas and then build yourself a painting that eventually brings in the bright colors. With watercolor you work exactly the opposite. You have to work from light to dark.

“I teach art … and I think the connection I’m always able to bring to the students as to why they’re drawn to pastel, or why I’m drawn to pastel, is because you actually just hold it in your hand. And it’s very primal, there’s a dexterity to it, and there’s a sculptural quality. When you’re putting it on the paper, you feel like you’re carving. You feel like you’re building. So, for me it was that type of primal urge,” says Sperlak, laughing.

"The Moon and Venus over the Shore" by Stan Sperlak

Sperlak incorporates those primal urges by working hand-made pastels he’s bought. In French, the word pastel means nothing more than “paste” with no reference to color. So he kneads the material until it’s a consistency close to caulk. He then foregoes all the traditional techniques of painting on paper or a smooth board by creating his paintings on sand paper. Far from the type you’ll find in a hardware store, it’s a 400- or 500-grit aluminum silica board that’s archival quality. It allows the pastels to spread and adhere better,

As for subject matter, Sperlak prefers to focus on the natural world around Cape May, often with low horizons and dramatic skies. “Somebody once said to me ‘Oh, you don’t paint the buildings in Cape May, You don’t like that stuff.’ It’s not that I don’t like it, I like other things better.

“There’s only so much time to paint. Often if you paint in a city like Cape May, you wind up talking to everybody. If I can go out to the beach or to a marsh I can spend several hours just painting and not really have to have a break. I love talking too, but if you’re painting, you can’t do both.”

"Surf" by Stan Sperlak

Sperlak has a deep appreciation for the natural gifts we have locally. “When I compare South Jersey regional art and artists to people working in Long Island, Michigan, the California coast, the Texas blue bonnet fields and all the different places in the country – well, we have things here that are every bit as interesting. We just have to kind of extrapolate them back and forth.

“We don’t have the Rocky Mountains, but we have some awesome thunderheads here. We don’t have these huge valleys and things like that, but we have the ocean waves. And I think that really helps people understand that Cape May County, South Jersey and the Mid Atlantic really are treasures for visuals.”

www.stansperlak.com

Patricia Rainey

In 1995 Patricia Rainey decided she wanted to paint. So she bought a bunch of brushes and paints, sat down and started painting. She doesn’t really know why she got the urge, but she began by copying post cards. However, Rainey realized recreating other artists’ images wouldn’t get her too far, so she began doing original work.

Patricia worked with oils back then, but found that the galleries she was selling to were only interested in watercolors. So she switched over to watercolors and found it not such a big change. “The reason for that,” she says, “is that I do not wet my paper when I work in watercolors. I work more in like an oil technique, so it really doesn’t spread out and so forth.”

During those early days, Patricia did mostly renderings of Maine landscapes and seascapes. She lived in northern New Jersey at the time and visited New England during the summer, taking many photos, and then creating her paintings in the winter using the prints as guides.

She hasn’t abandoned oil painting for watercolors, though. “I enjoy both, actually, and probably equally, as well. I like the fast cleanup of the watercolors, but I like the feeling of working in oils. The whole Cape May series – of which now there are now 85 – are all in watercolors. Basically, the New England series is in oil.”

She does all her work flat on a table – a trait she picked up before discovering that artists don’t work that way. Still, she embraces the vagaries of watercolors. “Things happen with watercolors that don’t happen with oils. Sometimes things that you don’t quite intend to happen.”

While being drawn to the community of Cape May, Patricia is also enamored of the architecture, like a lot of other artists. When doing paintings of nature, Rainey takes some liberties, but when it comes to recreating structures she’s more precise. She’ll take general photos of a house, say, and then shoot close-ups of various details, to get everything just right for historical purposes. “People really want something as they know it – as it appears. I do a lot of house commissions, also, and they have to be accurate, because that’s what people want.” Although a Christmas picture she did of the Cape May lighthouse does have a wreath hanging on it that wasn’t there.

"The Abbey" by Patricia Rainey

She prefers to photograph buildings in the winter because there are no leaves blocking the view. (They can be added later.) Then her paintings are done in the studio, due to the nature of detail required.

She usually begins a painting by sketching in the building and then washes in the colors, such as the sky and grass. Then she goes back and puts in the finer details called for. Patricia also works on four or five paintings at a time, claiming she doesn’t have the attention span to stick to one piece at a time,

Her creative output is limited to the months of November through March, devoting the remainder of the year attending shows in the area. The bulk of her current work is dedicated to commissions.

Summing up her work, she says “a lot of artists have a message in their paintings, and I really don’t. My paintings are just very happy paintings. And I’ve heard that over and over from the public. They’re just places you’d like to be, rather than trying to figure out what they mean. There are no surprises.”

www.patriciaraineystudios.com

Phil Courtney

Phil Courtney

Phil Courtney finds a freedom in working with watercolors, although he has dabbled in oils. “Right now when I get a little free time I run out and paint,” he says. “It’s just a lot easier to deal with watercolors that way. With oils, it’s more of a big project. You need a big block of time to actually get into it.”

A billboard artist by trade, Courtney considers his fine art work more of a hobby or part time passion. A hobby he’s been devoted to most of his life,

He’s been doing paintings of Cape May for about eight years. His family used to vacation here, and when his work moved to the area they decided to become residents. “We just love the town. It’s a nice year-round beach town, more than a lot of other towns.”

"The Wooden Rabbit" by Phil Courtney

Courtney’s done some commissions and illustration work, but he hasn’t taken that too far, preferring to pursue subjects of his own choosing. He has done some landscapes, but his work centers on the architecture of the town. The process he employs for choosing a subject is simple. “I think for me, it’s the overall look of the place. I look at a house and think I would love to paint that, and I just do it.

“I do an initial painting and I take photographs. Sometimes I’ll take photographs at different times of the summer and get different flowers. I’ll get different aspects of the seasons and pick a season that looks the best with the house. I’ll work in the studio on it for a while, or maybe go back out. But to get the details, you really need to sit in a studio. It’s really hard to do out on location.”

For a real detailed painting it might take Courtney 30 hours to complete. “It’s all that gingerbread takes a long time to paint. Also, with watercolor you have to be so careful not to go too dark. A lot of times I paint it a little too light and then I paint the rest of the painting. And then I realize that that area’s too light, you’ve got to make it a little darker. Because if you go too dark with watercolor you can’t go back – you’re done.”

"Before the Storm" by Phil Courtney

He takes advantage of some of the looser aspects that watercolors can provide when doing landscapes. But when doing buildings, it’s more of a precise approach.

Lately, Courtney has been concentrating on landscapes, finding subject matter in the marshlands along Route 47 near the Delaware Bay and at Cape May Point. It’s become a nice change from doing buildings.

He’ll eventually return to structures, though. When he was young he contemplated following a career path as an architect. He’s also done home renovations, which has given him a keener knowledge of perspective and scale.

Courtney works on billboards from Cape May to Atlantic City, often along the boulevards leading into shore towns. A couple of times he’s looked out over the wetlands and noticed some particularly rich subject matter. So his next creation might come from those musings.

www.courtneystudios.com

Marie Natale

Courtesy marienatale.com

Marie Natale, from Egg Harbor Township, has been an artist since she was 12 when her teacher encouraged her to pursue her interest. Marie taught art in the public school system for ten years, garnering a Teacher of the Year award along the way. She now teaches privately in her home studio and at the Ocean City Arts Center. Her watercolors have won numerous awards.

She often drives down the parkway to capture Cape May. One reason, she says, is that “nowhere in South Jersey do you really find the colors of those buildings. First of all, it’s the architecture itself that is so beautiful and you don’t see that a lot. And the colors of buildings – purple buildings, pink buildings – you just don’t see that around. So that is what’s the real draw.”

Usually when Marie is doing a scene, she does her painting from life. She’ll arrive in the morning and stay all day. But she may only use part of that time in creative pursuit. “In watercolors you really need to paint light,” she says. “It’s very important that you’re able to capture the light. So, depending on where the building is, it might be morning sun, it might be afternoon sun, whatever. But I do try and get it where I have a strong difference between shadow and light.

"The Halcyon Days of Summer" by Marie Natale

“I also like getting the shadows on the porches. I like casting of tree shadows on streets and things like that, which I think also adds interest and gives a sense of dimension to the painting as well.”

