Visitors to Cape May’s Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., can enjoy a delicious lunch or afternoon tea when the Carriage House Café & Tearoom reopens for the season Friday, April 26. Enjoy free, convenient parking on the estate and combine your meal with a wide variety of tours and activities on the grounds and throughout Cape May, offered by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC).
Gracious, yet casual, dining awaits with a café menu that includes signature sandwiches, salads and tea sandwiches, as well as homemade soups and quiche, plus the popular Classic Tea Luncheon and Afternoon Tea featuring loose tea service and specialty teas from the House of Tea in Philadelphia.
Visitors to Cape May’s Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., can purchase a bottle of wine to accompany their lunch or afternoon tea at the Carriage House Café & Tearoom, now that the Emlen Physick Estate has been approved by the state of New Jersey as an outlet for the retail sale of wine by Cape May Winery. Visitors may also purchase bottles at the Carriage House Museum Shop for consumption in approved outdoor areas as well as to take home as a souvenir. Cape May Winery, located at 711 Townbank Road, North Cape May, has grown over the past two decades to produce some of South Jersey’s most distinguished wines.
The Carriage House Café & Tearoom reopens for the season April 26. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through May 22 and daily beginning May 23.
Located on the grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate, The Carriage House is a historic building in its own right. Built in 1876, the dining tables in the Carriage House Café & Tearoom are intimately arranged in the original stalls that were home to the Estate’s carriage horses. The tack cases now display gifts offered in the adjacent Carriage House Museum Shop. The Carroll Gallery, also located in the Carriage House and home to changing exhibits, once housed the Estate’s carriages. You can also dine outside on the brick patio beneath the red-striped tent overlooking the Estate’s remembrance and herb gardens. Here you’ll enjoy a wonderful view of the main house and its grounds with traditional Victorian plantings and landscape design.
Combine lunch with a visit to the Physick Estate house museum, an 18-room mansion restored to its original splendor, where you’ll learn how the Physick family lived, one of Cape May’s wealthiest Victorian families. All areas of the Carriage House are wheelchair accessible. The first floor of the Physick House is also accessible.
If you have a busy schedule, everything is available for takeout, too. For reservations call 609-224-6064.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation, and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. MAC membership is open to all. For information about MAC’s year-round schedule of tours, festivals, and special events, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit MAC’s website at capemaymac.org. For information about restaurants, accommodations and shopping, call the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May at 609-884-5508. . For information about historic accommodations, contact Cape May Historic Accommodations at capemaylodging.com.