Cape May could become a real Hallmark Christmas movie. I’m rooting for it

The seasons must be changing. Yesterday I was writing about the Hess truck's back, and today I'm writing about Cape May possibly getting its own Hallmark Christmas movie. Two Christmas stories in two days, in the middle of August. I promise I'm not rushing anything. The news just keeps happening.

I have a confession to make first, though. My wife and I have a guilty pleasure, and it's Hallmark Christmas movies. I know exactly how predictable they are. Someone successful moves back to their hometown right as the holidays approach. They get reacquainted with someone they never really knew that well in high school. There's friction at first. They end up working on some kind of project together. They grow closer. One of them pulls back for a reason that never quite holds up. And then, somehow, every single time, they realize it was true love all along. I wrote my own version of that plot a while back, set in Princeton, because the town practically writes the script itself at Christmastime.

Now Cape May might get to live it for real

Hallmark launched a national search back on July 1 for its Merriest Christmas Towns contest, part of the network's 25th anniversary celebration, inviting communities across the country to make the case for why they deserve the title. This week, Hallmark narrowed the field down to 25 finalists, and Cape May made the cut. Hallmark's own description of the town calls it a "grand Victorian seaside resort that feels like a living Christmas card." Anyone who's walked past those gingerbread-trim houses in December already knows exactly what they mean.

SEE ALSO: A Hallmark style story in Princeton NJ — the plots write themselves 

What Cape May could actually win

All 25 finalists get designated as an Official Hallmark Christmas Town. But the real prize goes to just one winner, who gets the chance to become an actual filming location for a future Hallmark original movie. Voting is open now through September 4, once a day, at Hallmark's contest site, and Cape May has its own direct voting link if you want to help push it over the top.

I don't think Cape May needs much help looking the part. That town could probably skip the movie magic entirely and just point a camera down Washington Street in December. But if this actually happens, and Cape May ends up hosting a real Hallmark shoot next winter, I already know exactly what I'll be doing that week. Watching every second of it, guilty pleasure and all.