MUSIC, POETRY, AND MORE MUSIC

It's Thursday and it must be Open Mic Night at The National Hotel's Rathskeller Pub Lounge! Last week's Open Mic Night ended in a spontaneous jam session at the bitter end with the musicians still "in the house." It was great!!! Make sure you make it out tonight. Sign-ups start at 8:30 p.m. and the music kicks off at 9 p.m.

And there will be more music this Sunday, April 11th in the upstairs Restaurant, where the Jericho Mountain Grass ("The Grass") return to The National Hotel from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. The Grass blends traditional ballads and new-grass tunes. It consists of Carl Klingler on mandolin, Toby Hoffman on banjo, Peter Kane on fiddle, John Stetson on bass and John Gehman on guitar.

Right before The Grass take the microphone, we're hosting our FIRST Poetry Reading in The Rathskeller Pub Lounge from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. This is the brainchild of Skye Van Saun,

[photo courtesy of StepSisterPress.com]

who is a recognized poet, writer, editor, and teacher. She recently completed a chapbook, Versus Verses, and is Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge Poet.

Do plan to come by...spend the weekend if you have the time. We are so fortunate to be able to host these events, fill the building with music and the arts, and also the comfort of 10 luxury guest suites that can make the weekend feel truly special--especially if you add-in some special packages (like a spa session, a yoga lesson, or a pilates session...in your very room, or at our partners' facilities). Now I sound like a commercial, but the feedback we've gotten from our guests has just blown me away. I feel that I need to share this part of the building's success, and not just the music, the food and the drinks. With Marlon attending to every detail, our hotel guests have truly wonderful things to say--and I'm talking about the middle of winter, the bitter, cold winter days we've had! It's going to be so much nicer now that the good weather has arrived. The fact that each room was carefully designed and features bathrooms en suite, WiFi and modern amenities--not to mention breakfast the next morning--has helped The National Hotel become a truly complete hospitality destination--for our local neighbors and new friends who've come from far away. We are so proud to be able to be a part of the rebirth of The National Hotel and the renewed growth and spirit of Frenchtown itself.

And all this follows quite a busy week. Easter Sunday was just jumping with people filling the different areas of our great old building. And best of all, the weekend weather was so beautiful that guests were able to enjoy the porch.

The flowers are blooming...just a little over a week ago, they were just breaking the threshold between darkness and sunshine. This week, they are in full bloom. What a joy to see them grow. And what a surprise they were to me! Kristine Marinelli, our incredible interior designer, planted the bulbs in the fall when she helped us with our landscaping and floral designs. She, Marlon Aranha, our General Manager, and even Pete, kept this a secret...and I got the joyous surprise of seeing little green spokes piercing the ground around the mums that had long ceased blooming.

You've got to stop by and look at them now! They're screaming, "SPRING IS HERE," and make the entrance to The National Hotel so inviting! The porch is just clamoring for people to take a seat, order some food or just gather with friends to enjoy a drink and watch the people walking down Race Street--not to mention the beautiful classic cars that often drive slowly by, or the classic motorcycles that share the roads with these cars. There is "eye candy" everywhere you look in Frenchtown.

And to close out the weekend festivities and come back full circle, don't forget to come by tonight for Open Mic Night, and on Sunday for the launch of our Sunday Poetry Readings (2 p.m. - 4 p.m.) in The Rathskeller Pub Lounge, followed by The Grass, back by popular demand in "the great upstairs" Restaurant (5 p.m. - 7 p.m.). It's going to be a beautiful, sunny weekend outside, and a beautiful, fun weekend inside The National Hotel too. Do join us!

IN THE NEWS: TRIPLE PLAY

[photo by Lois Heyman, Courier News]

It's mid-week, and what a great way to spruce up our spirits at The National Hotel, than to pick up the Courier News (and Home News Tribune), to see a most incredible write-up about our establishment! Thank you, thank you, Lois Heyman, for penning such a superbly written article: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100303/LIFE09/3030304. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Chris Poh, editor of the American Public House Review and Pub Talk, the American Public House Review blog. And thank you Walter O'Brien, fellow journalist at the Courier News for introducing us to Lois when we first took over The National Hotel.

[photo by Lois Heyman, Courier News]

As if that weren't enough, we are also featured in their Photo Gallery, which has some outstanding photos of some of our dishes, our guest suites...even Marlon Aranha, our GM, is there checking his cell phone (always checking on everything...what would we do without him!!), as is Ron Rittenhouse, our executive chef (who is also nicely featured in the article).

Wait...& there's more: I received an email from a fellow member of the Frenchtown Business & Professional Association (FBPA), who shared an article that will appear in approximately 100 community newspapers in western PA and Ohio (CNHI News Service), about Frenchtown itself, where we are mentioned as "the" place to dine if traveling here. I've placed all these articles on our website's In The News page.

