Lots of you have already discovered how nice it is to
visit Cape May during our quieter (and cooler) months.
Some of you still think of Cape May as a Summer Only
type of vacation. Now I’m not trying to convince to not
come stay with us in the Summer, but I highly recommend
you give us a try in the “shoulder season” (we NEVER say
“off season”).
So why should you? Well first, Cape May is just as
beautiful and charming now as the rest of the year. In
fact, with Spring arriving and the blooms and birds
returning, you could say that it is at its very best.
Perhaps the best reason though, are the wonderful
specials that we offer to stay this time of year. That’s
right, it is a lot cheaper for you now than other times
of the year. Beyond our seasonal discounts, we also
offer some amazingly great discount packages for
mid-week stays.
I have to tell you, though, that
time is running out. Our specials end at the end of
April! If you want to sneak in a quick couple of days at
The Queen Victoria, and really stretch your dollar, give
us a call soon. You don’t want to miss the tremendous
values that are available right now!
So what do you give to the woman who gave you
everything? It really is a challenge every year, isn’t
it? If you struggle each year to find the perfect gift
for Mom for Mothers Day, don’t despair. I’m here to
solve all your problems.
They say (I’m not sure who “they” are, but they are
obviously VERY wise) that the best possible Mother’s Day
gift is a stay at The Queen Victoria. The beauty about
this concept is that there are two ways to do it. You
can either take Mom to The Queen Victoria for a
wonderful and well deserved stay with her favorite child
(that would be you), or you can give her a gift
certificate and she can come down when it fits into her
busy schedule.
Seriously, can you imagine a
better gift? Imagine yourself as your mother receiving
such a wonderful gift from you. You would be
overwhelmed! That is how she’ll feel when she opens your
gift.
The best thing about this is how easy it
is. Just pick up the phone and call us. Within 5 minutes
you’ll be done with Mother’s Day shopping until you call
us again next year!
Access to Art works tirelessly each year to bring
some of the finest musical and dance performances to the
Cape May area. This year is no exception, with the
kick-off of the season presentation of Phildanco.
On May 17 Philadanco will present a one-night
performance at the Cape May Court House center for the
Performing Arts. The Philadelphia Dance Company is a
world class company internationally celebrated on three
continents.
This is a chance for you to witness
these amazing performers at a great discount from the
cost of tickets at a Philadelphia performance. If you
love dance, you definitely have to work this weekend
into your schedule. Call us today and we’ll make sure
that you have a great place to stay
too.
Spring is here! Most of our visitors from points
north of us have been telling me we’re a little bit
ahead of them, so I thought you’d like to see what our
gardens are looking like right now. To celebrate the
arrival of Spring Cape May is holding its annual Spring
Festival. If you’ve never visited Cape May as it comes
bursting back to life, then you really need to consider
it. Cape May’s annual Spring Festival really is a
wonderful event that you don’t want to miss.
These daffodils are just a prelude to the full Spring
glory that is Cape May. The Tulips, Lilies, Peonies and
all our other wonderful blossoms are saving themselves
for the festival.
Besides being beautiful, there
are TONS of things going on during the Spring Festival,
including an antique show, a chef’s dine-around (lots of
fun), a craft show, murder mystery luncheons and
dinners, vintage dancing, and more tours than I could
list here without putting you to sleep.
Yes, it is time for the Spring Jazz Festival again.
It is all about the music this year, obviously. Of
course, the Cape May Jazz festival is a proud tradition
that speaks for itself.
This spring the Cape May Jazz Festival proudly
presents many of the finest “young lions” in jazz today.
As a natural successor to the 28th Festival “Favorites
Return”, the “Next Wave” features an elite up-and-
coming new breed of artists: cutting edge musicians
across many jazz genres, each honoring the legendary
players who came before. This is a must attend weekend
for any jazz lover with roots in the past, and an ear
towards the future!
(Yeah, I clipped that last
paragraph directly from their site)
Anyway, I was
amazed to see that the Rippingtons, one of the hottest
Jazz bands in the last couple of decades, is one of the
featured acts this year. Cape May is big
time!
Call us soon to reserve your room. We’re
almost full, and the rooms are going
fast!
If you love to listen to truly fine music, you’ll
want to plan on visiting us this year for Cape May’s
19th annual Music Festival. Every year some of the most
amazing performers grace our fair town and bestow their
talents upon us.
Our annual music festival is a little different from
most music festivals (like say, our Jazz Festival).
First of all, it spans several weeks, so you don’t have
to get all of your music in one weekend. The music tends
to be a little more on the classical side, though the
festival always includes other genres of music as well.
In fact, in keeping with tradition the festival will be
kicked off on May 18th by a Celtic band called “Road to
the Isles”, featuring Pipe and fiddle music, dance and
folksong traditions of Scotland and Ireland. A classic
sure, but not classical music. The band featured in the
picture is called Shtreiml, which is a high octane
Klezmer group led by harmonica maestro Jason Rosenblatt.
I know you’ll want to make the festival part of
your Late May, early June visit, so plan on attending a
show or two while you’re here. If you haven’t planned
your trip yet, then you obviously need to start working
on that soon!
There is a saying that “the more things change, the more
they stay the same”. That never really made sense to me, but
maybe I understand it now. Both Cape May and The Queen
Victoria are undergoing some changes this year, yet they both
feel just like they always have (only better!).
