You don't have to look far to find plenty of interesting offerings in this town that are anything but Victorian.

Take the Mission Inn B&B, for example. No antimacassars here. Instead you'll find tiles, adobe, mission bells and swallows.

Swallows? Inside? Well, not living birds, but artistic renderings.

Owner and proprietor Susan Babineau-Roberts has completely reinvented this 1912 edifice to match its decor to its California-Spanish architecture. Besides the furnishings, there is artwork everywhere you look, transporting all who enter to the southwest of colonial days.

The guest rooms are especially striking. Each evokes one of the 21 missions in California.

Susan has replaced the numbers on the rooms with murals painted on the transoms depicting actual missions. Step inside and you'll be there.

In the Capistrano Room, for example, your eyes are drawn to the floor-to-ceiling headboard, hand-carved and painted to look like the Capistrano Mission. In keeping with its history, the walls are painted with swallows in flight, returning as they always do between March 16 and 18^th.

Enter the Santa Barbara Room, and you'll feel as if you're looking down a hill onto the harbor where a three-dimensional sailboat floats lazily by. This room also has a floor-to-ceiling hand-carved headboard.

Obviously, Susan did her homework. After she bought the property and decided what she wanted to do with it, she and a friend flew to California and visited all 21 missions, taking photos and recording descriptions. Today, each room has a printed copy of historical information concerning the mission it replicates.

Meanwhile, her husband, raymond, researched the history of the property. He found Nelson Z. Graves and Pete Shields (0f the Peter Shield's Inn) had their "Spanish bungalow" built as part of a development of the east side of town.

During its early years, it was touted as a cottage by the beach, open only in summer, and it hosted such celebrities as Tyrone Power, Diana Barrymore, and Errol Flynn.

Despite this distinction, with its interior painted mostly white, some thought it looked "institutional."

Susan and Raymond bought it in June of 2002, and by October, they began their renovations.

Their vision began to take shape when they brought in artist Jim McLaughlin of "Painted Pastimes" in Audubon, NJ. Working together with Susan on color and design schemes, they created eight guest rooms that embody the spirit of the California Spanish missions.

John Murphy of Phoenix Construction added his artistry in creating adobe fireplaces for four new guest rooms as well as other unique features.

The hallway that leads to the rooms is painted in a texture method so that it looks like weathered adobe, punctuated here and there with turquoise colored tiles and a climbing rose bush in full bloom.

On the first floor, there are also southwestern treasures in every space.

In the dining room, there's a magnificent stained glass window circa 1912. In the Great Room, there is a 16 foot barrel ceiling, a 12 foot high brick fireplace, both original to the building. The Great Room is a perfect setting for the seasonal twelve (12) foot tall Christmas tree.

The solarium features a cozy corner fireplace and a 1945 original painting done by local artist Nina Scull, who lived in the house after graves sold it. At that time, they called it the "Nina Scull House."

Plantation shutters have taken the place of the blinds, and allow the mission theme to follow through.

All of these intriguing touches set the scene for the gourmet breakfasts and happy hour fare.

The full gourmet breakfast begins with juice - every morning a different variety (deliciously creative combinations like peach mango).

Next, the fruit dish is served: poached pears or peaches stuffed with granola, brown sugar and cinnamon.

An entree follows. Susan's favorite is egg souffle which she said are "like little cupcakes" served with a blackberry sauce or fresh apple topping. (The blackberries are grown in Susan's garden.) breakfast meats are the next course.

Susan is very sensitive to her guests preferences. She always asks in advance whether they have any dietary restrictions, and she purchases all the produce from the local farm market.

Happy hour is another culinary delight of fresh baked cookies accompanied by complimentary wine, hot cider with cinnamon, pink lemonade, or hot chocolate.

An inviting fresh fruit bowl is always present, as is tea with all the fixings.

There's also an outdoor veranda with wrought iron furniture that is dressed in linen for afternoon happy hour when the weather permits.

In all, the Mission Inn is a delightfully different B&B, bringing a slice of California to Cape May.