She is attracted to watercolors because she feels they convey a freshness and transparency that other mediums don’t. Paintings in oil and other materials sometimes have a heaviness and opacity to them that she would rather not have in her work.

“The other exciting thing about watercolor,” she says, “is there’s no other medium that allows water and pigment and gravity to work together to capture these glowing, beautiful watercolors. Because [with] most paints you put it on the picture and it stays there. But with watercolors – because I stand with my watercolor paper straight up – all that gravity is also making the water run and flow, and that’s what creates an excitement about the direct painting technique.”

Natale paraphrases Picasso when she says, “you as an artist have to lie a little bit, stretch it a little bit, so the viewer gets to see the beauty you want them to see.

"Summertime Carriage Ride" by Marie Natale

“And that’s really kind of what I want to do. I’m not really interested in painting really emotional, deep heavy subjects. I want people to look at my paintings and say ‘Oh wow, I want to be there right now. Oh look at the light. Look at what a beautiful location that is. I want to be there.’ That’s more interesting to me than showing something emotionally gut-wrenching.

“I feel like I’m paying homage and giving respect to these buildings and these structures that have serviced people over the years, and honoring them in a way by showing them their beauty and letting people see what that is.

“That’s the other easy thing about Cape May – everywhere you turn around there’s another painting to paint. Everything is just so beautiful down there. Each building has its own unique architecture, and that’s exciting too.”

www.marienatale.com

Panorama of Bob's trains. (Click to enlarge)

It is a fantasy land with tiny worlds within worlds.

This toy train tableau of miniatures is a giant. The display covers 600 square feet, but the landscape, its population, buildings and transportation systems are diminutive, created not in inches, but millimeters.

“It’s all about the romance of the railroad,” says Bob Heimenz, the creator of this toy train extravaganza that he shares with visitors at holiday time.

It is then that he opens the door to his special world – Canal Toy Trains – above his two-story, blue-gray garage on Batts Lane, just a short hike from the Cape May Canal. Families, especially the children, are welcome to visit the trains weekends from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, noon to 4 p.m. “The joy is watching the children,” says Bob, sitting on his conductor’s stool. “One little boy comes back every Saturday. He just stands there, transfixed, moving from one village to another. It reminds me of when I was a boy.”

Bob Heimenz. (Click to enlarge)

The scene features 16 towns, villages, industrial sites, an airport and a complex train yard. Thousands of little lights sparkle over the vignettes. Tying it together is the rhythmic clickety-clack of six trains traversing mountains, byways, bridges and tunnels. Train whistles echo off the hills of a New England farm community and a Pennsylvania coal town. This intricate land of Lilliputians strikes awe and curiosity even among the most blasé.

The winter wonderland surrounds an Alpine ski lodge with boys and girls careening down the slopes. A Victorian snow village, reminiscent of Cape May, is alive with ice skaters gliding over glistening ponds, children sledding and a horse pulling a carriage. Twinkling lights decorate trees, gingerbread houses and gazebos. There’s a playground in constant motion. A gentleman lifts his hat, children swing, a man gardens with a pick and a dog lifts his leg.

Details from the village. (Click to enlarge)

It is whimsical and magical. There’s a carnival with a tiny carousel, roller coaster and Ferris wheel, all of the little mechanisms synchronized, the colorful lights inviting another look. Nearby is the 1950s village with a drive-in, The Frosty Bar, the Starlite Diner and cars with fins. In the freight yard, American Flyer cars haul Heinz Food Products, Pacific Fruit and coal aboard a Union Pacific gondola. Lionel trains from several generations transport gravel, automobiles, grain and tankers. The locomotives hiss and sputter to a halt at the red and green lights on seven interrelated tracks at the big signal junction.

This lifetime hobby was born on a Christmas morning more than half a century ago. Bob was eight years old, and under the tree he found what he ordered from Santa Claus – a Marx train. “My father always set up a train display at Christmas,” says Bob. “My wish was for my own so I could operate it myself. I ran my first train for six years, until it fell apart.” He still has some pieces of that dream train. His vision was that one day he would operate a holiday toy train display rivaling those he saw in the big department stores in his hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“I got myself a paper route,” says Bob. “By the time I was 11, I was buying my own trains. My grandfather worked for a distributor, so he got me a break with 40 percent off. We were kind of poor. That helped.”

Details from the village. (Click to enlarge)

The Pennsylvania Railroad ran through Lancaster. More than a dozen trains a day traveled from New York and Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Chicago and points west and back east. For most children in the 1940s and ‘50s, the sound of a train set off daydreams about adventure and faraway places with strange sounding names. A trip on a train opened vistas for mostly rural, small-town Americans that defied the imagination. One could sit in relative comfort and watch the world go by, experiencing different landscapes and cultures. Viewing life by train was a lot more personal, glamorous and gritty than by plane, hop-scotching clouds at 35,000 feet.

“My first train ride was when I was about five,” says Bob. “Every summer Lancaster featured the Grocers’ Special. It was sponsored by grocery store owners and was the big excitement of the season. Families – there must have been 200 people – climbed aboard the Special. It was powered by steam engine and we were off to Atlantic City for a day at the beach. We packed our lunches in boxes and ate on the beach or boardwalk. Shoobies, we were. It’s the only time we ever got to the beach.”

The Pennsylvania Railroad remains Bob’s favorite. He has collected many of the line’s passenger cars, engines and cabooses with their trademark burgundy color. They clatter around the tracks stopping at the magical villages along the way.

Stonington Bay Mill (Click to enlarge)

The Pennsy pulls up to a Bavarian village and eases to a stop. This village is populated with authentic stucco-and-beam houses and shops. “I made these little buildings from kits before I could drive,” says Bob. The structures are so intricate, the tiny beams each placed with a tweezers and glued in the stucco. It is unfathomable that a teen would have the patience and hand-to-eye skills to build the entire old European setting with the smallest of tools.

“My father was a watchmaker,” says Bob. “He worked for Hamilton watches and I used his precise watchmaker implements for my projects.”

One train led to another and Bob built his own display during his teen years. His layout was becoming so complex that he stumped himself and needed additional electrical knowledge to meet the challenges of his trains.

He decided to go to electrical school. His education in circuitry enabled him to add more tracks, trains, lights and switching gear. And the bonus was that he became a professional electrician. He worked for Pennsylvania Power and Light for several years, eventually supervising 500 men building sub-stations. He never gave up playing with toy trains.

A tiny carnival (Click to enlarge)

His electrical career led him to Niagara Falls, New York, and one fierce winter night, tinkering with his trains, he decided that 30-inch snowfalls and blizzard winds were not for him. He researched and found that Cape May County was the fastest growing area in the United States. He was ready to go into business for himself and he figured Cape May was the perfect place: plenty of potential business and mild winters. Thus was born R&J Electric. That was 30 years ago.

Bob and his wife Carol outgrew their home in Fishing Creek. She needed more room for her expanding art studio and he was still on a mission to outdo the department store toy train displays that infatuated him when he was a boy in Lancaster.

Train crossing the bridge (Click to enlarge)

They fell in love with a ramshackle property in a country setting on Batts Lane in Lower Township. The 1847 farmhouse was falling down. Bob and Carol combined their artistic and building talents creating an environment for their his-and-her passions: painting, gardening, toy trains and nurturing wildlife.

Carol’s studio is on the first floor of the garage where each week several artists from the St. Barnabas art group gather to paint together, preparing for their annual summer show.

Holidays in the tiny village (Click to enlarge)

On slow winter days Bob and Carol work together making little snow trees from dried weeds and finding new ways to recycle materials into miniature works of art for the train display. They melt down lead from old pipes Bob collects. They pour the liquid lead into tiny molds creating miniature people and animals. Carol paints them in rich soft colors to populate the villages.

Bob, at 66, is slowing down his R&J Electric business. But his hobby speeds on track.

It’s only August, but already he is planning for the 2008 holiday display. He experiences the same problems in miniature that a real railroad faces. Locomotives break down, wheels wear out, tracks and electrical systems demand maintenance. Bob crawls under the display table and examines the wiring and transformers. “We’ll be adding more lights this year,” he says. “Our bill goes up about $150 a month at Christmas time.”