Everything you’ve always loved about Cape May in
general and The Queen Victoria in particular is still present,
everywhere you look. The same charms and comforts that you’ve
come to expect on your visits to our fair city still
abound.
We’re excited about our new mall and the
changes we’ve made at The Queen Victoria this winter. We’re
confident that you’ll like them too.
The most relaxing place on earth!
Featured “Room of the Month” …
the Sitting Room
Yep, I’m throwing a wrench in the works here by not
featuring a guest room, but rather one of our common
rooms. This photo is bit of a “Before” photo. Most of
you will recognize this room as the sitting room in The
Queen Victoria building. You’ll probably also notice
that the furniture looks a little different. Yes, we’re
making some changes.
So what is in store? Well, first of all, this seating
set, which replaces the mission style settee we did
have, increases our seating capacity in the room by
100%. This set will be re-upholstered when we change the
wallpaper in the room. We’re very excited about the new
look that you’ll see on your next visit. Think “Showcase
Wall”.
Who doesn’t love a good play? So many of you have
made an annual tradition of “doing” Cape May stage
during your visits to The Queen Victoria. If you are one
of our stage lovers, then you’ll be pleased to learn
that Cape May stage has released their 2008 schedule. It
looks like a great season.
Here is this year’s schedule: May 21 – June
28, Fully Committed July 2 – Aug 16, Private
Lives Aug 20 – Sep 27, Doubt (a parable) Oct 1 –
Nov 1, Rounding Third Nov 5 – Nov 22, Lady Day Nov
28 – Dec 21, This Wonderful Life
We’re going to
be running our “Stay & Play” package again this
year, so visit our website or call for details. We’re
proud to support Cape May Stage!
The Cape May Marathon is upon us again. In fact, it
is coming up this weekend! I guess that means if you are
a runner that would have been interested in
participating, but were unaware of it, you don’t have
much time to train for it. We’re nearly full anyway, so
you may just want to start training for next year’s
event and plan on staying with us then.
Every year we have several guests staying with us to
compete. I’ve always viewed these folks with awe and
amazement. I also think they are crazy … in the best
possible way, of course. My favorite marathoner, by far,
is Zack Huffman, who competes every year and has won his
division at least once (since I’m not a journalist, I
failed to follow up and get the details). This photo is
of Zack approaching the finish line last March. I must
say, it looks like Zack is finishing
strongly!
Cape May Face Lift … The Mall is
Coming Together
If you’ve been following the progress and drama of
our new mall, you’ll be pleased to see that we’re
getting close to completion. I’m told that they’re
actually about 2 weeks ahead of schedule, which may be a
first in the history of our fine nation (when has any
project ever come in early?). The targeted completion
date is the Memorial Day weekend.
This photo was was taken looking from the middle of
the center block of the mall, looking towards the Ocean
street end of the mall. If you look closely here you’ll
see lots of exciting things taking shape. In the
foreground you can see a fountain (under black plastic)
that is being installed. Just beyond that is a planter
that is not yet bricked, but is holding a nice new 20
foot tall sapling. Just behind that you can see the
beginnings of a facade to hide the ridiculously non-
buried transformers in the middle of the street (can you
tell I think they should have buried them? It is the
only thing I don’t like about our new mall). Finally,
you can see that the center street has a herring bone
pattern of bricks, while the sidewalks are in a straight
pattern. The effect is very nice.
I noticed that
there is a re-opening dedication scheduled for June 20,
but don’t wait to come down and enjoy the new mall. Lots
of folks are already enjoying it today.
Favorite Guest Photos
This has always been one of my favorite guest photos.
These two beautiful ladies are Cami and her mom Darlene,
who come stay with us every year just after Mother’s
day, along with Cami’s daughter Kristin. Now is that
impressive? Two generations of Mother’s Day celebrations
happening at The Queen Victoria at once!
This photo is kind of artsy and creative, which is
one of the reasons I like it. The other reason is that
it is a perfect example of girls having fun together in
Cape May and at The Queen Victoria. Did I mention that a
visit with Mom to The Queen Victoria is the PERFECT
Mother’s day gift?
Doug & Anna Marie’s Restaurant
Pick Of The Month … Depot Market Cafe
Cape May is known for its abundance of fine dining
restaurants. We also have quite a few places to eat that
are a little more on the casual side. The Depot market
is our favorite of these. The Depot is located just up
the street from The Queen Victoria, so the location is
great for our guests too.
When I say casual in this case, I really mean it.
When you walk into the Depot you’ll think that you’ve
stepped into a sandwich shop, it does have a bit of that
feel at the counter. The cooler along the side wall full
of beverages to choose from also lends it that feel. But
look around and you’ll notice some charming and cute
decore that makes it feel comfortable (as you can see
from this photo).
The food is what really sets
the Depot a step beyond a sandwich shop. When was the
last time you saw “Osso Bucco” on a specials board in a
sandwich shop? Everything I’ve ever had here was great.
So what do Anna Marie and I order? Well, we’ve done our
share of burgers here (our favorite in town), but I’m
also partial to the Chicken Gorganzola sandwhich. The
Spinach Feta pie with salad that is often on the
specials board at lunch is also out of this world. If
you are partial to Shepards Pie or a great home made
Chicken Pot Pie, look no further. Finally, I can’t say
