SUPER BOWL SUNDAY IS OVER, BUT THERE'S SO MUCH MORE!

Last night was so much fun! Super Bowl Sunday party at The National Hotel!!! The day had started like any other Sunday and perhaps a little slower than most, because the weather was probably more conducive to people staying at home than venturing out. However, just at around 6 p.m., friends, neighbors, and people we’d yet to meet, started arriving. At one point we had several groups of 15 people coming in at the same time! My husband, Pete, and Marlon, our General Manager, were there to greet everyone and take care of everything. Boy, what would we do without Marlon! He works hand-in-hand with Pete to make sure that nothing is overlooked and that our customers receive the absolute best service possible.

This weekend follows a terrific month of January, where Hunterdon Life Magazine did a feature story about The National Hotel in their January issue, even doing a story about Super Bowl Sunday dishes where our executive chef, Ron Rittenhouse, was one of the featured chefs. They captured him “in action” creating his delicious signature empanadas in our kitchen, and took photos of The National Hotel and of Pete too.

I didn't blog for a few weeks at the end of 2009, for many reasons. Mainly, we were so busy with the end-of-year activities, that all our energy was directed towards making sure we exceeded our customers' expectations and on updating our e-presence. Add to that being a parent, that blogging took a backseat for a few weeks. But having blogged recently, it felt cathartic! So here I go again.

We've shared with you on another occasion that we discovered beautifully preserved pumpkin pine floors in our lobby area and in other areas of our establishment. Well, on New Year's Eve, I had several--not just one or two--guests, ask me if they could go to the lobby area to see the floors. Well of course! Why not, we want to share every little piece of The National Hotel with everyone.

Anyone who has asked to see a room, to see the ones with the large jacuzzi tubs, to see the porches or the very private and separate Rm. 207 Loft Suite, we've gladly accommodated.

The pumpkin pine floors have become a definite draw--we don't know whether it's the story of how we found them under two layers of wood flooring and a dilapidated wall-to-wall carpeting that needed to be changed--but people keep asking, and we're thrilled to share!

Even the other day, we had the pleasure of having an interesting conversation with someone from Flemington who asked us, "You did a great job restoring this great old building, but I'm from Flemington. Why didn't you save our Union Hotel?" She walked around our lobby area, admiring the pumpkin pine floors. We told her that those floors were a real discovery for us.

After pulling up a corner of the carpet, we didn't find anything but plywood and we were incredibly disappointed. But then, when the day came to replace the carpeting, one layer came up, then another layer, and still a third--and that's when Pete sent me a text with a photo attached of the beautiful and well-preserved floors that he'd uncovered! Wow!!!

Thanks Pete for persevering and not just dropping new carpeting on top of the plywood. Another bit of "news" is that just a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting one of the people responsible for doing the renovations after the 1984 accident when a truck lost its brakes and came crashing through the front of the building. He confirmed that he did not do any work on the pumpkin pine floors at all. The front door had to be renovated as did other areas of the building, but not the lobby, which confirms our assertion that the floors are the original deal!

Does anyone have any knowledge as to whether the lobby area was always carpeted or somehow had the floors preserved? It looks like no one ever really set foot on them. We are so fortunate...I say that a lot, don't I???