This is a week marked with family memories, recollections of gatherings, verbal history passing from one generation to the next, and sharing of joy and warmth. For Pete and for me, Thanksgiving Day has become a week-long celebration of our desire to join our Frenchtown community in celebration of a rebirth of this beautiful Delaware River town.

If you stroll down the street, you'll find activity, you'll find energy--from the shop owners to the customers. What a diffference a year makes! Almost every store front has a business that is viable, that is anxious to participate in Frenchtown's growth, and that contributes to the economic vitality of this great nation. Somehow, Pete and I got on this express train, and we're staying on to the last stop!

I just have to brag...please forgive me...but I have to share with you the article that Chris Poh, editor of American Public House Review, has written about our establishment. Here is the pasted copy of the page, that includes a picture of an old sketch that even has the name misspelled of "Restaurant," but that incorporated the hand-drawn element that pre-dated computers. His review is so generous and truly conveys what Pete and I try to share everyday: You are welcome here...truly welcome. We want to greet everyone, meet everyone, make sure everything surpasses your expectations, and above all else, hopefully make you feel welcome and have the opportunity to see you time and again. The National Hotel has reopened for YOU, not for us, but for you. This establishment has so much history that has been here for generations prior to our arrival, that all we can do is try to be hosts who can carry forward the tradition to the next level, and try to make it a place you frequent often.

Don't come just on the "special" occasions; we want to see you time and again, because very selfishly, Pete and I truly enjoy meeting all of our old and new friends who knock on our door. Our daughters are learning valuable lessons every day, and given how splintered our lives have become, isn't it nice to have one place where we can feel like it's OK to let our guard down and share with those around us?