Last year, all the little cousins in our family booked some cottages in Cape May, NJ and had a memorable stay. This year, we planned the same trip, except we got to try several spots we didn’t get to explore last year due to lack of time, like Peace Pie and Beach Plum Farm.
We started our stay with the Onsite Beach/ Lake
And spent another part of the day exploring the on site playground!
The next morning, we started our day with hot chocolate , marshmallows and breakfast cooked by hubby.
The rest of the photos are snippets from our trip in no particular order and a few reviews of the places we stopped by:
Beach Plum Farm
The grounds were stunning, beautiful and kid-friendly. The restaurant’s front showed a clear view of the herb garden consisting of thyme, lavender and rosemary. The kids and adults all took a few moments to pause and dwell in the aroma of each plant. It was a great start and we were excitedly awaiting our breakfast experience .
We ordered food on the counter and admired the store stocked with pretty , “ugly” heirloom tomatoes and jars of jams and farm goods. We knew we would make a stop to get goodies before we left, after our meal. Their chocolate mint donuts were sitting on the counter and being big donut fans, we knew we just had to add that onto our order. We filled up our cup of Lavender Sage Lemonade and headed towards the gardens and picnic tables with canopies and optional seat cushions.
There were a Toss game, along with wooden slide and rocking chicks. The children enjoyed gathering around to marvel at the fountain and the shiny coins and floating leaves. They loved the play space and ran along happily through the floral arches. It was dreamy and a great place to sit, relax and explore. A great place to take some photos too!
The food was simple, fresh and made to order. My favorite was the donut, with just the right amount of mint and sweetness that permeated what made up the frosting; and the chocolate part was cakey, but airy and not too sweet. It was a great balance of flavors. The jam was another main highlight in the meal and we were happy to have with it toast, but it was inconsistent because no one else had ham served with their toast (only my husband got it with his order). The scrabble (mixed meat sausage type of fried loaf I believe it was) was good, but one person in the group had a large slice and I had only a few broken pieces with a salad.
I had very high expectations for this place, but unfortunately was disappointed because it took over an hour, maybe even an hour and a half for the food to arrive. The food, other than the donut that day didn’t taste exceptional or different from what we can make at home. We didn’t feel any herb flavor particularly stood out from what we tasted. The last person to order in our group actually received their food before the first few people that ordered. We followed up with the kitchen several times and they appeared to be disorganized that day. We’ve only visited once, so I can’t speak for the other days. Perhaps, they were understaffed or need to improve their organization of orders that come in, prioritizing on the order that comes first, rather than from the seemingly scattered stack of orders that they draw from a pile. The staff that worked there were kind and did apologized for the wait. However, my group was so disappointed they say they wouldn’t want to visit again even though the grounds were so beautiful and the kids enjoyed it.
We did end our meal by checking out the store upstairs with children’s books, pretty country styled dishwater and aromatic soaps. We didn’t buy anything from the store, but the jam we sampled at our meal was fantastic, super fresh with raspberries, mostly sweet, with a very mild touch of tart from the natural flavor of raspberries. It’s the easiest, tastiest, prettiest and most easy to spread jam I’ve ever had. We purchased a few jars to take home.
HH Seafood
Oh goody! Where do I even start? This place we visited twice this trip because it was so terrific. It was actually the first meal we had when we arrived, as requested by several in our group based on their experience here last year when we also made a stop here.
The crabs were so fresh and tasty. The staff was pleasant and cheery. It was a place with great vibes all around! The scenery was terrific and there were boats everywhere; you can even see a bit of the sunset. The outdoor seating had a covering, so it didn’t really matter if it rained. We were sitting and eating crabs from the same place they were caught (as far as I believe). You can’t get any fresher than that!
It was BYOB, so we happily stopped by a nearby liquor store to buy some local beer (which was also very good and tasted like summer, it’s namesake) to go with it.
The group got a variety of everything from lobster, crab dip, Mac and cheese, corn, ceviche, clams and shrimps, but the crabs were the clear winner. I prefer the female crabs that were cheaper because I like the orange stuff in there! I also find the meat sweeter. Others from our group liked the male crabs which appeared to be more popular and they seem to have more meat and I think it was juicier. Both tasty in its own way. That old bay seasoning was on point! A bit salt and spicy. The kids even had some at one point, though with lots of water.
The key lime pie…is a MUST (excuse the messy background, as this was taken in our car). It was perfection. My husband and I got it both times we visited. I would go there just for that key lime pie and was even thinking if loading up on them to take home. The proportions of the shortbread crust, main key lime filling and whipped cream was a masterpiece. Perfectly buttered crust with tangy, creamy center and coconutty whipped cream. Soooo good!
Cape May Beach
Our yearly kids photo by the boat!