The boy with the dream train, now a grandfather, throws the switch, sits on his conductor’s stool, silently transfixed, as the Pennsy chugs out of the station, rolls across the big bridge alongside the 1950s farm and climbs the mountain to a holiday at the Alpine ski lodge, with happy whistles along the way.

Charlotte Daily

She is one of Cape May’s best known celebrities, but few could tell you her real name. She is called The Parade Lady, famous for staging a colorful holiday tradition every December for the past 44 years. Her name is Charlotte Warner Daily. She is part rogue, part saint – sweet and tough. She is a showboat of a person who wishes life would have put her on stage, singing and dancing in the bright lights of Broadway. Instead she lives on Broadway, in West Cape May, and lights up her street every year with her big heart and uncanny ability to produce one of the best old-fashioned hometown parades in America. Her efforts are all volunteer and have been since 1965. She is a retired West Cape May city clerk and dreams of having the time one day to pick up her paint brush again and enjoy making some art with her grandchildren. That’s doubtful anytime soon, because her obsession is still the magic of the West Cape May Christmas Parade.

Karen: When you staged the first parade, did you envision it would become such a major tradition?

Parade Lady: No, I thought it would be a one-time happening.

Karen: Why did you organize your first parade, in 1965?

Parade Lady: The annual City of Cape May parade was cancelled because of bad weather. The rain poured in sheets. I never saw it rain so hard, and then pea-soup fog rolled in. Santa Claus was supposed to come to town on a train – The Lady Bird Special that had been in President Johnson’s inaugural parade. Well, they never rescheduled the Cape May parade. The kids were so disappointed. That made me really mad. Now don’t make me mad!

Charlotte at age 15, 1944, with her beloved saxophone, which she played in the Cape May High School Band.

Karen: So you took matters in your own hands?

Parade Lady: I did. Understand that my kids had worked so hard on their 4-H float and they had won a $100 prize for the best in a Sea Isle City parade. I was so proud of their work, I wanted their hometown to see their float. I told everybody everywhere in the county to come to our parade, but then it was cancelled. I couldn’t let down the children. I was their 4-H leader. Our club was The Snappers, specializing in sewing. I said to my husband, “Let’s have a West Cape May Christmas Parade.” So we go over to Mayor Ed Smith’s house, and his wife said – “Sure, come on in.” That’s the way it was then. Real small town. The mayor was sitting there, putting on his shoes and socks. I told him we needed to start a parade of our own. He said okay, as long as it doesn’t cost the Borough of West Cape May one cent.

Karen: What was the theme of the float that made you so proud?

Parade Lady: Our theme was “May the Angels Watch Over Them While They Protect Us.” There were three angels dressed in white, standing on risers, watching over five soldiers in the battlefield. Vietnam was then. It was 1965. They were sending more troops into the war.

Karen: Did the parade cost you money?

Parade Lady: I took $45 out of the cookie jar and bought a can of coffee and a box of chocolate and some candies. We served the band kids hot chocolate and the firemen coffee and handed out wrapped penny candies. We had some small contributions. Everyone had a wonderful time. Would you believe our generator died on Washington Street, and our float was unable to finish the parade? Right away people started calling me The Parade Lady, and wanted to know if we were going to have a parade down Broadway again next year.

Karen: Have you always lived on Broadway here in West Cape May?

Charlotte dressed as a Lily Sprite for a Cape May children's parade in 1937.

Parade Lady: For many years I have. My husband H. Gene Daily and I got married on Coast Guard Day August 4, 1950. We met at the Coast Guard canteen where I volunteered. I sold my boat and saxophone to help buy our first house. We bought this house in 1952 for $5,000. I loved the picket fence, the pathway, and how it sits way back from Broadway, in the garden. My husband died Saint Patrick’s Day, 1974. I have lived in Cape May for all my 75 years. I am a 4^th generation native.

Karen: Where did you grow up? Did that shape who you are?

Parade Lady: By Schellenger’s Landing by the Thoroughfare Bridge that doesn’t open anymore. My house was at 1293 Lafayette Street. (A condominium is located there now, at Lafayette and Texas Avenue.) My father was Ray Warner, the manager of the food market on Washington Street, before it was a mall. I lived next door to my grandmother Rebecca Mills. She ran Becky Mill’s candy and ice cream store. She sold penny candies and Abbott’s ice cream. I was an only child, a spoiled brat. I spent most of my time with her, and my uncle, who ran a boat repair business right next to the guy who opened the bridge. I had my own little boat. Catty-cornered from my house was Matty’s Bar. I would sit in my window and listen to the musicians at the bar. I wanted to go on over and join in. I always loved being around people, wanted to see people happy.

Charlotte in clown costume, dancing with Greater Kensington String Band captain Scott Moyer in 2002.

Karen: Was it in your childhood environment that set the stage for becoming a parade producer?

Parade Lady: I always wanted to be in show business. But I love Cape May so much I never wanted to leave town. I’ve been in parades all my life. When I was a child, my mother made me costumes for the parades. When I was seven, she dressed me as The Lily Sprite in my own personal float. I love music. I played the saxophone all through school and marched in many parades. I sang in the Methodist Church choir with adults when I was a child. I took dance lessons with Jerry Love. To this day, I still do the Lily Sprite dance. Life makes me happy. When it rains and there are puddles in the garden, I just run out there and sing and dance (to) “Just Singing in the Rain…” Then I go into a comedy routine, and hunker down like a duck, “Quack, quack, quack.” People think I am crazy. I am just happy.

Karen: What do you love about Cape May?

Parade Lady: I like everything about it. Mostly I love it because it’s a small town. I liked it better the way it was when I knew everyone, when outside West Cape May was country with cows, dairies, horses. The 4-H kids used to march their horses and goats in the parade. Now I am lucky if I see two people I know.The development is taking it away…taking it all away. It was really wonderful when I was a kid. I knew every shop owner and I greeted every person I met on the street. It felt so secure, just heaven on earth. I liked it the way it was. I cannot say I like it the way it is coming to be. Part of that is my fault. I’m the one who wanted everyone to come see my wonderful town, and drew hundreds, thousands to my Christmas parades. Maybe it was all a mistake.

Third Annual West Cape May Christmas Parade, 1967. Dot Burton, co-chair, left; the Parade Lady, Charlotte Daily, center.

Karen: At 79 years of age now, do you ever think about calling it quits?

Parade Lady: I am going to do this until the parade celebrates its 50^th anniversary. That sounds like a good round number to me. I will be 85. The parade is my stress test for the year. I run here and hop there, up and down the parade route. I dance with the Mummers’ captain, and get out in front of the fire truck that drives too fast. If I don’t pass out or drop dead, I am good for another year.

Karen: What motivates you to get up the energy for the parade every year?

Parade Lady: It’s the look on the children’s faces. I go down the route and look into hundreds of faces. It is a very, very happy time. I have five children of my own, three girls and two boys, all grown now. For them, especially my daughter Jeanette and all the big kids her age, we invite Sally Starr, the TV personality of the 50s and 60s to ride in her cowgirl outfit. I have 29 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren and most of them are in the parade every year. When my Becky wanted to be in the parade at age 3, I had no float for her. I took an old lawn mower, made a chimney from a box, and put on a sign: “Looking for Santa Claus.” It was a hit.

Karen: Do you decorate for the holidays, cook a family meal?

Charlotte and Dot Burton

Parade Lady: I don’t cook a big meal anymore. I used to, the turkey and all the trimmings like my mother did. We cut a cedar tree out in any field, and Mother and Dad installed a train that went all around the tree, all around the room. Sometimes I don’t decorate until the day after Christmas. The parade work begins Labor Day and doesn’t end until New Year’s Day. On New Year’s, no one bothers me. No one. I have the day to myself and the Mummers Parade on TV. I love the Mummers. If I didn’t do the parade, I would be the Mummers P.R. lady and make them famous all over the world.

Karen: Producing a parade involves a lot of people, a lot of politics – have you had problems?

Parade Lady: You know I love the Mummers. The first time I invited a band, I paid $500. They were awful. There were only about 15. They were not dressed in costume. They played the same song, “Golden Slippers”, the whole route. They got fired. I didn’t pay them. I learned a lesson, and the Mummers have been wonderful ever since in full dress, and full band. One year I had to bail out the parade with $800 of my own money. There was the year there was a dispute with the fire companies because the parade was the same night as their benefit bingo game. The fire companies boycotted. It was headlines in all the papers. It was a mess. But the show must go on. So we went ahead with the parade, and a few fire companies participated anyway.

