The Marquis de Lafayette

Mary Ellen and I have just returned from a little three-day trip to Cape May, NJ, and I'm going to take a departure from my regular blog subjects to do a little travelogue with lots of pictures. We hadn't been to Cape May in over 20 years, but remembered it fondly for its gentle beach atmosphere and the lovely Victorian homes everywhere in town.

Another thing I like about Cape May is that, although it is a "resort" destination, it doesn't have the draw of the nearby casino cities, and therefore has been ignored by the corporate chains. All of the beachfront hotels date from around the 50's and 60's, and we decided to return to one that was a faded gem even 20 years ago: the Marquis de Lafayette. This is a two-star hotel in modern ratings, but it is large, spacious, scrupulously clean, and right in the middle of things:

I'll go so far as to say our suite, #308, was the sweet spot in the whole hotel. It is a corner room right next to the stairwell. It featured a large bedroom with king-sized bed, a kitchenette with stove, sink, microwave and fridge - even included the tableware - and a nice sitting room. Here's the view from the room's balcony:

It also overlooked the pool and outdoor bar, where a very good singer/guitarist was performing when we arrived on Sunday afternoon:

The interior photos show a pretty basic accomodation, but very adequate, and nicely priced. We chose a package that included a hot breakfast for two each morning, and free parking.

As I mentioned, the Marquis is very well located. It is surrounded by interesting houses, and many fine restaurants and shops. Just behind the hotel was "The Empress," which was a private residence. Here are photos of that mansion and several other nice ones.

Of course, there's also the beach, which has a paved "Promenade" for a couple of miles. The Marquis is almost dead center in the length of that, so each morning we walked along with other early risers. Here's the obligatory beach photo - it was cool enough that we were in warmer clothes on that day:

 The Promenade is lined with nice benches, and each one had a dedicatory plaque. Once you started reading them, it was hard to stop. In one sense a tale of loss, but also of love and remembrance, and many of them mentioned love of the place. I found it a bit overwhelming after a while.

Since I'm a geek, one thing I always try to do on our trips is to find the best local hardware store. That was also just a few blocks from the Marquis - Swain's Hardware, open since 1896. I even got a commemorative postcard, and bought a few treasures to bring home.

Two blocks from the hotel, several blocks had been turned into a pedestrian mall, and we enjoyed strolling and people-watching there. It was anchored on one end by a beautiful Catholic church. With the help of Wikipedia on the cell phone, we were able to identify several of the saints in the stained glass and statuary. For example, I learned that the saint holding the baby Jesus in one hand and a lily in the other was probably St. Anthony of Padua.

Our vacations are basically defined by the places we eat! We found a real gem of a restaurant, recommended by a friend: 410 Bank Street. Be sure to check out their menu at the link - it is amazing. The prices seem high, but there's a saving grace in Cape May - many of the top restaurants are Bring Your Own Bottle, because a liquor license in Cape May costs a million bucks. We brought our own wine, and that made the cost about the same as a fancy meal in Lancaster.

I was so stunned by the Blackened Scallops appetizer and Voodoo Shrimp entree that I forgot to take pictures! Mary Ellen's soft-shell crab entree was similarly superb. We also loved our server, Eben, who has worked at that restaurant for 28 years, and is also a chemistry and physics teacher. I did remember to snap a picture of dessert:

The next night we dined at Tisha's, which is right on that pedestrian mall. Another fine meal! I remembered pictures that time:

While we enjoyed the Marquis, we also walked all the way to just beyond the end of the Promenade to see a B&B favored by our sister-in-law: Rhythm of the Sea. It is one of two in Cape May that is in the later Arts and Crafts style instead of Victorian:

I really love Arts and Crafts furniture, and I took pictures of several of the furniture pieces in the large first-floor common area. I'll just save them here, to give me inspiration for future projects at the Grant St. Garage. A few months ago I bought a bunch of quarter-sawn oak just for furniture like this.

Cape May is definitely back on our radar! We're already talking about a return visit, and we'll try to get room 308 again at the Marquis de Lafayette. Our little home away from home at the beach...