Page 40 - 2023 Southern NJ Vacationer

FALL, WINTER, HOLIDAYS
Cozy up and enjoy the “off” season
Glasstown Brewing Company
WARM DAYS AND COOL EVENINGS
provide an endless array of things to do in the fall and even the winter months. Its sweater weather here and we think it is the perfect time to getaway to your happy place.
Getting away from it all in cooler weather has its advantages like having the beach all to yourself. And don’t worry that it is not summer weather, there are plenty of businesses with fireplaces and/or firepits to warm up any get-together – romantic or not.
Romance is always the perfect reason to plan an escape! There is a bevy of well- appointed places in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties that will help you impress that special someone. The charming city of Cape May with its colorful gingerbread laced B&Bs and gas lamps that light some of the Victorian streets, intimate, highly-rated restaurants and nearby award winning wineries is just the beginning. Imagine a stay at an intimate B & B, snuggling under a warm blanket as you ride on a horse and carriage throughout the resort, a visit to a nearby winery for a sip by the fire, and settle into a table for two at a restaurant, possibly the Ebbitt Room at the Virginia Hotel, considered one of the most romantic restaurants in the state, and ending with a night cap on the hotel’s quaint porch.
By November, move over Scrooge, it’s the holiday season at New Jersey’s Southern Shore, take your bah humbug attitude with
you! We’re ready to trim the tree and sip a cup of wassail as the fire crackles and Christmas carolers stroll the streets.
Remember that Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street? Ocean City has its own version with Miracle on Asbury Avenue, an old- fashioned Downtown Christmas that kicks off Thanksgiving weekend and lasts through December with delightful things – horse and carriage rides, music and shopping specials. Santa takes center stage for photos at the Music Pier and Breakfast with the big guy on weekends. Don’t forget the Christmas Parade along Asbury Avenue and the Train Show at the Ocean City Music Pier.
Sound like make believe? That’s exactly how the holidays are celebrated in Cape May
– six weeks of holly, jolly fun with a dose of Charles Dickens – concerts, Ghosts of Christmas Past trolley tours, the Physick Family Christmas House Tours, craft shows, hospitality nights and more.
In Cumberland County, celebrate the holidays in Greenwich; a town that has its own Liberty Bell and more history than Santa has toys in his sleigh – honest! Bridgeton has an historic house tour and – don’t forget Millville for Third Friday celebrations in the Glasstown Arts District.
And, what would the most wonderful time of the year be without The Nutcracker performed by the Atlantic City Ballet. The casinos are decked out in glam, glitter and lights from top to bottom, hosting some of the biggest show biz names throughout the holidays.
Add an exclamation point to your weeks of parades, tours, shopping and perhaps over indulging with First Night in Ocean City – an alcohol-free celebration that’s been a tradition for years and is the perfect way of ringing out the old and ringing in the new.
Everyone is Irish – on and around March 17th – wear your green to parades and festivities in North Wildwood and Sea Isle City. Or head to the Atlantic City Boardwalk for one of the region’s oldest parades and then to the famous Irish Pub for a glass of Harp, Killian’s or Yuengling on draft. Dating back to the 19th century, the pub was a speakeasy in the days of prohibition, these days, the pub invites patrons to experience a taste of old Atlantic City as depicted on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.” At Carneys in Cape May, Kegs and Eggs are on the menu and brave partakers “give it a lash” in St. Paddy’s Day Polar Plunge and 5K. G
The Atlantic City Ballet Nutcracker
38 SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY VACATIONER