Karen: What was your favorite parade?

Charlotte and Dot Burton on their own float at the 40th Annual West Cape May Christmas Parade in 2005.

Parade Lady: [2005] Our 40^th anniversary. About 60 units participated. We had about 20 fire companies, and most of the trucks decorated. I’m a real stickler about that. I want the trucks all decked out. We had a dozen marching bands and four Mummers bands and about 20 floats. Dot Burton and I had our own 40^th anniversary float. Dot said that was her last parade. She is 81 now. She was a school crossing guard, and always did the line up at the starting gate. The weather last year was good, cold but Christmasy, and the audience was very appreciative. The parade cost about $14,000. I am $2,000 in the hole starting this year, but we will make it up with my letter-writing campaign and fund raisers. I want to say that neither the city governments of Cape May or West Cape May contribute money. Services yes, but money no.

Karen: How do you want to be remembered?

Parade Lady: As the Parade Lady. I want that on my tombstone: The Parade Lady, and an American flag. I just love my country. It’s my little place, my parade, and I do the best I can with my little place, West Cape May. I can’t do big things; big things upset me when people start talking big wars and big money; I don’t know where to put the decimal point. I think if everyone would do their best in their own small place, their community, the whole wide world would be a better place rather than trying to do something to another place that you really can’t do anything about.

Help save the West Cape May Christmas Parade by sending your donations to 732 Broadway, West Cape May, NJ 08204.

Excerpt from “Cape May’s Elusive Baker,” Cape May Magazine, June 2006. Photographs of Michel Gras by Erin Kirk. Cake photographs appear courtesy of Michel Gras. Text by Susan Tischler.

It isn’t easy to catch a baker while he’s baking, especially one who specializes in wedding cakes. They are elusive, a bit reclusive and extremely focused, not to mention prone to working odd hours. Michel Gras of La Patisserie begins his day at 3 sometimes 4 – a.m. that is.

Often when he needs to try out a cake design he goes back to the bakery after dinner, around 7:30 p.m., and doesn’t return home until nearly midnight.

It is 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Church bells are ringing, breaking the silence of a warm, sunny morning. The door to the mysterious baking room, located in the basement of the circa 1872 building, is not readily apparent. It is down an alleyway between two buildings.  Then, the wind shifts and a familiar scent of fresh bread baking drifts down the alley.

The tempting smell can be traced to a door on the side of the building. If one opens the door just an inch to see if this is the one, all the smells of baking drift up the steps the way a fine perfume fills a room, teasing but never overwhelming. Walking down the steep steps, the blues music of Eric Clapton is the only sound.

It is a very large room and the baker is still nowhere to be found.

Then, a sound and there he is, pulling a tray of mini- baguettes from the large convection oven.

Sunday morning is not a wedding cake day, which means there are loaves of bread everywhere. Baguettes are stacked on cornmeal-covered trays waiting to be sent on the dumb waiter upstairs to A Ca Mia’s Bakery or delivered to area restaurants.

Bread loaves for slicing are cooling on racks. Rolled dough for dinner rolls is on a flour-covered baking sheet waiting to go into the oven. Lamb-shaped cakes with coconut coats sit eyeless, waiting for the finishing touches before they are sent on their way. In the meantime, a freshly baked cake is sitting on Michel’s work table, which dominates the center of the room.

“Taste this cream,” he says, rushing into the back work room where the mixer is. It is a sweet, buttery tasting cream – so light, that it is gone, melted away, before it can be scrutinized any further. This cream will be the primary ingredient for a strawberry shortcake Michel is preparing for a regular customer. The cake on the work table is the shortcake in question. Soon he will transform it into a lovely, dinner dessert.

Mrs. P. (the customer) is typical of Michel’s customers.

She called a couple of days ago and said she wanted a strawberry shortcake. Those were her only instructions because, as Michel says in his distinctive French accent, “She knows the cake will taste good but she allows me the creativity to make it beautiful as well.”

And that’s how he approaches a wedding cake. “I cannot be a copycat,” he says, balking at the thought. “I will try to do what the couple or the bride wants but I have to change things to make it my own. I make different cakes. I use a little more creativity. People generally like that, and that is good because it is what I like to do.”

When it comes to creating a wedding cake design, he says, “I try to do something I want to do and that people will like. Those cakes are an original, crafted just for them. Sometimes people don’t want to spend the money for that, but those who do recognize the work behind it.”

Much of the work lies in the design, usually a minimum of 12 hours for an original concept. He doesn’t plan the way an architect plans. He gets a general concept of what the couple wants and tries to go from there. But first and foremost, he decides, along with the prospective couple, on the structure of the wedding cake. Will it be round or square or square with a round top? Will all the tiers be centered or one or two set back?

Then, there is the taste and texture of the cake and of the icing as well. “I want to make a good cake, not just a cake which looks good,” he says.

Naturally, a custom cake is more expensive. For those who do not want to spend as much money or who simply cannot afford it, Michel often duplicates a design he has already created. “It is like a painting, you know. The original costs more. The copy? A little less so.” The second cake can usually be made quicker and a little easier.

So, one wonders, how does a wedding cake maker get to be a wedding cake maker? It started back in Reims, France where Michel’s father ran a restaurant and got him an apprenticeship with the local baker who sold him his pastries. He worked there for three years of what he calls “hard labor.”

Michel came to Cape May in 1984. There has been a bakery at this location since its inception in 1872, so, although Michel brought a rich tradition of good food with him, he also inherited a traditional operating bakery.

Currently, the nuptial season in Cape May runs from April through November. Michel now averages 100 wedding cakes a year. Two years ago in April he made 12 wedding cakes in one month.

When all is said done, however, Michel’s greatest concern is with the taste. A pretty cake which is inedible is not a success. Locals love his custom-decorated birthday cakes – think of a moist chocolate cake thick with creamy, white icing, topped with an icing bouquet of purple irises. So, no one need wait for a wedding to appreciate his craft.

“Food is the foundation of the family,” says Michel. “When I go home to France, we never leave the kitchen table except to clean it and make way for the next meal or to take a little walk. Food brings everyone together.”

And what better way for the family to come together than with a wedding which features a wedding cake by Michel Gras?

Thinking about one of Michel’s creations for your Cape May Wedding? For more information and photographs, visit www.lapatisseriecapemay.com.

Laura and Jim Zeitler- owners of The Columbia House on Ocean Street

CapeMay.com: How long have you been married?

Laura: Since May, 1989

CapeMay.com: Where did you meet?

Laura: Ocean City, Md. Jimmy was a scoper. You know, one of those guys who takes pics of chicks in bikinis. I decided to go down there for the summer because it was my last summer in college. We met on the beach. We called it our summer of love.

CapeMay.com: Why did you become guest house keepers?

Laura: Because we love the beach and we always hoped to get back.

CapeMay.com: What is the one thing you love most about your mate?

Laura: He is truly a one of a kind individual, in my opinion there are only a handful of men on this planet that are like him. He’s a wonderful father and a wonderful husband. They broke the mold with him.

Jimmy: You know when we were younger and we’d go to weddings we’d laugh at people who put “Today I married my best friend” into their vows. But as we get older, we realize we really are each other’s best friend. Laura’s beautiful, funny and smart. The longer we’re together the more special she becomes. There’s still a fire that burns.”

CapeMay.com: What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Laura: Nothing special. Work. We’re open that weekend. Probably have a quiet dinner. We have our little rituals that we do daily that show our love for each other.

Chip and Barbara Masemore – owners of the John F. Craig House

CapeMay.com: How long have you been married?

Barbara: Six years

CapeMay.com: Where did you meet?

Barbara: We both lived in Gettysburg, Pa. We met in 1987 but we didn’t marry until ’98. We decided to get married at a drive thru in Las Vegas called the Little White Chapel Tunnel of Vows. We never got out of the car. Chip loves old cars and we were married in a 1972 Cadillac Convertible. He gave me replica of it (complete with Elvis in the car) for our first wedding anniversary.

CapeMay.com: Why did you become innkeepers?

Barbara: We were trying to figure out how to live in Cape May. Chip is a contractor and can work anywhere but I’m an interior designer and there’s really no work like that for me here. We knew this was the place we wanted to be. There is a quiet peacefulness here.

