The Shore ’08

CAPE MAY

THE VIBE The ubiquitous Dickensian facades dictate the pace: Everything’s a little slower, a little more refined. Make sure Junior still thinks that looking for shells and riding bikes are entertaining — you won’t find rowdiness here.

THE 411 Trying to find someone to save charming Beach Theater from the wrecking ball is still the talk of the town, so be sure to catch an indie flick there while it’s still standing. Something else you won’t find in any other Shore spot: If you and your hardtop Lex convertible score one of the coveted metered spots, the Parking Angels have your back. On popular days and holidays, they feed your meter when it runs out, before those eagle-eyed meter maids can whip out their ticket pads. (The Angels saved more than 900 people from getting tickets last year.)

LOCAL LEGENDS No trip is complete without dinner at the Ebbitt Room — artisanal cheese plate, anyone? — one of the most well-executed (and priciest) dining options in town. For more portable potables, fill your wicker basket with handmade pies, hand-shaped crabcakes and Jersey’s best fresh produce at the ever-growing Tuesday farmers’ market before the short drive out to Cape May Winery for a tasting and tour. For the unsophisticated palette, classics like the ghost tours and the surprisingly impressive Cape May County Zoo — with its big cats and an aviary filled with flocks of flamingos — remain bang-for-the-buck diversions.

WHAT’S NEW The town just made visits for day-trippers a whole lot easier with a free noon-to-9-p.m. trolley service right from the free-to-park elementary-school lot to the beachfront promenade. On the real estate front, Curtis Bashaw’s newest project here, due to open in 2009, is Ocean House, a truly Bashawnian (see Congress Hall, the Virginia Hotel, the almost-open Chelsea in A.C.) ­member-owned equity beach club. Meaning you could have a stake in a sweet three-bedroom suite in a property with a pool and gym … on the beach.

Retail-wise, the buzz is about the Washington Street Mall’s spiffy new look. A wider, red-bricked thoroughfare lined with rosebushes, hydrangeas and some new fountains makes it an even cuter place for a post-dinner stroll, which has inspired some store and restaurant owners to do their own sprucing. Moonfish and the Ugly Mug both have new owners. The Mall will be in full swing during the Harbor Fest (6/20-6/22), the biggest sunrise-to-sunset citywide event of the season, complete with bonfires, food, music and crafts. Regardless of whether the Beach Theater stays or goes, the town has planned a new way for you to get your big-screen fix: free beach movie nights.

TYPICAL DAY Wave to locals tending their window boxes, mini-lawns and maple trees as you saunter over to the ­yellow-and-white porch of the Mad Batter, everyone’s favorite spot to fill up on yummy orange almond brioche French toast. Post-gorge, hit the beach, ride your beach cruiser, or lounge on the immaculate poolside lawn of Congress Hall. No respectable Cape May-er hauls a cooler of Yuengling to the shoreline; swing by the Seaside Cheese Co. for a beach pail full of cheeses and crackers.

Check out the latest offering at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, which is pretty much where every activity, special event and just plain kooky happening (like lectures on funeral customs in the Victorian era) originates. Come dusk, there are so many upscale, creative and charming restaurants to choose from that you won’t get stuck at a dumpy crab shack (unless you want to). Congress Hall’s Blue Pig Tavern is consistently carefree, and the charming, flower-filled atrium and killer wine list at the Washington Inn are legendary.

For after-dinner imbibing spots, try beers at the hopes-to-be-franchised Ugly Mug or cosmos at sleek, ­DJ-ed Martini Beach. But for our money, the underground vibe, cougar-watching and live music can’t be beat at the Boiler Room. If you call it an early night, you can still end it the best way ever — with ice cream. The Mall’s DQ is open till 11.

NOTABLE SHOOBIES Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christie Whitman, Tina Fey.

DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT A copy of The Ghosts of Cape May, a haunting tour of all the spots you frequent every summer.