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/

You'll never believe how much fun we had the last couple of days. Not only did we continue to make progress with the refurbishment of The National Hotel, we also had a fabulous evening planning out our wine menu, tasting some absolutely divine and reasonably priced selections, chatting with new friends, and just simply enjoying the building--its beauty, its history, its rebirth.

When we talk about this venture in our lives, Pete and I feel blessed that our two daughters will grow up among the wonderful people of Frenchtown, learn what it means to be in the service industry, develop integrity using their parents' dedication and commitment as a living model of outstanding work ethics, and value tradition seeing the love their parents are putting into this grand old building.

Our daughters have become incredibly entrepreneurial...they cooked, set-up and manned the food tent at Freedom Farm's annual dressage show this past July. This photo shows them clowning around & trying to entertain some of the participants. It was a great day and they (ages 9 and 11 then) worked hard to help their family with this show.

Now, The National Hotel is allowing us to truly experience an exciting once-in-a-lifetime journey with our daughters, our family, and our friends.

STAYCATION NO MORE

We were approached by Suki Dewey, representing Frenchtown's Riverfest. We will proudly exhibit the festival's banner on our porch, for all who enter Frenchtown to see as they come to a stop at the intersection in front of our doors. After a few days being displayed here, the banner will move upriver to Milford, to generate interest there too.

With Riverfest approaching, it feels good to finally get some traction with our website. We uploaded some absolutely beautiful photos of the rooms. Pete and I decided to re-introduce The National Hotel to the travel and leisure industry, by being sensitive to the economic downturn, and pricing the rooms and suites within everyone's reach.

"Staycation" NO MORE. We want people to feel the warmth of Frenchtown and come out and visit us and our fellow Frenchtown business neighbors.

One More Time in the News

Very excited about getting our hands on some truly old photos of The National Hotel. We have to digitize them now to be able to share them on our blog & our website.

In the meantime, we've been reading the coverage on The National Hotel:

http://www.buckscountyherald.com/~Frenchtown%20storms%20hotel.pdf

There's another story in the Hunterdon County Democrat paper which is yet to be digitized.

In the meantime, we've made tons of progress, from cleaning, to meeting vendors, planning the menu (food, wine, & liquor), and have received numerous visits from local residents who are excited & anxiously awaiting the opening day.

We are truly pushing ahead, taking into consideration all of the advice & tips that our friendly neighbors are giving us. A September opening seems very feasible, but exactly what date is a little bit trickier. We want to do it right & offer a product & level of service of which we can be proud & that will indicate to our friends & neighbors that we are serious about providing a comfortable, elegantly casual & friendly place for them to frequent.

Soon we'll be able to truly make this a reality...not just words!

It's been a long day & we are exhausted from all the cleaning, painting, writing, researching, etc., that's involved with this project. And yet, the exhaustion itself is exhilarating.

Yesterday was a busy day at The National Hotel. From more cleaning, to working on our menu, continuing to develop the website content, planning, planning, planning...so at the end of the day, we had our good friends, Heather, Ed and Rebecca Wolven (classmate of Laina's), join us on the 2nd floor porch to close out the day.

As the sun went down and the town's street lights came on, we were fortunate to be able to enjoy the sights & sounds of those below us. Ed reached up and turned one of the overhead fans on, and presto, the porch became a cool, relaxing spot on which to watch the day come to an end. A glass of wine in hand, and everything looks bright!

AFTER THE 2nd WEEK

Today marks the 2nd week we've had The National Hotel, and boy, have we made progress! It's been work, truth be told, but the poor old building had been shuttered for a really long time. There's a lot more to do, but we can't complain...it's all coming together. We have a busy weekend ahead of us, planning menus, working with landscapers and continuing to clean, clean, clean.

Anyone want to join the cleaning brigade? Just kidding. We're working room by room, cleaning, doing laundry, cleaning some more...cleaning some more...wait, did I say that already???

Just having the light entering the building has made such a difference...now we can see what we're cleaning! You have to see the bar. We're done cleaning and sprucing it up. Even empty, it is a beautiful room.

Soon we'll have it looking like it did in the grand old days:

Not bad, right?!

Walter O'Brien from The Courier News covered the events from Saturday. Here's what he wrote on 1 of the 2 pieces I've seen so far:

http://flemington.injersey.com/2009/08/08/national-hotel-to-be-liberated-saturday/#more-922