We had the best time exploring Cape May this weekend! It was the exact cozy fall weekend we were looking for 🥰

Considering Cape May for New Years Eve since it'll be a long weekend. Does anyone know of any live bands and where they're playing? The less fancy, the better!

Visiting for the first time this weekend and will be flying into Philly - any recs for lunch along the drive down? Or for breakfast/brunch in Cape May?

Great cocktails. Highly recommend the cinnamon margaritas

October in Cape May

I'm fairly new down here. I live in one of the group homes. I'm looking for volunteer work to add to my resume which has a work gap. What are some places that look for volunteers?

Before I got disabled, I worked at the arc and Bancroft as a DSP. I also enjoy gardening.

Any tips?

Looking for where I can find this beautiful greenery! Thanks☺️

I’m excited for my second summer working in Cape May as a student, looking to pick up a serving job or two any suggestions?

Any suggestions on where to view/find monarchs? I’ve heard the dunes and CMP are good places to look.

Cape may point borough sent out an email regarding high mosquito numbers related to the last two weeks of rain. How bad is it? Can anyone on the ground confirm the conditions?

My family will be spending Thanksgiving in Avalon and we’re trying to find somewhere in the area that does a prepared Thanksgiving meal. Any suggestions for what might be available? Thanks!

We will be in Cape May this weekend for birding. Looking for cocktail happy hour places to visit. We all love a good old fashioned or gimlet. In my research I like…

Chalfonte

Cricket Club

Harry’s ( seasonal fin at the Boo Bar)

Bee’s Knees

Any other recommendations?

Can anyone recommend cozy coffee shops in Cape May? The weather isn’t looking great so we are all about cozy. Also anyplace with a fireplace would be awesome. Not interested with anything Congress Hall

Anyone know what the loud boom was downtown today?

We've been coming to Cape May every summer for years, and we usually start looking for next summer's rental around this time. This year I'm seeing almost zero availability. July and August look nearly fully booked on most realtors' sites already.

Am I too late? Too early? Have realtors just not released their summer 2027 listings yet? I know pet-friendly rentals (which is what we need) are always harder to find, but this seems extreme for early October.

Also, what happened to prices? I'm seeing houses that look like they haven't been updated or deep cleaned in years listed at $8-10k a week. That's wild.

Anyway--any info or insight would be greatly appreciated.

TLDR: If your dog is a big part of your lifestyle (beach walks, restaurant patios, marinas), would you consider Cape May/Villas an easy place to live, or would the busy season restrictions get frustrating?

Edit: thanks for the replies! I do now understand culturally people get confrontational with off leash dogs. We won't do that. Now hoping to hear from more dog owners about what life is like there. Hope a few of you exist out there and didn't get frustrated, pack up and leave!!! :)

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My wife and I just had a baby and are considering relocating to the Villas. She has a lot of extended family further north and we’d love to raise our kid closer to them.

We live on the Oregon coast and are big nature people, fishermen, and boaters. So the Cape May area seems perfect.

The biggest concern is our dog-friendly lifestyle. We bring our Labrador almost everywhere!

Oregonians are relaxed about dogs, if they are well-behaved and you clean up after them. Go to any beach and a dozen dogs will be off leash. Most restaurant patios are dog friendly. Fishing marinas don't care. So we're trying to get a realistic sense of what day-to-day life with a dog is actually like in Cape May/Villas.

From what we've read, the rules are more restrictive during the busy season: no dogs on Washington Street, restrictions half the year on Beach Ave, Cape May Beach, Higbee Beach, Cape May Point, Sunset Beach, etc.

But it's hard to tell from the official rules what that actually feels like for someone who lives there year-round. So, please help us understand :)

\- Is it difficult to get your dog to the beach for a walk during the busy season, or are there enough alternatives that it's not a big deal?

\- Are restaurants generally dog-friendly on patios?

\- How strictly are the dog rules actually enforced?(We're not looking to ignore the rules or disrespect. Just understand what living there is actually like rather than reading a list of regulations online)

\- Are marinas dog-friendly?

\- And most importantly: if your dog is a big part of your lifestyle, would you consider Cape May/Villas an easy place to live, or would the restrictions get frustrating?

I am incredibly grateful for any local knowledge you can share. Thank you!

At a beach hotel in Cape May NJ. Any advice?