Cuomo explains how the rail lines transported 1,500 passengers each day in summertime during the Victorian era. The excursion also takes us to the Cape May Canal, a man-made waterway dug in 1942 from the Atlantic Ocean to Delaware Bay to provide safe passage for boats during World War II, to avoid threatening German U-boats off the coast. Cape May is just one stop during my visit to the South Jersey Shore that, like in yesteryear, remains one of the top regional summer vacation getaways. My trip takes me from the Atlantic City Boardwalk and the glittering casino / hotel towers to coastal roads along 40-plus miles of beaches. I drive south through Ocean City and Sea Isle City, reaching the sleepier towns of Avalon and Stone Harbor, their neighborhoods lined with vacation homes. I visit the Wildwood Boardwalk, bustling in the high season with arcades, water parks, cotton candy stands, and restaurants, making it one of the country’s top family vacation spots. I end my trip in Cape May at the far southeast tip of New Jersey. “It’s the Victorian feel that’s the soul of Cape May,” says Jill Heim, Director of Sales and Marketing at the grand Inn of Cape May, an iconic landmark of the city’s 19th-century distinctive architecture—hexagonal towers, a mansard roof and a shaded wraparound porch. “Victorian and Cape May go hand-in-hand,” she adds.
Exploring the South Jersey Shore Casinos to Victorian architecture, but beaches remain the allure Feature and photos by Richard Varr It took a visit to Cape May to ride the rails—actually, bike the rails. I’m riding on a two-seat rail bike akin to a small flatbed rail car, pedaling along this beach community’s saltwater marshes and flat coastal areas with dense shrubs and low forests, ideal habitats for southern New Jersey’s seasonal migrating birds. And it’s all along historic train tracks. “These tracks date back to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War,” says Jake Cuomo, the General Manager of the Revolution Rail Co. who’s pedaling beside me. “This is part of the Reading Rail System. These tracks were laid down in 1863 and were the sole rail line in and out of Cape May for about 30 years.” It’s my first time riding a rail bike, an exciting and expanding touring option that’s only been around for just over 10 years in the U.S. Today there are more than 30 such operators nationwide. “This is a unique activity as you get to see a part of Cape May that no one will see unless you’re on a rail bike,” continues Cuomo. “It’s great for families, especially in the summer.”
Visitors riding two-seat rail bikes, which are akin to sitting in small flatbed rail cars.
EXPLORING THE SOUTH JERSEY SHORE
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE SUMMER 2026 | 19
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