So much to write about...I've got to separate some of these into different posts, but I'll squeeze in 2 other items that I wanted to share: Don't forget about tomorrow night's Open Mike Night. It's a tradition now; every Thursday night, with sign-ups starting at 8:30 p.m. and music beginning at 9:00 p.m.

And how could I forget about this past Sunday's star performance of The Jericho Mountain Grass ("The Grass"), who returned to a standing-room only afternoon at The National Hotel. All the tables filled up fast as soon as they started playing their traditional ballads blended with new-grass tunes. We had every generation in the room, from a baby all the way up...and boy did that baby dance in her mother's arms!!! It was just so entertaining, so lively and warm. What a great way to close out the weekend.

We do hope you'll join us for our next musical afternoon...more on that for another post. Let us know if you'd like us to feature anything in particular, or have a comment about anything on this blog. You can also reach us directly at 908.996.3200 or click here to contact us via email. Enjoy the weather...is it really going up to 50 degrees by next Monday/Tuesday???

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC

It's so beautiful outside! Snow everywhere...the tree branches weighed down by cotton balls of moisture. There's really little we can do but plan on making the best of it in these conditions. I know many of our friends are just "done" with all this snow, but it's here, and yes, there's going to be a lot of sore backs later on today from all the snow shoveling...but there are also going to be a lot of happy kids out there playing in their backyards with the schools closed today (and yesterday)! And it's just in time to get you into the weekend frame of mind...look what we have planned for Sunday:

It's true; we're going to be treated to more music, and a terrific return performance of The Jericho Mountain Grass ("The Grass"), in the main Restaurant at The National Hotel on Sunday, February 28th, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. The Grass performed in The Rat Lounge on December 6th, and they helped us launch our Sunday Musical Afternoon series. We're thrilled to have them back and hope you'll make the time to come to see them and support them. The Grass blends traditional ballads and new-grass tunes, and consist of Carl Klinger on mandolin, Toby Hoffman on banjo, Peter Kane on fiddle, John Stetson on bass and John Gehman on guitar.

The Grass returned to Frenchtown after playing throughout Hunterdon County, NJ and Bucks County, PA since 1980, from venues as varied as the Tinicum Arts Festival and Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. When they joined us in December, their fans came from nearby to as far away as the Philadelphia area. They are just incredibly talented and infuse the room with their unique and distinctive sound. Mark your calendars and do come by!

photo by Sarah R. Bloom (photographybloom.com)

It seems as though every time I think, "Wow, this is definitely the best so far" (whether from a proprietor's point of view, having a room full of patrons who are clearly enjoying themselves, to a very personal and subjective point of view, enjoying the selection of music being played), we're treated to another surprising and talented performance, always different, always delightful. Such was the case when Teri Rambo (photo by Sarah R. Bloom, photographybloom.com) performed two weeks ago in our Rat Lounge. She truly filled the room, with people coming over because they love her music, as well as our own patrons being enticed to join the audience after her music started filling the building. It was a joy to see and hear.

As I'm writing this in the middle of the night, I had the pleasure of going through some of the photos and video clips we've taken from a few performances at The National Hotel in the last few weeks.

Even yesterday, with the weather as bad as it was, musicians and local patrons of The National Hotel, showed up for Open Mike Night, instruments in hand, and just made the very best of a wintery evening.

Some started in The Rathskeller Pub, warming themselves next to our wood-burning fireplace, grabbed their drinks and some friends, made their way to The Rathskeller Pub Lounge and sat down to enjoy a delightful evening watching and listening to the performers who'd signed up to take the mike. Truly a special kind of night, with all the snow outside, few cars on the road, and everyone driving ever so slowly and carefully...or those lucky enough to be from Frenchtown, walking over to The Rat.

MUSICAL AFTERNOON KICK OFF

We had an unbelievable Sunday a week and a half ago, enjoying the music of The Jericho Mountain Grass musical ensemble, which blended traditional ballads with new-grass tunes. The Grass consists of Carl Klinger on madoline, Toby Hoffman on banjo, Peter Kane on fiddle, John Stetson on bass and John Gehman on guitar.

It was standing room only at one point in the afternoon! We had all the seats filled, the tables spilling over with food and drinks, and people still kept coming in. Luckily, we featured The Grass in our downstairs Rathskeller Pub (The Rat) lounge, which allowed people to have more freedom of movement to enjoy the live musical performance, while having food and drinks--and those who came to The Rat to watch the football game were still able to do so in the bar area, since the music was in a separate space.

We had guests who came from an hour away to enjoy a musical afternoon at The National Hotel, and to see The Grass. What a day!!! Pete and I were just bowled over by the depth of the musicians' repertoire and ability to engage with the audience. It was truly a wonderful way to launch our musical afternoons at The National Hotel.

Did any of you catch The Grass at our place? Did you like it? Should we have done anything differently? We want to keep the music running at The National Hotel and if you have suggestions, we are always open to hearing them. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at The National Hotel when we feature another musical group in the very near future.