4. Cape May, N.J.

Some believe that good things come to those who wait, and finding a decent beach in New Jersey may be the best test to that theory. Far down the Jersey Shore, beyond syringe-on-the-beach jokes, beyond thong-thronged boardwalks, beyond the point where anyone says "Joizey" is the Grande Old Dame of the Eastern Shore, Cape May.

Cape May is the aristocrat of beaches with the prices and lineage to prove it. When nearby Philadelphia was the capital of the Colonial states, several of the Founding Fathers came to Cape May to let down their wigs. Later the fashionable members of New York society flocked to the area, but the flash point (literally speaking) for Cape May didn't come until 1878, when a fire devastated most of the town. Out of the ashes arose an ornate Victorian fantasy world of elegant seaside hotels and gingerbread mansions that became the sandbox for gilded society. Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, held her debutante party in Cape May, and so many presidents have vacationed here that several hotels still vie for the title of "The Summer White House."

If earlier straw-hatted glitteratti were to return to Cape May today, they would instantly recognize many of their old haunts, thanks to the town's status as a National Historic Landmark and its preservation-mad citizens. The locals are passionate about their role as cultural custodians, and it shows. The sand is always raked and the area's signature Victorian trim, which adorns the town like cobwebs, is always fresh with paint. But Cape May is not a place full of crusty Miss Havishams. It is peppered with the same warm, easy-going personalities typical to beach Meccas around the world - it's just that the tune they march to is more Gilbert & Sullivan than Jimmy Buffet.
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