CapeMay.com: What is the one thing you love most about your mate?

Barbara: He centers me. Chip & I have lived together and worked together for 14 years and when we work together, especially in the morning, it’s like a dance. I sometimes get a little hyper and he centers me even when we disagree. Of course, we can’t bicker when we’re preparing breakfast because we have guests. So, when we disagree, we end each sentence with Darling or Sweetheart. And the more we disagree, the ooeyier and gooeyier we sound.”

Chip: She’s so dedicated to doing the right thing and doing her best by her family and our business. No matter how she feels, she could be on her deathbed and if the doorbell rang, she’d answer it.

CapeMay.com: What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Barbara: Probably work. We hope the inn is full. Later we’ll go to dinner somewhere.

John and Lisa Matusiak – owners of the Bacchus Inn and The Brass Bed Inn

CapeMay.com: How long have you been married?

Lisa: Two years.

CapeMay.com: Where did you meet?

Lisa: In Cape May – at a wedding. The reception was at Carney’s. We met at the bar. I was a friend of the bride’s and John was a friend of the groom’s. We were married in Cape May at the Sunset Pavilion and had our reception at the Hotel Alcott.

CapeMay.com: Why did you become innkeepers?

Lisa: Well, we bought the inn in 2001 before we got married. We were looking for an investment property in Cape May and The Bacchus Inn was a good deal. Last summer we bought our second property, The Brass Bed.

CapeMay.com: What is the one thing you love most about your mate?

Lisa: His energy. His passion about things. He gets very excited about something and puts all his energy into it.

John: We complement each other. My wife’s the more structured, meticulous one. I’m more flighty, yet more motivated. We balance each other out.

CapeMay.com: What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Lisa: Working at the inn.

Doug and Anna Maria McMain – new owners of The Queen Victoria Bed & Breakfast and The Queen’s Hotel

CapeMay.com: How long have you been married?

Anna Maria: Seventeen years.

CapeMay.com: Where did you meet?

Anna Maria: We were both working in Michigan. Doug’s from Reno, Nevada. I’m from the Cherry Hill area. We moved back to New Jersey 16 years ago. We moved to Cape May 7 months ago to become innkeepers.

CapeMay.com: Why did you become innkeepers?

Anna Maria: We always wanted to be innkeepers. We’ve been thinking seriously about it for the last 8 years. When the opportunity to buy the Queen Victoria came up, we decided not to wait for retirement.

CapeMay.com: What is the one thing you love most about your mate?

Anna Maria: I like the fact that we can work together as professionals and still be husband and wife.

Doug: She’s a lot of fun.

CapeMay.com: What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Anna Maria: We got engaged Valentine’s Day so that has always been a special day for us. The inn will be open and I’m sure booked but we’ll sneak away for a romantic dinner in town to celebrate.

Bob and Linda Steenrod, owners of the Billmae Cottage Guest Suites and The Billmae Cottage,Too

CapeMay.com: How long have you been married?

Bob: Nineteen years.

CapeMay.com: Where did you meet?

Bob: At a libation location.

CapeMay.com: Why did you become guest house keepers?

Bob: We loved the idea of giving people and dogs a place to go, and we love Cape May. Linda’s been coming here since she was three years-old and I love the ocean. We bought our first guest suite in 2001.

CapeMay.com: What is the one thing you love most about your mate?

Bob: I love her drive and her love of people and animals.

Linda: I love his energy and enthusiasm and support.

CapeMay.com: What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Bob: We’ll just be returning from a romantic vacation in St. Martin’s and when we get to Cape May I’ll buy her a card and take her out to a romantic dinner.

Monique Greenwood and Glenn Pogue, owners of Akwaaba by the Sea, West Cape May

CapeMay.com: How long have you been married?

Monique: 15 years.

CapeMay.com: Where did you meet?

Monique: At a nightclub in New York City.

CapeMay.com: Why did you become innkeepers?

Monique: Our first B&B experience was in West Cape May at the Buttonwood Manor B&B. We fell in love with the idea and made it an annual Christmas tradition to come to Cape May. We lived in Brooklyn two blocks away from our dream house. (When the house went on the market) We figured if we could turn it into a B&B, we could afford to live in the house. That was 10 years ago. Before we became innkeepers I came down and took the INN Deep Workshop (offered by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts). The people there took me under their wing and we able to launch our first B&B.

CapeMay.com: A How did Akwaaba by the Sea come about?

Monique: I came back to Cape May to celebrate by 40th birthday. I checked myself into a B&B there and I was the only person invited. Actually, I did cancel a big party we were planning. I just felt that I needed to change my life and recreate it. I was the editor in chief of a major magazine (Essence). I had an 8-year-old daughter. I was writing a book (Having What Matters). I was an innkeeper. I owned a restaurant (Akwaaba Café in Brooklyn). Before leaving Cape May I went to a realtor and told him I wanted to buy a summer cottage but when I filled out their form and they asked what my occupation was I put innkeeper, not editor. When Tim McBride (the realtor) saw innkeeper, he said why not buy an inn and run it until you’re ready to retire – then you’ll have your cottage by the sea. So, four years ago we bought the former Annabelle Leigh B&B on Broadway.

CapeMay.com: But you now have four B&Bs, that doesn’t exactly sound as though you’ve slowed down.

Monique: We bought Akwaaba DC a year ago October and Akwaaba by the Bayou Thanksgiving. When we retire, we want to spend a different season in a different location, so we bought a B&B in four different states. We plan to retire when our daughter Glynn graduates from high school, five years from now.

CapeMay.com: What is the one thing you love most about your mate?

Monique: Glenn’s sense of whimsy. I’m really planned oriented, focused, sometimes, I just get anal. He’s more of a whimsical guy and it’s a nice balance.

Glenn: Monique is a dreamer and a doer. Her ability to make a plan and meticulously execute it is extremely sexy. I love watching her make her magic.

CapeMay.com: What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Monique: Working.

Think Victorian, think Charles Dickens and enjoying Wassail at the Physick Estate. Where else can you experience all that? Cape May is just as special to those of us who live here and what better way to share with you the experience of Christmas in Cape May than to ask those who live here what it means to them.

The first person we thought of is Cape May Mayor Jerome Inderwies, who probably performs more weddings in town than any two ministers put together. For Mayor Inderwies a Cape May Christmas has an added spiritual quality:

”The warmth of the town during Christmas has always been a highlight for me. The true meaning of Christmas is always present in our churches around town. I enjoy bringing my family and friends to see the beautifully lighted B&B’s, private homes, the Mall, the Bandstand.”

Michel Gras

Michel Gras owner of La Patisserie Bakery makes the wedding cakes for so many couples who choose Cape May for their wedding site. He said he often recommends that the couples come back to Cape May at Christmas to enjoy a more relaxing stay.

“Summer is about the beach. Christmas is about the town. Actually, I think it is the best way to see Cape May the first time. It is how Cape May should be all year round. The lights, the carriages… It’s not over done. Also for me, I have more time to look at it. It is not so fast going. It is a time to see our friends. I have more time to talk to other business people. I remember when we had the retail store, so many people came in for coffee on hospitality night and they were happy to be here… It’s very nice. It’s like a storybook.”

Jack Wright

Scottish native Jack Wright is the editor and publisher of Exit Zero. This year he is looking forward to all the things Cape May has to offer at Christmas.

“It’s only my second Christmas in Cape May. Last year I was in Scotland for a month (and was sick the entire time). The year before, I sat in on my own in a basement apartment on Atlantic Terrace, watching the Godfather 1, II and III. I’m not sure why, but it wasn’t so memorable. Christmas in Cape May means, to me:

Standing freezing cold at the Christmas Parade, dreaming of hot chocolate and then some drinks by the roaring fire in The Brown Room.

Shopping for friends (and then keeping the things for myself) at some of my favorite places – Good Scents, Environs, the MAC Museum Shop, Simply Unique, Wanderlust, Madame’s Port, the Whale’s Tale, and Kaleidoscope come to mind.
Walking along Jackson Street, sniffing the aroma of fireplaces, taking in the beautiful buildings and the lovely lights, and having a romantic, candlelit dinner at The Ebbitt Room.

