Victorian English Tea in Cape May, New Jersey
Enjoyable Girlfriends' Getaway or Romantic Weekend at the Beach
Aug 18, 2009
Visitors to the popular beach town of Cape May, New Jersey, will find more to love in the scenic Victorian town than just clean sandy beaches and good family-friendly fun.
Although children are welcome in each venue, visitors desiring a day of adult conversation and a dreamy interpretation of the Turn of the Century lifestyle will find the Emlen Physick Estate Tea/Designer Showcase House Tour combination to be a special treat. Even better, both of these options (discounted if purchased together) benefits the non-profit Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, which funds Cape May’s extensive cultural offerings.
Physick Estate Features Feathered hats and Formal Tea
The 1876 Carriage House Tearoom and Cafe, set in the 1879 Italianate Emlen Physick Estate’s former stables, provides the unusual option of taking tea in the well-decorated stalls or sitting outside in the pavilion. Several feathered, grand and cloche hats hang on a screen at the entrance of the tea room and each visitor is invited to don a suitable hat to really set the mood.
Tea-goers can enjoy over 20 varieties of tea to accompany sumptuous sandwiches such as the popular smoked turkey with roasted asparagus and truffle mayonnaise or the cucumber with herbal mint tea cream cheese. Scones with clotted cream and other tea breads along with a lovely selection of dessert items are options in the formal teas and diners with heartier appetites can enjoy sandwiches, wraps and larger salads.
Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts Offers Historic Designer Homes with Interior Wonders
Each year a new design house is chosen from one of the area’s substantial number of architecturally interesting houses. In its five year history, featured homes have included a brick Arts and Crafts home, a former church transformed into a set of charming condos, and an enormous multi-styled Federal-fronted and mansard roofed home with a separate apartment in the back.
This year’s pick is the 1853 gothic-style Carpenter’s Cottage, which may sound small in its description but proves to be a three-story, wood frame home with door-size windows opening right off the front porch and a fantastical underwater bedroom reflecting Cape May's oceanside location.
Each home offers a sneak peek into some of Cape May’s enormous homes with original woodwork, gorgeous murals, and the creative ideas of the area’s best interior designers-- ensuring that the tour is well worth the price of admission.
Ride Off into the Sunset in a Cape May Horse-drawn Carriage Amid Spectacular Architecture
To finish off a tranquil day, carriage rides for small and large groups are available at the corner of Ocean Street and the Washington Street Mall.
Knowledgeable guides provide colorful local history about the town’s movers and shakers with an architectural appreciation for the lovely examples of Victorian, Italianate, Arts and Crafts and seaside cottage building styles. When touring Hughes Street with large shade trees and the horse-drawn carriages clip-clipping through the road in the twilight, it’s easy to imagine being back in the days of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.
The Carriage House Tearoom and Café at the Emlen Physick Estate is located at 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, and benefits the non-profit Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts. Numerous well-appointed Bed & Breakfasts and hotels dot the area and reservations can be made through 1-609-884-0080.
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