
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 2, 1995                   TAG: 9506300019
SECTION: TRAVEL                    PAGE: G-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN CURRAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CAPE MAY, N.J.                                LENGTH: Medium

CAPE MAY BLOOMS IN SUMMER

Almost 117 years after its downtown was destroyed by fire, this seaside resort has risen from the ashes to become one of the East Coast's most popular summertime destinations.

Quaint homes, appealing shops and first-class restaurants attract first-time visitors, and a host of attractions and activities keep them coming back.

``There's a romance about it. When you go down there, it's as though you're escaping from the rest of the world,'' said Jeffery Dorwart, a history professor and author of a book on the history of Cape May County.

Named for Capt. Cornelius Mey, a Dutch explorer who claimed this southern New Jersey peninsula for the Netherlands in the 1620s, the resort is located below the Mason-Dixon Line - and it feels like it.

The city got its start as a whaling port but evolved into a fashionable place for Philadelphia and New York residents to vacation in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Much of the city's charm is owed to a wind-driven fire on Nov. 9, 1878, that burned 35 acres and destroyed nine large hotels. The fire prompted a building boom that turned downtown into what is today a sort of living Victorian museum: There are no less than 70 bed-and-breakfast inns, most with charming gingerbread designs on quiet, shady streets.

Among the premier attractions is the Emlen Physick Estate, a 16-room house and museum chock-full of Victorian artifacts located in the center of town.

Shoppers delight in the pedestrian mall on Washington Street, which offers candy stores, antique shops, sidewalk cafes and boutiques in a pleasant, automobile-free environment.

The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts sponsors walking tours and trolley tours of the city, though regulars consider bicycles and walking the best ways to see the sights.

Horse-drawn carriage rides also are available.

A Victorian week offering tours of private homes and seminars on Victorian ways is held each year to celebrate the city's heritage.

The sea heritage can be experienced with whale-watching excursions by the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center.

by CNB