The Ludlam Hotel, Bar & Grill, located in the center of Sea Isle City, is the complex formerly known as LaCosta, that was acquired by new owners in late 2020. It has since been completely transformed and updated throughout. Along with its new and improved look, menu and chefs, renovations, additions and customer service, are the standards set by the owners and goal for this to be a place where family and friends can gather.
Sea Isle City has a fantastic community of homeowners and visitors alike, who love to visit town whenever they can; even in the off-season. Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, Sea Isle City puts on a delightful holiday parade followed by Mayor Leonard Desiderio’s annual tree lighting ceremony. It is a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season and it draws thousands of visitors. As the Ludlam continues to focus on creating a family-friendly atmosphere, the team decided to host a free Winter Village on the same weekend, so people could enjoy Sea Isle all weekend long. After last year’s successful event, the Ludlam wanted to bring it back and make it an annual tradition.
Over the two-day event, an estimated 4,000+ people visited the Ludlam to enjoy many activities offered to guests of all ages on Friday, November 24 and Saturday November 25. The biggest attraction was most likely the iceless ice skating rink, sponsored by CP Rankin Roofing Experts. The ice rink had approximately 1,000 skaters over the weekend, with skate rentals included in the skating admission ticket.
While kids and parents waited to ice skate, they could hang out in a tent where they could create crafts and color pages provided by the Ludlam.
There were over 20 craft vendors in a large, heated tented offering unique gifts and pop-up shops so people could get a head start on their holiday shopping, or treat themselves to something different! The shopping village tent was sponsored by the First Bank of Sea Ise. Sea Isle Spiked Iced Tea was there on the Saturday of the weekend for photo-ops on their huge inflatable chair.
The weekend was filled with live entertainment that included visits from Santa Claus himself, a Celtic Christmas Experience featuring an eight-piece band and Irish dancers from the Celtic Flame School of Irish Dance, dueling pianos, a family-friendly festive DJ and live music all day and night by several artists that performed in one of the decorated, heated tents and inside the decked out lounge. The lounge is now open every Thursday through Sunday, with live music on the weekends. It’s the perfect place to host a holiday party! Be sure to get in the holiday spirit in the decorated setting of the lounge, and join them on New Year’s Eve, too.
In addition to the many restaurants open in town, the Ludlam had a food truck on-site, Mike’s Seafood who served crab balls, fries, and crab bisque on-site, and the Boy Scouts had food with several options as well as they managed some festive kid games. The sweetest bakery in town, Shorebreak Cafe, is located on the Ludlam property and was open all weekend with extended hours. The scratch-bakery serves treats, pastries, Lavazza coffee, all the hot chocolate little kids dream of, and so much more. They also had s’more kits available for purchase so guests could enjoy making s’mores by the bonfires outside during the two-day event. If you haven’t given them a visit yet, definitely do so this holiday season! They have festive cookie kits, Christmas and winter themed pastries, and they offer cookie trays and cakes you can pre-order for your holiday party!