Things to do in Cape May with Kids

For Mother’s Day and Richard’s birthday, we spent a few days in Cape May, NJ to relax and celebrate. Well… relax as much as you can with a 10 month old keeping you on your toes. Family trips, even the short ones, are starting to get harder and harder with Ellis around, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. We’re honestly just making more memories and learning a few tricks along the way. My best advice to other parents looking to travel—keep your expectations realistic and just focus on being together, not trying to fit every activity or site in your itinerary. Your kids won’t remember what they didn’t get to do or see anyways.

We knew going in that the weather was going to be a little ehh so we agreed to just spend this trip getting to know the area a bit more and enjoy some restaurants. Luckily, the weather held up and we had a couple sunny (and even warm) afternoons to play outside.

Food, Drinks, & Bites

Coffee Tyme - I’m not sure if it was because we visited off-season or what, but a lot of breakfast restaurants in the area opened late (by late, I mean after 8am. When you’re up at 5:30am with a baby, 8am is late for breakfast), so we ended up visiting this coffee shop twice for much-needed coffee and snacks to hold us over. It was a happy bonus that the coffee here is excellent!

The Mad Batter Restaurant & Bar - A friend recommended this place for breakfast and it didn’t disappoint. Our only issue was that they opened at 8am (see note above) and Ellis was already ready for a nap at this point so we ended up rushing our meals (as parents do). Otherwise, we probably would’ve chilled and enjoyed another cup of coffee, shared pancakes for “dessert,” and people-watched for a bit.

Rusty Nail - I will be honest, we did not eat here so I cannot vouch for their food, but I can say the drinks and atmosphere were perfect for a beach town getaway. Plus, it’s super kid-friendly because the bar is partially outdoors where kids can play in the sand while you grab a drink and take in some live music.

Boiler Room at Congress Hall - This was honestly my favorite meal of the trip (and it was the cheapest so 👊🏼). Brick oven pizza and some beer—perfection! I highly recommend their Sopressata & Capicola pizza (it sounds weird when you read what’s on it, but I’m literally still craving it days later. I wish we ordered two of them!). Plus, it was located in our hotel basement which was convenient.

Places to See & Things to Do:

Walk the promenade - Want to take as much of Cape May as possible? take a walk along the beach promenade! It’s about 1.4 miles one way so it’s an easy walk—even with a stroller.

Hang at the beach - Even though we visited during the off-season, the weather did get warm enough to take a rest on the beach for a bit. If we knew it was going to be that nice, we probably would’ve brought our beach gear and stayed longer. But the sand was soft and it was fun to watch the surfers in the distance.

Check out the local architecture - The homes/bed and breakfasts in the surrounding neighborhood were so much fun to look at. With the bright colors, ornate details, and old-world charm, they reminded me of our time living in New Orleans. Only, we were near a beach instead of the Mississippi River.

Catch some live music - A LOT of restaurants in the area had live music scheduled for the weekend. A simple Google search will help you find an event you’d enjoy. We really enjoyed the live music at Rusty Nail—it was outdoors, the vibe reminded me of the local spots in my hometown (Virginia Beach), and Ellis absolutely loved it so that was a plus!

Where to Stay

Congress Hall - Since this was our first time visiting the area, we wanted to stay at a historic hotel (I’m not a big B&B person). So, why not America’s oldest seaside resort? This place is absolutely beautiful and does a fantastic job of preserving its original architecture and charm. Our favorite part was the big lawn in the back. It was perfect for kids to run around and tire themselves out (or in our case, perfect to practice our walking) and there was an outdoor bar to grab some evening drinks and super comfy rocking chairs. The lawn also connects to a great coffee shop for early morning breaks. We were bummed we came too early to enjoy their pool, but I guess we should’ve expected that being the first week in May.

Warnings for parents thinking about staying here: since Congress Hall is an older hotel, its noise control is very limited. I suggest either working with the hotel on selecting a room in a corner somewhere or bringing a sound machine or fan to drown out the noise at night. Also, being an older building, we had to deal with stairs even after getting off the elevator on our floor. So, getting a stroller back and forth was a little frustrating. If we had known that, we probably would’ve stressed that we needed a room with better access. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I wouldn’t let these issues stop you from considering this hotel. It’s very unique to the area and worth exploring.

If we get another long weekend this summer, we plan to try to make another trip down to Cape May to enjoy it during its peak season and catch some extra beach days while we’re at it! Have any suggestions to add? Let me know in the comments!

-J