Taking the MAC Christmas tours and reliving the Dickensian Christmas experience – then going home and watching A Christmas Carol (the one with George C. Scott).
Strolling the mall and popping inside Carli’s Country Connection, the best-smelling shop in the universe.

Watching It’s A Wonderful Life, sipping a glass of sherry (it should only be drunk at Christmas), cuddling up to my puppies April and Friday, who are wearing Christmas hats, and bawling my eyes out (I know that has nothing to do with Cape May, but no Christmas could possibly be complete without it).”

Jenn Cupp, manager of Pearl’s boutique, on the Washington Street Mall thinks Cape May is the kind of town where people can come home again, especially at Christmas.

“At Christmas time it seems everyone comes back. It’s neat to see people you haven’t seen for a long time. And it’s a small town so you never know who‘s going to show up.. You can not see someone for five years and when they come back it’s as though they were never away. It’s a good time to see old faces. My favorite, favorite thing is the little white lights on the mall and first snow fall. It’s just magical.”

John Karapanagiotis

John Karapanagiotis, owner of George’s Place, on Beach Avenue is looking forward to not cooking on Christmas, at least not for those of us who regularly come to his restaurant. Of course, we could always come over to your house. Just kidding John.

“Christmas in Cape May means a day off. It means hot chocolate and marshmallows, family, friends & Charlie Brown Christmas specials. To watch the glow from children’s faces reminds me of what childhood is all about. I like to walk up and down Washington Street Mall admiring the lights (classy) and Christmas caroling around the town(not me personally). It’s a time of year when there isn’t a wait for chipped beef, and I actually get a chance to talk to my guests in the restaurant. Cape May Police Department is easier in the holiday season. All around Christmas brings out the best in everyone. A Christmas stroll along the boardwalk sounds good. Me and Fay(my wife) will have a glass of Riesling at the Pelican Club. I’ll take Michael (my son,2 1/2 years old,) to WaWa for his chocolate glazed doughnut. OK, one for me to. I hope he remembers Christmas in Cape May. It’s ok if he doesn’t. I have it on tape. I love my family. I love my guests in the store. I love Cape May. Merry Christmas! A quick thank you to all of the residents who have put up Christmas lights. They look fantastic! ”

Norris Clark

Long time resident Norris Clark is the eldest of The Rev. Carl McIntire’s 13 grandchildren. Rev. McIntire at one time owned three of Cape May’s most historic buildings: The Windsor Hotel, The Christian Admiral, and Congress Hall (which is still in the family). Norris had these thoughts about the holidays.

“My Cape May Christmas memory begins with the mulled Swedish wine, called Glogg, that is sometimes served at the Swede Things in America shop, followed by a journey along the Washington mall to find some truly unique Christmas cards and tree ornaments. Finally, I take a stroll up Jackson street past the Virginia Hotel to see the holiday decorations.”

Jim and Laura Zeitler

Laura Zeitler and her husband Jim bought Columbia House last year. They moved to Cape May with their two children this summer so this will be their first Christmas in Cape May. When we called, she was busy hanging Christmas decorations on the porch. We received this thoughtful reply the next day.

”When you first asked me to reflect on what the holidays mean to me, I didn’t have an answer. I actually went blank, as if it were the million dollar question. Then I realized how sad that actually was…what do the holidays mean to me? And I drove in my car that day I started to reflect on all the things that took place in my life over the last few years and realize that the holiday season is actually like a changing “season” within itself in one’s life. As corny as this sounds, as a child it was season about waiting for gifts. As a mother, it became a season I just needed to “get through” in order to get back to my hectic everyday life. That’s when I realized that this year, after experiencing so many major changes in my life and halting the roller coaster it seems like our family has been riding for several years, this holiday season (our family’s first in Cape May) is finally turning out to be the season it should be…one about spending lots of quality time with my family and being thankful for all that we have been blessed with in our lives. I hope it’s a “season” that I can stay forever…just like a beautiful summer in Cape May!!

Thanks for asking me this question. It made me realize how special this Christmas will be for my family. We’re really looking forward to the holidays this year.”

Bob and Linda Steenrod

Billmae Cottage owner and newly elected Chamber of Commerce director Linda Steenrod, didn’t even hesitate to answer.

“To me,” she said, Christmas in Cape May “means organizing our Giving Tree. It means I can work with the Cape May Elementary School kindergarten children in collecting money and gifts for the Cape May County Animal Shelter and for Butch’s Fund.”

Butch’s Fund was started shortly after Butch, a Rottweiler was found nearly dead on Cape May’s Poverty Beach in July 1991. Butch needed extensive surgery to repair his broken jaw, legs and ribs. Funds were raised and Butch was adopted by a loving couple in North Cape May who had two other Rottweilers. Last year Butch development cancer and died but his legacy lives on. “Butch’s Law,” was passed by the NJ State Senate making New Jersey one of 40 states with legislation making intentional animal cruelty a felony. Animal abusers in New Jersey are subject to prison terms of up to 18 months and fines of $10,000. If the offenders are juveniles, they must get counseling.

Butch’s Fund continues to help other abused animals in need of surgery or medical care. In addition to monetary contributions, Steenrod said the fund also collects old blankets and quilts for the dogs and cats to lie on in the shelter and bleach is always needed to clean the facility. Treats and food are welcome as well. Volunteers are busy grooming and bathing dogs preparing them for adoption for the holiday season.

Every Christmas she and her husband Bob put their Giving Tree on the porch to make sure all the doggies and cats have a Merry Christmas and that’s what Christmas in Cape May means to the Steenrods.

Barbara Masemore and her husband Chip, owners of the John F. Craig Bed and Breakfast on Columbia Avenue were busy transforming the outside of their Victorian house into a Christmas wonder when CapeMay.com caught up with them – well – we caught up with Barbara. Chip was on the roof and conversation with him might have been a wee bit hazardous to his health.

”Christmas is a magical time in Cape May. It’ a fantasyland in which the innkeeper sets the stage,” said Barbara as she tweaked and fussed with the Christmas wreaths about to be hung. “In our lovely town, that’s what people come for. The wonderful sounds of the horses clop, clopping down the street and the ocean, the smells of cookies baking in the oven. A full cookie jar” sitting out poised for unexpected and invited guests.

Christmas in Cape May, she said looking down Columbia House, which even on a grey and cloudy day looks like the perfect definition of pristine elegance, is “like any other time when you have affirmations – We behave better when we’re dressed up. We’re happier when we’re laughing. So that’s where the magic is. It is magic because that’s what we believe it to be. Christmas in Cape May is the way you’d want to remember” a Christmas.”

Like a director, checking the stage, she looked up at her husband stringing lights across the second floor windows. She nodded her head in confidence, “By Thursday it will be ready, transformed.”

Even after a decade of innkeeping, Joe and JoAnne Tornabe’s still look forward to Christmas in Cape May. Owners of Woodleigh House on Washington Street, the Tornabes moved from a highly commercialized area to small town and found the change refreshing.

“Christmas in Cape May captures the child in all of us. Moving here 10 years ago, we were delighted by the fantasy of it all. Coming from the King of Prussia area (home of The Mall at King of Prussia) where Christmas is highly commercialized, we found Cape May to be a step back in time.

We love how the town comes out for the tree lighting in the square, the arrival of Santa and the reading from “The Night Before Christmas.” Decorated fire trucks from all over fill the streets for the annual Christmas Parade (Dec. 4^th this year at 5pm). High School Bands and floats that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas put all of us in a festive mood.

We especially like to walk the mall when all the shops are bustling, the tree lights are twinkling and everyone seems to be in a jolly mood.

“Hi, how are you?” “Merry Christmas” and carolers singing are some of the sights and sounds on Hospitality Nights (this year Dec. 9^th & 10^th from 7-9pm) when the shopkeepers offer refreshments and everyone gets in a holiday mood.

Last but not least, the clip clop of the horses pulling the decorated carriages with riders bundled up in blankets. Sleigh bells ringing out into the night and if you’re lucky – a flurry or two – will decorate the scene.

Cape May is special year round but at Christmas, it is that little village under the tree. Except, you’re in it!”

Patrick Logue is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Congress Hall and The Virginia Hotel and offers this poetic perspective.