We visited last year as well. Soft sand in some parts of the beach, and lots of shells and little stones in other sections. We spent about half a day there jumping in the waves, getting buried under sand, frolicking under the sun and snacking of course!
Peace Pie
This place, we highly recommend! It was located about two minutes from Washington Street Mall. The assortment of fillings and cookies to chose from were astounding! Nothing was overly sweet. The cookies were very tasty and believe it or not, crunchy still! My kids got the chocolate cookies with strawberry ice cream filling. Strawberries were thoroughly dispersed in the filling. My husband and I shared the key lime with what seemed to be graham cracker styled cookies. Others in our group ordered the Blueberry cobbler and banana foster. We all thought that Peace Pie was exceptional.
Morey’s Piers and Wildwood Boardwalk
We visited this Amusement Park and Beach last year as well and it was well worth a visit for the kids and adults to enjoy some rides. The children in our group were all 5 and under so the rides were limited. We didn’t purchase the ticket for the Amusement Park, but rather, just got tickets and used them accordingly per ride. There’s a train/trolley that gets you from one end to the other. Older kids have a ton of things they can do there and can easily spend the whole day there with rides and the arcade. Their website stated they now have a Beer Garden in site too, which we didn’t get to explore this time around. We didn’t stay at that beach because we stopped by Sunset Beach instead.
Sunset Beach
Go HERE! Breathtakingly beautiful sunset at the beach. We are two for two summers that we visited and the sunset was splendid! There was even a Flag Ceremony that honored veterans and everyone stopped what they were doing (even the Restaurant Grill nearby) to take part. It was a beautiful heartwarming communal experience for everyone at the beach. The gift store had restrooms and an abundance of pretty Cape May Souvenirs to take home for kids and adults. Go here for sure if you want to take home souvenirs.
Each year, we made it a tradition to bring a kite. We had an ice cream sundae kite last year that we couldn’t find that was excellent quality and flew really well. You can take a peak of that kite here. This year, I found several cheaper kites on clearance by my house and loved the one for each kid idea of flying them on their own.
I would say never again, because even though we got it to fly well, the quality was pretty horrible, one didn’t even come with a string! But that didn’t stop our little ones from trying and he succeeded with his determination and willpower. Let us learn from him! Find those who support you and surround yourself with those who live to see you soar! His nifty grandma improvised a string for his stringless kite! 
Miscellaneous Photos
I arranged some activities for all kids to do while the adults prepped dinner or for when we had some down time. The kids seemed to really enjoy the glow stick building marathon we had 2/3 of the nights (we even made balls with connectors) and it doubled as a safety necklace to keep track of where the kids are because the campgrounds did get very dark at night, so next time, we would most likely bring an outdoor lamp. After playing with them, our girls took ours back to our cottage and left it in the corner as a night light.
We concluded our trip with Tulip’s One Step Tie dye! We missed the free Cape May Zoo and Lighthouse that we planned for our departure date due to rain. You can see photos of last year’s Zoo photos here. We also missed Westside Market, yet again for sandwiches for the beach. Perhaps third time will be the charm!
Each year, a few of us take turns to cook. T was my cousin in law’s idea and I love this personal touch. Cooking for those you love, I love! My cousin in law makes one of the best steaks I’ve ever had to date: his Grilled Steak (cooked over our fire with charcoal and wood) with chimichirri sauce and his wife’s Cuban beans and cilantro rice. I’ve been to several restaurants that serve the same thing and his is truly the best. I’m waiting for them to bottle up that sauce to sell, so we can buy them and gift them!
I made Indonesian ramen this year with toppings on the side: shrimp, boiled eggs and fresh cut red bell peppers. Didn’t have time to document that, as we were in a hurry that morning to finish cleaning and packing in time for checkout. I have photos I took at home from another time I made it, where I serve it with lightly salted broccoli, that I’ll be posting later on this year. Subscribe to Hopscotch Mom either here or follow me on Instagram and Like me on Facebook to ensure you stay up to date for all the latest news.
CAPE MAY ITINERARY 2018
Well there you have it! Some insights on our favorite stops from this trip.
These are the screenshots of the itinerary I created on my Google Drive.
Pin it, print it, bookmark it and plan a stay! Cheers!
What a fun and memorable trip, yet again! We may possibly do this again next year with even more family members. I heard from the parents that all the little ones couldn’t stop talking about their cousins when they got home (our kids included!).
Life is all about the little, yet BIG forever in our ❤️ moments like these.
Have you ever been to Cape May, NJ? You can see last year’s Cape May Trip here, where we went July 4th weekend and saw fireworks at the beach. Feel free to comment below on other recommendations that are not in this itinerary or ask questions! I would love to help if I can!