If you like the Do the Shore section of the Herald: pick up Do the Shore magazine! It’s a free, expanded version of Do the Shore with more fun features and more photos. We work overtime in the summer to bring you the magazine, completely redesigned this year.
In this week’s edition, we’re taking you to our favorite places to shop on the Cape. Cape May County has a dearth of “big box” stores, which gives the Cape’s many mom-and-pop businesses a chance to shine. We beg: no matter where you live, shop local whenever you can.
We chose this week’s batch of stores to feature based on our dearly-held preferences, not based on sponsorships. That’s important to us; we wanted to highlight stores that represent something special about our peninsula.
Collin Hall takes you to Hooked on Books in Wildwood, one of the last remaining bookstores on the Cape. Owner Kieran Linnane still believes that a physical book can change your life. Read about it in the magazine and in the front of this week’s Herald.
Collin also interviews the owner of Givens, a clothing and lifestyle store on the Washington Street Mall. Lindsay Givens Casale, who founded the store nine years ago, is fighting the good fight against fast fashion by working with brands that can vouch for every step of their manufacturing process. It helps, too, that the stuff she stocks is funky and fresh.
Over in Villas, we head to a used art supply store that has everything you need for an art project at a much cheaper price than the big-box store equivalent. We’ve visited this store at least a dozen times; part of the joy of a visit is seeing what’s new each week.
We waltzed over to Stone Harbor for an interview with the owner of Coffee Talk, one of the most popular cafes on the island. The spacious café feels like a cozy library, and this is a place where Taylor Swift played live sets during the earliest days of her career.
Writer Pamela Dollak takes you to two stores, both in bright pink buildings, that prove you don’t have to visit a major city to find great fashion.
Our editor gets on a soapbox about the importance of supporting local stores even when their products cost a bit more than Walmart.
Friends, the summer is winding down! But there’s still a ton to do on the Cape; check out our events calendar in the Herald and in the magazine. We’ll bring you through the highlights:
Sidewalk sales, where vendors bring their wares to the street to sell on heavy discount before the tourist season ends, hit Sea Isle and Stone Harbor the weekend of the 23rd. And if you want to grab some cheap used books, the Court House library is hosting a book sale from Monday, August 26 to Wednesday, August 28.
Belleplain State Forest, in the northern part of the county, hosts free weekly hikes and events. On Thursday, August 22 at 10 a.m. they will host a guided walk through the forest’s trail system. An end-of-summer smore’s and hike event takes place near the end of the month, as does beach yoga, stargazing, and a nature lecture all for free at the park.
Over at the Zoo, be sure to check out a free jazz and wind symphony at the park’s beautiful bandstand. That’s August 23 at 2 p.m.
Think you’re good at Skee-Ball? Time to be humbled: the free-to-enter World Championship Skee-Ball Tournament hits Ed’s Funcade on Saturday, August 31 from 7 to 10 p.m. on the Wildwoods boardwalk.
One of our favorite car shows of the year, the Volkswagen Roots Classic, comes to Wildwood from Friday, September 6 to Sunday, September 8.
The festival season approaches, but we won’t tell you about it until our next issue, the final one of the summer. That one will be focused on the “festival circuit” that makes Fall so special here.
Thanks as always for reading Do the Shore! If you want to pester our editor for any reason, give them a call at 609-886-8600 ext. 156 or by email at chall@cmcherald.com