December is so often associated with darkness, but I don’t see it that way. The majesty of the natural world is so much more apparent during the holiday season, since there are no crowds to contend with. The clear, brisk days end with spectacular winter sunsets that are unmatched by any place I have traveled in the world. There are colors in the sky you just don’t see at any other time of the year. The beach and ocean take on these colors and create a magical picture that’s unique to this time of year.

Walking around Cape May, you can hear the crash of the waves on the beach from almost any location, simply because the town is so quiet. And at night you can walk under starry skies, smell the air scented with the smell of fireplaces, and look in the glowing windows of the occasional guest house, hotel or restaurant that’s stirring with other people who enjoy the peaceful beauty the beach brings at the holidays.

CWO Bill Carson is the Public Affairs Officer for the Cape May Coast Guard Training Center.

As I approach my 28^th Christmas in Cape May I reminisce back to the days I led the Coast Guard Training Center Band in the annual Christmas Parade, kicking off the season. It seems thousands would turn out no matter what the weather, both young and old with enthusiasm, filled with the holiday spirit.

My family and I stroll through town admiring the Beautiful Victorian Homes decorated to the tee, and one can’t miss Hospitality Night at the Washington Mall. It gives us all a sense of warmth and community.

My highlight of the season is hosting Operation Fireside, organized by the Cape May County American Red Cross, hundreds of Recruits spend the day with local host families enjoying the holiday away from the hectic training curriculum. When the Red Cross first started this program we had to advertise in the local newspaper and even radio. Nowadays, the turn out by Cape May area families is phenomenal. Weeks before the holiday, the Red Cross has to start a waiting list. It’s an awesome time for both the Recruits and the Families, creating relationships long after the Recruits graduate from Basic Training.

Along with my Shipmates here at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May we wish one and all a very safe and Happy Holiday Season!

Mark Garland is the Senior Naturalist at Cape May Bird Observatory in Cape May Point.

Christmas in Cape May is a time for walking. Except for the weekends, when we have a modest influx of visitors, the town is empty, quiet, and peaceful during the Christmas season. I love to walk the streets of Cape May on December evenings, seeing the lights and decorations in the historic section of downtown, then wandering dark, nearly-deserted streets in other neighborhoods, bundled up against the chilly night and dazzled by the stars overhead. As a birder, I can’t help but think about the long tradition of the Christmas Bird Count, begun over a century ago. On Dec. 19th this year, dozens of us will gather to scour areas all around Cape May in search of birds. Most years we find more species than any other count on the east coast – you have to go to Texas or California to find counts with higher totals. It’s a wonderful celebration of the richness of bird life here, even during what’s considered to be the “off season,” and a great excuse for fellowship, a day a field, and a party at day’s end.

The Thiel and Van de Vaarst families get together to celebrate Victorian Christmas each year dressed in period costume. John and Mary Van de Vaarst own a house in Cape May and the off season is the only time the families can take advantage of it.

“We stroll around town and take the Holly Trolley tour. The reaction from passers by is terrific and lots of folks want their pictures taken with us!

Later on we bundle up and head over to watch the West Cape May Christmas Parade.

Cape May truly gets us in the holiday spirit of an old fashion Christmas with family and friends.”

It’s hard to write about Christmas in Cape May without getting all mushy but it really is a special time for those of us who live here. While others, who live in the suburbs or the cities, rush about, it is a quiet time here. During the week, the shops generally close at 5 or 6 p.m., making Hospitality Night all the more delightful.

On weekdays there very people on the street and it is such a small town (population under 5,000) that we generally know everyone we pass. It is a time of year when we can actually stop and talk and catch up.

But it is on the weekends when the tourists return that we are reminded how delightful it is to live here. Work throughout the week is geared toward providing visitors with a taste of what life is like in a small town and what life was like more than 100 years ago. The town – restaurant owners, B&B and Guest House owners, and shopkeepers all pull together as a community to present a Victorian Christmas to our visitors. We pull together to take people to a place where they’ve never been before.

We hope you’ll get a chance to visit us during this special time of the year so we can personally wish you a Merry Christmas but in the meantime from us to you – We wish you a very, Merry Christmas.

Would you like to tell us what Christmas in Cape May means to you? Please leave your comments below.

As a daughter, she had more invested in trying to make the restaurant work. Watson’s Restaurant was started back in the 40s in Wildwood by Vicki’s grandparents who, along with her great-grandmother, opened their doors with their own pots and pans from their Philadelphia kitchen. Her father moved the restaurant to Cape May in 1970 and brought along his chef, Bill Robinson.

Many of those traditional recipes developed by Chef Robinson like side accompaniments, the Merion Inn Cole Slaw and the Merion Inn Potato Cup as are still on the menu. Merion Inn entrée classics include Merion Stuffed Flounder ($25.95) Merion Crab Imperial ($28.95), and Merion Stuffed Lobster Tail ($39.95).

Located on Decatur Street The Merion Inn occupies the first floor in a large Victorian house, built in 1885 by Patrick Collins as a boarding villa. By 1900, Collins had expanded his business which he called Collins Café by serving food, specializing in seafood, whiskey and Milwaukee beer.

Andrew Zillinger, chief steward of the Merion Cricket Club in Philadelphia’s Main Line, bought the inn from Collins in 1905 changing the name to The Merion.

The Merion Inn has now been in continuous operation for 117 years. So, how did Vicki Watson, with no background in food preparation, other than that absorbed by the daughter of a restaurateur, turn it around? “The music,” she said simply and without hesitation.

“I was looking for some hook I could use to advertise the place. Everybody always uses the best…We have the best seafood, the best steaks. The music gave us something to advertise. My brother and I love music and I decided to put a piano in the bar and have a singer Wednesdays and Thursdays. I wanted to give people a reason to keep coming back.” From time to time, the singer.

Rosemary Benson used George Mesterhazy as her accompanist, eventually Mesterhazy became the full time piano man and brought in his Steinway replacing the $400 piano Vicki Watson originally purchased. The additional revenue from the bar sales paid for the musicians and set The Merion Inn apart from other restaurants in Cape May.

And on a romantic note, Vicki and George soon became an item as well. With the music, came a new clientele. Then old timers returned, willing to give the a second chance.

The other thing Vicki did to turn the restaurant around was to assess what was best about the menu. “We’re a traditional restaurant. We’re noted for our filets and I was lucky. ‘Homestyle cooking’ and classic dishes came into vogue in the 90s. I thought I can capitalize on this,” she said.

That’s where chefs Donald Lance and Dave Blanchette come in. Lance served under the now retired Bill Robinson and brought a continuity to the kitchen. Blanchette came over to The Merion from Fresco’s. Under Watson’s direction they offer a classic dining experience.

In addition to keeping the above mentioned traditional dishes, The Merion is also noted for a repertoire of steaks – a 9-ounce Filet Mignon, a New York Strip Steak and Black Angus Prime Rib of Beej Au Jus… and a favorite: Steak & Cake ($28.95) a 6oz filet mignon accompanied by a Maryland crab cake.

Watson carried the “return to the traditional” venue into the bar as the long neglected Martini came back into fashion. The bar menu carries a wide variety of these classic drinks.

In terms of decor, she has changed the wall paper and curtains, expanded the dining area, upgraded the kitchen and menu while keeping many things the same as they have always been. “The antiques my father bought are still here,” she said pointing to the swinging doors leading into the bar. “Those doors were from an old speakeasy in Chicago. My father loved antiques and his taste is still very much a part of the restaurant.”

Vicki Watson’s efforts are paying off. Reservations are strongly encouraged, especially on Saturday nights. Having just completed a meeting with Chef Lance to discuss the upcoming menu, Watson looked about her as though always assessing, always looking for ways to improve.

“Our food is good,” she said, “We have fair portions and we’re not for everybody. We’re not very formal, I like the comments in the Zagat Guide that says we’re ‘Romantic and inviting but not pretentious.’ ”

If you go…

Atmosphere is casual adult dining
Located at 106 Decatur St.
Call ahead for hours and reservations 609-884-8363
For more information please visit www.merioninn.com

These creative people were looking for independence, small town life, and an audience appreciative of culinary daring. They found it all in Cape May.

Union Park Dining Room, Beach Avenue

For Chef  J. Christopher Hubert cooking has always come naturally. He started working in restaurants at the age of 15, and continued that work while studying Marketing in college.

So what turned him from marketing to cooking for good? “Well, it wasn’t the long hours and lack of pay,” he said.

