I made my way to the Tuesday afternoon West Cape May Farmers Market, to experience what capemaytimes.com called the upgrade — which it definitely is. More importantly, I wanted to sample first hand the fresh popped Kettle Corn.

My plan? Film the kettle corn popping and post an entertaining clip online. This Food Network fantasy had me interviewing the cooks and learning the finer points of stirring in the old fashioned magic. Maybe there's even light banter to fill the gaps of a popping new friendship. "You're not filming us". That was the word from the red hat lady who ran the popping gig. Grand vision shattered, I walked the Market to see what I could learn. Here's my take...


Volunteers from the Center for Community Arts paint a sunny new mural (click) ... the market is indeed upgraded from what I remember a few years back. The West Cape May Farmer's Market is lively, vibrant, and seemingly well run, as even the police helped direct traffic. This is a great Cape May experience to share with your kids. In fact, many events like horse back riding and face painting were specifically for kids.


The lady in the red hat wanted no part of my grand filming plans. She was very nice though when I bought a bag. In pockets, however, it did feel a little pricey. If the market bears a bump in price — and my guess is the summer crowd will — then more power to people selling their wares. But there seems a slight captive market pricing mentality that I hope doesn't hurt their brand in the long run. But since the W. Cape May Market only runs until the end of August, long run is a relative term, I guess. One interesting story on pricing. There were identical half pint berries literally two booths apart. One went for $3.99 and the other went for $2.50. Market forces will jack those prices back to equilibrium, but it did feel like there was a hint of "let's see how much we can charge" in a few of the booths.

Pricing aside, you get a wonderful spread of fresh veggies, produce, flowers, arts and crafts and unique food items including authentic southern style Bar-B-Que. If you're visiting Cape May, this weekly event is worth checking out.


Back to the Kettle Corn. I bought a small $3 bag and after the first bite I could barely stuff the golden sweet kernels into my mouth fast enough. Light and delicious, if it were possible to put the entire bag of popcorn into my mouth at one time, I would've done that. I highly recommend popcorn lovers grab a bag of this delectable delight. Sneak it into your next movie theater show. It's half the price and a thousand times tastier than what you'll find at the over priced concessions booth. By the way, if you get caught trying to sneak your Kettle bag in to see Pirates, write about it and email us. We love those kinds of stories.