Page 26 - 2024 Southern NJ Vacationer

CAPE MAY MAC
The Past is the Future
THE IMPRESSIVE Emlen Physick Estate, brought back to its original majesty by dogged determination, is a phoenix risen from the ashes. The Cape May Music Festival, 35 years and going strong, is a gem of a festival featuring classical music, jazz and Americana. A fleet of shiny, comfortable trolleys crisscrosses the historic district, and is a far cry from the tractor that hauled an open-air trolley around town in the 1970s. The restored 1859 Cape May Lighthouse opened to the public in 1988 and since then more than 2.5 million people have climbed to the top. The historic World War II lookout tower, Fire Control Tower No. 23, part of the Fort Miles fortification in Cape Henlopen, Del., underwent an award-winning restoration.
None of this would have happened if not for the non-profit organization Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture) which helped America’s oldest seaside resort reinvent itself.
The renaissance of Cape May is linked to a huge mansion on Washington Street that appeared beyond salvaging around 1970, overgrown and possibly, it was hinted, even haunted. When plans circulated that the building was going to be sold and demolished, a stalwart group of volunteers banded together determined to save – and ultimately – restore the Emlen Physick Estate. With the help of volunteers, fundraisers, bond sales and hard work they not only saved the Physick Estate, but revitalized Cape May. In 1976, the entire city was declared a National Historic Landmark, thanks to its 19th century
buildings, one of the largest collections of seaside Victorians in the country. The resort rebloomed, an amazing change from decades earlier when Cape May’s charm had faded as seaside places like Newport and Atlantic City eclipsed Cape May’s popularity.
Guided tours of the 1879 Physick House Museum provide an in-depth look at Victorian architecture, detailing how the Physick family and their staff lived, worked and spent their leisure time. The 18-room mansion is an architectural gem designed by famed American architect Frank Furness, one of the best examples of Victorian Stick Style architecture in the country. Cape May MAC hosts a variety of trolley tours, walking tours, and golf cart tours around the city with knowledgeable guides who share Cape
May’s history and architecture.
But Cape May MAC celebrates more than
Victorian history. Each year free Carroll Gallery exhibits explore history topics of local interest, including an exhibit that highlights Black history in conjunction with Center for Community Arts. Additionally, through a decades-long partnership with the Center for Community Arts and a recent partnership with the Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey, visitors can learn about the role Cape May played in the Underground Railroad and about Harriet Tubman’s presence there. Both the Harriet Tubman Museum and Macedonia Baptist Church were added to the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail.
In December hundreds of Christmas tours celebrate the season, and the Christmas Candlelight House Tour on three Saturday evenings before Christmas is a highlight, as it has been since 1974, with homes, inns, churches and hotels decorated for the holiday, including the Physick House Museum.
Throughout the year there are crafts shows, concerts, scavenger and treasure hunts, a Harvest Brew Fest, a Lessons of History lecture, Scarecrow Alley, a garden tour, cruises, murder mystery dinners, Sherlock Holmes weekends, Victorian Weekend, ghost tours, boat trips to lighthouses in Delaware Bay, visits to Fisherman’s Wharf, two museum shops, food and wine events, Halloween Happenings, a full six weeks of Christmas tours starting the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and plenty of events more popular than Queen Victoria herself.
MAC:1048 Washington St., Cape May; 609- 884-5404; www.capemaymac.org l
24 SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY VACATIONER