get away
■ by Christine Koubek
A suite at the Lokal Hotel
The Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey
Small Museum, Big Story Named by Smithsonian magazine as one of the most anticipated new museums of 2020, the Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey, located in Cape May, opened virtually last year and in-person this year on Juneteenth (June 19, the date that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.). The exhibits pay tribute to Cape May’s role in the Underground Railroad and Tubman’s life as an abolitionist and women’s suffrage activist. Tubman worked in Cape May as a cook and domestic worker in the early 1850s, raising money to return to Maryland’s Eastern Shore to rescue more enslaved people. The museum is housed at Howell House, formerly the parsonage for Macedonia Baptist Church. Interesting items include a signed first-edition printing of the 1872 book The Underground Railroad Records by abolitionist leader William Still, and several African masks and art pieces that belonged to the Rev. Robert Davis, a former pastor of the church who once lived at Howell House. Additional exhibits include a timeline of Cape May’s Black history, a list of the once plentiful and varied Black-owned businesses, plus details on other notable residents, such as Stephen Smith. After buying his freedom, Smith went on to run a successful coal and lumber business and became an active conductor in the Underground Railroad. Admission is $10; $5 for ages 10 and younger. Reservations are recommended. Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey, 632 Lafayette St., Cape May, New Jersey, harriettubmanmuseum.org
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Opened in Cape May, New Jersey in the summer of 2019, Lokal Hotel is an intriguing cross between an Airbnb (self check-in and spacious) and a beachy-chic boutique hotel (excellent “invisible service” by text and iPad, or in-person by request). To help guests feel at home, each of the eight apartment-style suites includes a dining area and ample amenities, from beach bags, Yeti coolers and beach towels, to a kitchen stocked with coffee from Out There Coffee, a local shop. Two rooms have ocean views; all have comfortable porch seating. The heated saltwater pool is open past Labor Day. During beach season, a service attendant sets up umbrellas and lounge chairs on the beach across the street (including on weekends in September). Additional chairs and umbrellas are available on-site for use in the offseason. Rates begin at $744 and drop to $411 per night after Labor Day. Lokal Hotel, 5 Stockton Place, Cape May, New Jersey, 609-536-9157, staylokal.com
TIM HAWK (THE HARRIET TUBMAN MUSEUM); HEIDI’S BRIDGE (LOKAL HOTEL)
Beach Bound
September/October 2021 ■ ArlingtonMagazine.com
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