Must See Gift Shop in Cape May, NJ: Our Family Loves it

There is a wonderful gift shop in Cape May City, New Jersey.

We stop by every time that we visit Cape May.

The area is called Sunset Beach and it’s a great spot in Cape May City.

Owned and operated by The Hume Family for the past 51 years. It was developed by Marvin Hume, a local hero in World War II.

Marvin opened his first gift shop on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in 1957. It was called the Boardwalk Rock and Shell Shop, which he owned and operated for 20 years.

Marvin purchased the land at Sunset Beach in 1973. The rest is history. It has endured and thrived during the test of time.

Larry continues to do a lowering of the American flag ceremony every day in honor of his father’s service. For those who have seen this closing ceremony, it is profound in nature and very popular.

Larry, his wife Michele and their entire staff are service-minded and they do such a great job.

I am blown away by the volume and diverse amount of inventory that they have.

From historic New Jersey photographs, books, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, food and beverage items and countless speciality items … you can walk the store for hours and never see everything that they have.

You also never know who you will run into at Sunset Beach Gifts.

For example, we ran into Frank and Karin Campo back on November 24, 2017. They rode their bicycles from Absecon, New Jersey to Cape May City.

We took what is now a priceless photo together, with Frank’s unexpected passing earlier this year.

Harry Hurley photo.

Yesterday, we had a great conversation in the store with Larry and Michele. They have been married for the past 40 years. They are such an amazing team.

They are great, hands-on owners. We’ve quietly watched how well they treat their staff and customers.

In addition to their iconic main gift shop, they have a fantastic 18-hole miniature golf course … there is also a new seafood restaurant, The Fish House that (Ross and Lauren) have developed on The Hume’s Sunset Beach expansive footprint. It’s getting favorable reviews.

Below is a sample of a fantastic fish sandwich that is available. I can’t wait to have one next time that we visit.

The Fish House.

The USS Atlantus is the most famous of the 12 concrete ships. There was a critical shortage of steel during World War I, so the federal government turned to concrete experimentation to create ships.

38 ships were planned, however, only 12 were ever put in a service.

It ran aground in 1926 right off of Sunset Beach. There are magnifying observation glasses available to get an up close look at the concrete shipwreck.

Here’s a photo that I recently took.

Harry Hurley photo.

Also nearby, right before you reach Sunset Beach is a very historic, World War II “Look Out” Tower.

There is wonderful history to explore in Cape May City.

The parking is voluminous and easily accessible at The Hume’s Sunset Beach establishments.