Intrigued by a piece in Smithsonian Magazine about the Culinary Institute of America’s program, he immediately signed-up. And he was hooked.

Chef Hubert’s career includes work in many fine restaurants. He was Sous Chef at the former Globe Restaurant in West Cape May and Executive Chef for nine years at The Ebbitt Room (in the Virginia Hotel). After a stint as chef at Philadelphia’s Sheraton Rittenhouse Hotel, he returned to Cape May four years ago to open his own restaurant located in the Hotel Macomber.

“For me,” Chef Hubert told us “the idea owning my own restaurant was financially appealing, but also allowed me to apply a creative and independent philosophy [of food preparation] which answered the public outcry” for a unique dining experience.

Chef Hubert’s menu is based on what is fresh, available, and what’s in season. “My favorite time of the year for cooking,” he said, “is at the beginning of every season when [our] menu changes and I try new things.”

But Chef Hubert has signature dishes like his award-winning Yellow Fin Tuna, always an entree favorite. Priced at $28, it is served in a sesame seed crust over stir fried vegetables. He is also the winner of the “The Cervena Venison Plates” competition, a recognition based on Union Park’s Pan Roast Noisettes of Venison served with braised wild boar ravioli, roast apples and pumpkin seeds, and sauce poivrade at $32.

Chef Hubert met with his business partner and wife Pamela while working at the Globe Restaurant. He says they have always worked well. She primarily handles the administrative end of the business. The big advantage they both see in owning their own business is being able to spend with their six-year-old son William. “It’s a challenge of course in the summertime when we’re open long hours,” he said, “but you make the time [because] of the advantage of independence.”

The Huberts are committed to Union Park and expect to continue to improve and expand their menu for the spring and summer seasons.

If you go…

Atmosphere is elegant
Located at 727 Beach Ave. in the Hotel Macomber
Bring Your Own Bottle
Call ahead for hours and reservations 884-8811
www.unionparkdiningroom.com

These creative people were looking for independence, small town life, and an audience appreciative of culinary daring. They found it all in Cape May.

Waters Edge Restaurant

When asked why he became a chef, Neil R. Elsohn didn’t hesitate – “I look really good in white.”

Chef Elsohn and his wife Karen Anne Fullerton-Elsohn were vacationing in Cape  May not long after he graduated from the New York Restaurant School. They liked what they saw and in July of 1987 opened the Waters Edge, Beach Drive at Pittsburgh Avenue. Elsohn had been executive chef at a northern New Jersey hotel/restaurant complex overseeing a main restaurant and two private dining rooms, each with a seating capacity of 150.

“I was working 90 hours a week for someone else,” he told us. Before that, he owned and operated a Yoga center where he taught Yoga, Tai Chi and Takwondo. “But I was always cooking for all my friends,” he said. “When I was a little kid I’d watch the “Galloping Gourmet” (an early TV chef). Chef Elsohn was also influenced by his mother, a gourmet cook, and by his surroundings. He grew up in the Hudson Valley, famous for its fine dining and fine wines.

The Elsohn taste is reflected in the decor of Waters Edge. Artwork is prevalent throughout the spacious dining room which is painted in soft muted pastels, accented by bright table settings. For those who wish to breath the salt air first hand, patio dining is also available.

Because the restaurant adjoins the la mer Hotel, the Waters Edge serves breakfast, lunch and dinner once the tourist season is in full swing. Chef Elsohn describes his breakfast menu as “indulgent, sophisticated, lazy, oceanfront, and delicious.”

The selections prove him right. Breakfast fare includes everything from Eggs and Bacon at $8.95 to Grilled Filet Mignon and Three Eggs at $15.95. For lunch, diners can order a variety of sandwiches including a gourmet burger ($9.50) and a Crab Cake Sandwich with Jalapeno-citrus tartar sauce on a croissant ($12.50).

And then there’s dinner – a stop-off spot for EPA chief and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

Chef Elsohn prides himself on offering an audacious selection,  from the first course – Oysters on the Half Shell, Lemon-Tabasco Mignonette to Sauté Escargot and Mushrooms with lemon, garlic and cream in a puff pastry – to the main course with a variety of seafood entrees including, from a recent menu, Tilapia, Idaho Trout, farm-raised Bass, Tuna, and Salmon.  On this particular menu the Salmon (generally favored by Elsohn for its versatility) is a seared roulade filled with Diver Scallops, Grilled Shrimp, Tequila infused dried Tomato Salsa, Mango-Chipotle-Toasted Coconut Risotto ($34).

When he goes out to eat, Chef Elsohn admits he’s a little difficult but his favorite thing to order is a good lasagna.

The Elsohns have two children, Earl age 10 and Lillian age11. He has found that owning his own business in a resort and being a parent can be very demanding. ‘For example,” he said, “We can only vacation in the off season  when the kids are in school. So we always have to pull them out of school every year. But it’s also very rewarding. They see what I do …and they eat well.”

Waters Edge has a cozy bar with a nice view of the ocean where diners can have a cocktail while waiting for their table. The wine selection is extraordinary, particularly for a resort the size of Cape May.

Editor’s Note:

This article was written in April 2003 and Waters Edge Restaurant is no longer open.

These creative people were looking for independence, small town life, and an audience appreciative of culinary daring. They found it all in Cape May.

Alexander’s Inn

So here’s how Chef Diane Muenz came to be chef/owner of Alexander’s Inn… Her wedding cake toppled over. On her wedding day.

“I thought to myself,” she said, “there’s got to be a way to make a wedding cake!” So, she took a couple of courses. Then, she took a couple more courses, and kept at it until she ended up with a degree from The Restaurant School of Philadelphia.

With a nine-year-old son Alexander (namesake of the inn), Chef Diane didn’t want a job outside of the home, so she and her husband Larry, who runs the inn started looking for an affordable restaurant/inn to buy. The Philadelphia area was out of their price range but their travels brought them to Cape May in the late 70s just as the town was beginning to revamp itself.

They found a run-down Victorian house on Washington Street, circa 1883, bought it and spent the next 15 years refurbishing it. They were able in the first year to open the dining room on the first floor and rent rooms on the second floor. Alexander’s was, at the time, only the second gourmet restaurant in Cape May, the first being the Mad Batter on Jackson Street.

Looking over her old world kitchen, Chef Diane said “this kitchen was just a shell when we bought the house. It was in terrible condition.” In high season, the menu changes daily. And as a result of her own food allergies, Chef Diane pays special attention to the ingredients which go into every dish. “At the time we opened, it was very hard to find a restaurant which prepared food made with natural, wholesome ingredients,” she said.

What is her favorite thing to cook? “Oh, dessert. I only serve dinner to get to dessert.” Alexander’s dessert menu includes homemade ice cream made fresh on the premises in a variety of flavors including “Butter Peach With Rum Soaked Raisins.” Also on the dessert menu is Brandy Alexander Pie, a rich creamy frozen pie flavored with Brandy,  Crème de Cacao on a graham cracker crumb crust.

Okay, if you insist, we’ll talk about the rest of the menu. A recent one included entrees ranging from Filet A La Bourguignon at $38.95 to Salmon En Papelotte at $26.95. And we mustn’t forget to mention Sunday Brunch, an Alexander’s tradition. The prix fixe $18.95 fare offers a variety of main courses including Sausage-Nut Streudel and Scrambled Eggs and a Russian Omelet with, of course, black lumpfish caviar and sour cream.

Reflecting on their choices in life, Chef Diane has found that coming to Cape May was probably the best thing she and her husband could have done. Alexander’s, she said “is exactly what we wanted. Alex grew up with the business. There were always endless people in the house. And living so centrally located to everything, he had a freedom to come and go, which he wouldn’t have had in a larger city.”

At this point in her life, Chef Diane said she should be thinking about retirement, but she “can’t imagine it.” Twenty-five years later, Chef Diane is still making wedding cakes – she just finished a wedding cake for her son– and we’re quite sure that the white chocolate motorcycle couple atop the cake will not topple over. Alexander’s Restaurant is BYOB. As always, check for hours of operation, as it is still off season.

If you go…

Atmosphere is elegant, dress accordingly
Located adjacent to City Hall, at 633 Washington Street.
Bring Your Own Bottle
Call ahead for hours and reservations 884-2555