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***This experience and tour was provided courtesy of US Ghost Adventures. All opinions are my own.
Steep gables, snaking gingerbread, and covered, wraparound porches, enveloped in shadows, no matter its beauty, at night, Victorian architecture feels disquieting. The multi-paned windows are eyes, always watching. In a town overflowing with Victorian history, there is no better way to learn about Cape May’s past, than taking a Ghost Tour in Cape May, with US Ghost Adventures.
I am a voracious fan of true crime and all things creepy, bizarre, and mysterious. I find that on ghost tours, you get all the benefits of a history tour, combined with beguiling tales of a destination’s most colorful (or lack of color, because…ghosts) characters.
The Tour
Kelly, our Ghost Tour in Cape May, guide, greets us at the Congress Hall Resort. With its distinct, bright yellow brick façade, it’s an ideal meeting place. The building is hard to miss. It’s historic and haunted.
No matter where we travel, we enjoy a good walking tour. Whether it’s the completely costumed, “Emily Post”, in Quebec City, or Puerto Rico Food Tour’s, “Wiki-Pabo’s”, relaxed, hiking, garb, I always take note, of a tour guide’s attire. I appreciate Kelly’s Modern-Victorian Ghost Tour, ensemble. All black, with a Victorian inspired blouse, boots, and Alice in Wonderland, headband. It adds to the macabre, Victorian vibes.
I won’t give details regarding the spectral tales, told, during the tour. You will have to go on
US Ghost Adventures, Ghost Tour in Cape May, yourself. I will hit some of the highlights.
Turn of the Screw, Jane Eyre, is there anything more Victorian than a nanny? As a former nanny, I enjoy a good, ominous, nanny story. Kelly, does a stellar job, describing the sad tale of a nanny ghost who still resides at The Cape May Inn.
I’m not a paranormal expert, so I’m happy to learn something new on our Ghost Tour in Cape May. Kelly teaches us about, “residual hauntings.” Most of these hauntings in Cape May occur due to tragic incidents involving the ocean. If your desire is to keep your shoes dry, you should avoid staying on a certain floor at The Congress Hall Resort.
Jackson Street is the most haunted street in Cape May, New Jersey.
If you are terrified of the idea of encountering an entity, you might want to avoid accommodations on Jackson Street. If you want to increase your chances of experiencing the same haunting as SNL alum, Tina Fey, Jackson Street’s, Red Cottage is the accommodation to book.
Frequent visitors to Cape May, we’ve walked by the former location of Ware’s Pharmacy countless times, never knowing the misconduct that took place on the upper floors. It’s a piece of Cape May history I’d like to know more about, and I feel Cape May would rather forget.
-The Ghost Tour in Cape May is storytelling- focused. Kelly, our guide, is an excellent storyteller. The narrations are a perfect mix of history and chills. The buildings, which act as the tour’s stops, are a nice backdrop, for ghostly, Victorian, accounts.
-If you are more into seeing current paranormal activity, remember that no matter the ghost tour, you are never guaranteed to see ghosts.
-There are a few stories that discuss the death of children and suicide. This is noted on their website, so be sure to read the tour description to be aware of topics that could cause personal distress.
-There are no malevolent spirits in Cape May. Their worst behaviors, include petty theft, and making, mysterious, noises. The tour entertains, not terrifies. You’ll be able to lay your head soundly, on your bed and breakfast/hotel’s pillow, post-tour.
-There were tweens in our group who appeared unimpressed that the tour wasn’t a high-adrenaline, haunted attraction. To her credit, Kelly did her very best to keep them engaged in the tour. If your kid, tween, or teen likes listening to and/or telling ghost stories, they will enjoy the tour.
The Logistics
-When booking the tour, there is the basic tour, an extended tour, which includes additional sites/stories, and the opportunity to add an EMF Reader, so you can observe current paranormal activity.
If you are planning to take the tour, I recommend adding the extended tour. The sites and stories are intriguing. If your lost soul had to stay forever, in the place you were happiest, where would that be?
-There are restrooms at the Congress Hall Resort that you can utilize before the tour.
-The tour does not end in the same place it begins. Your tour guide is happy to give you directions to your car, accommodation, or a place to get a post-tour, nightcap.
-In the summer months, you may want to bring mosquito protection, just in case.
-This tour is completely outdoors (as noted on their website). You do not enter any of the homes or hotels. If you want to immerse yourself in Victorian interior design, make a second visit to Cape May, New Jersey, during the holidays, for their Cape May Christmas House Tour.
-The Ghost Tour in Cape May is a walking tour. The route is easy, flat, sidewalk. No fault of the tour, but some of the sidewalks are better maintained than others, so it would be challenging using a mobility device, especially at night.
The Conclusion
The Ghost Tour in Cape May, with US Ghost Adventures, caused a flood of nostalgia. It reminded me of nights as a kid and teen, sitting around a camp fire, or in a room, covered in sleeping bags, exchanging ghost stories with friends. Nothing was ever too gruesome, but you did quicken your steps to the bathroom if you got up in the middle of the night. That’s the feel of the Cape May Ghost Tour.
To Book Your Own Cape May Ghost Tour with US Ghost Adventures- Click Here
A combination of Victorian, history, and phantasmic fun, a ghost tour, is a great way to spend an evening in Cape May.
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