A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL HOTEL & A GREAT BIG THANK YOU!

Just a little over a week ago, Pete and I were the guests of Chris Poh's weekly radio program, Bleeker Street Café on WDVR's 89.7 FM station (in Hunterdon County, NJ), where we were asked questions about reported friendly spirits at The National Hotel, sightings, etc.  Of course, "'tis the season," with Halloween just following the radio interview.  It was actually a lot of fun to sit in front of the microphone and recount the many stories that have been told to us, that have been written down by previous owners of The National Hotel, and which now make up the colorful past of Frenchtown.  As far as I'm concerned, the bottom line is that if in fact there is a ghost, it's a friendly ghost.  That's all I need to know.

Pete was recently contacted by a descendant of the "Apgar Sisters" and she was so generous that she has begun to send us original photos of her family when they owned The National Hotel.  Check out this photo montage of the flood of March 22, 1936:

But Halloween is over.  The costumes are back in the closet.  The temperatures have dropped and we are in the middle of November gearing up for the upcoming Holidays.  The National Hotel has been a fortunate recipient of the embrace that only artists can give.  We are in the middle of a fantastic holiday season filled with music, poetry, and new initiatives.  And this all comes from the heart and soul of town...as trite as that sounds.  It is the local artists that have chosen The National Hotel as their venue of choice to put the arts in the limelight.  It's not Pete; it's not me...it's the artists themselves.  And on top of that--our local patrons and arts enthusiasts continue to thank us!

The latter has never ceased. The thank you's from our patrons and from our Frenchtown neighbors continue to this day. It's truly unbelievable that one's customers (many of whom have truly become a member of The National Hotel family), demonstrate their gratitude for having this grand old lady of a building open again. Pete and I have many a conversation over how unusual an occurrence this is, having been business owners for many years. But that's the power of The National Hotel. The power of this historic establishment and what it means, deeply and profoundly, to our area neighbors. The power that it evokes to our patrons, but also to us, to Pete, to me, to Marlon, and to everyone who is involved with The National Hotel.

Pete and I have these conversations daily.  I'm being completely honest with this statement.  There has not been a day that Pete and I have not felt the warmth, the embrace, the grateful endorsement by local patrons, tourists, and neighbors alike.  All I can say is "Thank You," back to you.  There is absolutely no way, no possible way, that we could open our doors day after day, if it weren't for your patronage, your dedication to continue to keep the building alive and breathing. 

Our artists' listing keeps growing, our volunteer hosts and program developers continue to self-identify themselves, and you continue to support us.  What can we say other than "Thank YOU!  Please keep coming back!"

Check out our ever-expanding listing of performers, our special events and our weekly additions to our menu, not to mention our most recent seasonal menu launch.  Thank you for supporting us, and moreover, for welcoming us into your lives.  Pete and I are having a BLAST!  Did I say this already???

Please let us know if you want to recognize your server, our bartenders, or anyone on our staff.  They'll be pleased to know you remember them.  Follow us on Twitter, find us on facebook, check out our youtube channel, and sign up on our guest book to receive frequent updates of upcoming events.  Isn't it good to be the first to know?

Sunday Musical Afternoon Series Hits the Spot!!!

There are so many reasons to be proud of our little corner of the world...from the beauty and history of Frenchtown itself, to the businesses around town that welcome outsiders "into the fold" and encourage them to come back to our little town, to the local residents who go out of their way to support our local establishments and be a part of our community.

Today, we have the pleasure of hosting another session of our Sunday Musical Afternoon series. It's a day that we have been anxiously awaiting for a few weeks: Mike Pfeiffer will perform from 5 - 7 p.m. upstairs in our Restaurant & Bar. If you have been fortunate enough to catch him during our Thursday Open Mic Night series, then you know you have to come to The National Hotel today. What a performer! Just super. I'll try to capture some of it today on video & will post it to The National Hotel NJ youtube channel. In the meantime here's one from an impromptu jam session where musicians jumped in at The Rat:

For us, having recently celebrated our one-year anniversary of the date we took ownership of The National Hotel, it's just another gift Frenchtown has given us. One year. Oh yes, we remember the renovations in the dark, using flashlights to make our way around the shuttered building because JCP&L was busy restoring power to homes who had suffered losses during a recent storm, and was therefore unable to establish new lines...and the water that had been turned off and took yet another week to have in our building. Oh yes, we remember cleaning borrowing buckets of water from our neighbors...But no matter the challenges, we are so pleased with the result today--especially, because The National Hotel has become family to so many people who come through its doors frequently to enjoy wonderful food, great drinks, and above all, that sense of community, that warmth you feel when you see familiar faces, old friends and new.

Yesterday was Frenchtown's National Night Out, an annual celebration and "give-back" to the community, where the Frenchtown Police Dept. organizes a special day in town with lots of activities for the children, good food, and fun for the whole family, together with the Lions Club. Pete and I stopped by to share in a little bit of the fun, and we were greeted by SOOOOO many people that we felt as if we were floating. The music was fun, the food hit the spot, and the Birch Beer was awesome!

We loved seeing the kids enjoying themselves in gigantic inflatable bounce houses and slides...and to see their anxious faces when the raffle drawing came, each one waiting to see who would win the bicycles and helmets, raffle tickets in hand...incredible fun! Congratulations Frenchtown!

Alright, lots to do today...off to the races...getting ready for this afternoon's performance, while actually still having warm memories from last week's fabulous performance by The Royal Arboretum, featuring Lee and Kristen. I'm not done editing, but will share clips soon...

IS THERE REALLY A GHOST AT THE NATIONAL HOTEL?

John Stringfellow, owner, editor and photographer of www.BestofNJ.com* and also of www.frenchtowner.com, was kind enough to email us this historic photo along with an earlier one I posted a few days ago. Isn't it a beautiful building? Look at the old bridge and the majesty of it all.

Nancy Blackwell, who owned The National Hotel for numerous years also dropped by last week to show us other photos--and even the original newspaper clipping of the truck that went right through its front doors! I have to scan these documents to be able to share them with you. There are some beautiful photographs, old menus, brochures, etc., that Nan was able to bring in. We are just so grateful!

But there's more...we have been informed--and have verified it through concierge desk log books, that there apparently is a friendly ghost residing in one of the 3rd floor rooms. The entries in the logs indicate that guests have come down to report that there is an older lady in a nightgown who asks questions about technology and the use of new gadgets in the room. She is reportedly non-threatening; just inquisitive, with statements such as "How does this telephone work?" and "What does that thing do?" referring to the television. Hmmm....

There are many stories yet to uncover, but for now, this latest one has captured the imagination of our daughters. Our oldest turns 12 in November and she is excitedly planning an overnight birthday celebration in that room. She has now spent numerous hours on the 3rd floor, in anticipation of running into this great lady of a ghost. Our youngest is equally excited, but has decided to make other plans for her upcoming birthday this week.

Happy Birthday Laina!!!

*Read more about The Best of New Jersey at http://bestofnj.com/