Rhonda and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary this weekend. We both took off on Friday and headed down to Cape May, NJ, for an overnight. My mom was generous to send us for our 20th anniversary in 2023–we stayed at the comfy but swanky Virginia Hotel, and dined at The Ebbitt Room. We liked it so much that we went back and stayed at Peter Shields Inn and Restaurant the following year, and then again last spring at the Buttonwood Boutique.

Christmas in Cape May is a busy time, and it’s hard to find a room period, let alone one at a reasonable price. Because we decided on this trip a bit late for planning purposes, we ended up staying at the Cape, which is a nicely converted motel on Route 9, just outside of the historic downtown area. I would totally stay there again, especially if Cold Springs, Cape May Winery, and Hawk Haven are your points of interest. If you want the historic downtown experience, it’s a bit of a drive and a crowd to navigate to boot.

Cape May Winery

Our visit to the Cape May Winery was not our first, but we were excited to go back, as we really enjoyed our visit there last April. Sadly, they did not have their excellent rosé available. We ordered the brie plate, which was a menu special. It was kind of disappointing; for eight bucks, you got three pieces of cold bread smeared with an uninspired brie. The charcuterie plate was good, though. We tried their Chardonnay and White Blends, and I preferred the latter. The Chardonnay was pretty bright and tart for a barrel-aged specimen. We took a few bottles with us so that we’d have some choices to take with us to dinner.

Il Riccio

I made a rez at Ił Riccio , which is a BYOB in the heard of the madness that is Cape May at Christmastime. It is a charming old house, a la Peter Shields and the Washington Inn, and we dined in a dim corner of a small back room. We split the fried calamari, and then one of the whole fishes, which was filleted and served table side, with a side of spaghetti. Everything was great, and the dessert we split was excellent as well. Eight bucks will get you some bread, too, which made us roll our eyes. But hey: limoncello shot on the house after dinner.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

We came back home via Route 47, which is always how I got down to Wildwood when I was younger. We had omelettes at Mel’s Place, a nice diner in Villas. We had some of our own salami and cheese, and Rhonda redeemed yesterday’s brie let down by making her own version. So that was dinner!