"My hope is that we greet some new customers, who have a positive experience and want to come back." Anne Fitzsimmons, who has owned Jays on Third for nineteen years, said that about Stone Harbor's fall dining push, and Cape May Current repeated it in a September piece on what it called the island's off-season wager. Fall Restaurant Weekend ran October 8 to 11, and that piece of the bet is over. The next one comes over Thanksgiving weekend, when the Borough of Stone Harbor packs its holiday season into two days and roughly a dozen blocks.
On both days, nearly everything happens along the same 96th Street spine. Friday begins at the Water Tower Lot and ends with the business district open late. Saturday's parade finishes at the beach lot at 95th Street and First Avenue, a short walk from the Women's Civic Club and its trees. If you plan the weekend as one route rather than a list of stops, you'll catch nearly all of it on foot.
Why the borough builds a holiday weekend at all
The numbers behind the weekend are lopsided. The 2020 census counted 796 year-round residents in Stone Harbor. The borough estimates its summer population at more than 20,000, which Cape May Current describes as a swing of roughly 25 to one. A downtown sized for August has to give people a reason to show up in November.
The county's numbers suggest the reason exists. According to the same Cape May Current report, at the 2026 Cape May County Tourism Conference, Tourism Director Diane Wieland reported $8.44 billion in visitor spending for 2025. That made Cape May County New Jersey's top tourism county for the first time in 32 years. She also cited the county's visitor survey: 52 percent of visitors now come two or more times a year. A Thanksgiving weekend on 96th Street is built for that second or third visit, and for the homeowners who come down to open the house one more time before winter.
Thursday is a sit-down meal
The weekend starts with a table, before the market opens. The Reeds at Shelter Haven is holding a traditional Thanksgiving buffet in its Sweet Grass Ballroom on Thursday, November 26, from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pricing is $75++ for adults and $35++ for children 4 to 12, with tax and gratuity extra. Children under 4 eat free. You need a reservation, made through the hotel's online form. The Reeds says a submitted request is first come, first served and doesn't guarantee a seat, so families who want a set time should book early.
Friday runs from late morning to 9 p.m.
Friday, November 27, is the long day, and the Borough's event page lists it in an order you can follow on foot.
- 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Holiday Market and Carousel open at the Water Tower Lot. The scavenger hunt registers there too.
- 12:45 p.m. The Cape May Dancers perform.
- 1 p.m. The Paw Prints Pet Parade moves down 96th Street.
- 5:45 to 6:15 p.m. The tree is lit on 96th Street.
- 6 to 9 p.m. The Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce runs Hospitality Night across the business district.
Cape May Current describes Hospitality Night as a merchants' evening with complimentary snacks and drinks while shops stay open late. The timing matters. The market closes at 5, the tree lighting fills the half hour around 6, and the shops start their evening just as the crowd from the lighting is already on 96th Street. The day hands off from the lot to the street without a gap.
Friday also has the longest hours for the Women's Civic Club of Stone Harbor's Winter Wonderland Festival of Trees, open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the club at 96th Street and the beach. Cape May Current reports more than 30 trees and wreaths decorated and sponsored by area merchants and organizations, all open for viewing and silent bidding. Admission is free, and Toys for Tots collection boxes are on site. With the club open until 8, you can walk east to the beach end of 96th Street after the tree lighting, see the trees, and walk back into Hospitality Night with an hour to spare.
Saturday packs the morning and saves the parade for dark
Saturday, November 28, runs on a different rhythm. The Borough's Saturday listing starts with the Kids Holiday Downtown Dash. Registration is at 9:30 a.m. and the race starts at 10. The Holiday Market and Carousel reopen at the Water Tower Lot from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., an hour shorter than Friday, with the scavenger hunt again registering at the market. The Festival of Trees opens from 10 a.m. to noon, its last two hours of the weekend. Anyone hoping to place a final silent bid has a short window that overlaps the Dash.
| Saturday, Nov. 28 | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30 a.m. | Dash registration | Downtown |
| 10 a.m. | Kids Holiday Downtown Dash starts | Downtown |
| 10 a.m. to noon | Festival of Trees, final hours | Women's Civic Club, 96th Street and the beach |
| 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Holiday Market and Carousel | Water Tower Lot |
| 6:30 p.m. | Stone Harbor Christmas Parade | Third Avenue to the 95th Street beach lot |
The parade is the event that turns the weekend into a walk. The Borough's 2026 registration form gives a 5:30 p.m. lineup and a 6:30 p.m. start, with participants staging between 108th and 111th Streets. The Borough's event page lists the start as Third Avenue at 107th Street. Either way, the route from there is the same:
- North on Third Avenue to 96th Street
- Right onto 96th Street
- Left onto Second Avenue
- Right onto 95th Street, ending at the beach lot at 95th Street and First Avenue
That puts more than ten blocks of Third Avenue frontage on the route before it ever reaches the business district. Families who'd rather skip the crowd at 96th Street can watch from anywhere along that stretch. The turn onto 96th Street brings the parade past the block where the tree was lit the night before, and the finish at the 95th Street beach lot puts it back by the ocean, near where the Festival of Trees stood that morning.
One scheduling note. A September listing in Cape May Current gave the weekend as November 28 and 29. The Borough's own pages, updated in October, and the parade form both place it on Friday, November 27, and Saturday, November 28. Plan around the Borough's dates.
Where to eat along the route
A weekend built for walking needs places to stop, and a few of them line up with the schedule.
Hot Bagels & More opened its sixth area shop at 235 96th St., between Moonstruck and Making Waves. 97.3 ESPN reports daily hours of 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. That makes it the natural first stop on Saturday morning before the 10 a.m. Dash. On Friday, plan around its 3 p.m. close, two hours before the market shuts.
Nemo's Pizza sits at 9815 Third Avenue, and its official contact page lists the Stone Harbor shop as open daily, year round. The 9800 block of Third Avenue falls between the parade's starting point and 96th Street, so it's on the route itself.
For a sit-down dinner on Friday or Saturday, the Water Star Grille at The Reeds posted fall hours of 4 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Breakfast runs daily from 7 to 11 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A 7:30 Saturday reservation lands right after the 6:30 parade passes.
For La Porteña's wood-fired grill on Third Avenue, Jays on Third a block away, and the other kitchens that worked the fall dining push, call ahead before building a holiday evening around a table.
The weekend before the weekend
This Saturday brings the island's other walk-the-blocks night. The Seven Mile Island Trick-or-Treat runs Saturday, October 31, from 5 to 8 p.m. across Avalon and Stone Harbor. Homeowners can register their property for the route, and someone from the Stone Harbor Recreation Department will drop off a festive marker for the house. Maps are available at the 82nd Street recreation building, according to the Seven Mile Times calendar. Four weeks later, the same streets fill again, this time heading toward the tree on 96th Street.
If you're coming down for Island Holiday Weekend to open the house one more time, and wondering what that house would bring in today's Stone Harbor market, Dorothy Phillips can give you a clear, private answer between the tree lighting and the parade. Get a Free Home Valuation, and enjoy the weekend on 96th Street knowing exactly where you stand.
