Anna Marie and I are anxiously anticipating the return of
the Cape May Music Festival this May 17. The Cape May music
festival is a little hard to categorize because it is so
different from other music festivals any place else. To start
with, rather than jamming a bunch of performances into a
single weekend, the Cape May Music Festival is spread over
nearly a month, with a couple of performances each week. The
music is different too. While much of the music falls into the
realm of “classical”, many performers are simply classics
within their own genre. In fact, the traditional kick-off
concert is once again going to be celtic oriented.
This year’s lineup of performers includes many favorites
from years past, including the New York Chamber Ensemble,
Atlantic Brass Band, and Bay- Atlantic Symphony. It also
features several newcomers to the event, including a klesmer
band The Fabulous Shpielkehs, and two beautiful violinists
named Christina Castelli and Sharon Roffman (pictured above).
Cape May’s legendary jazz pianist Georgre Mesterhazy (a
regular at the Merion Inn) will also be joining the line-up
this year to spice things up a bit.
There is a lot of
great music to go around, so this might be just the excuse you
need to plan your next visit to Cape May. By the way, if you
stretch your stay an extra day (beyond our minimums), we’ll be
happy to give you complimentary tickets to a concert. Can it
get any better than that?
Equal Time For Dad
Last time I suggested to you that the perfect way to treat
Mom special on Mother’s Day was to bring her to The Queen
Victoria. I stand by that assertion, and many of you must
agree, because we had lots of Moms here last weekend. Even
more of you gave Mom a gift certificate for a future visit,
which was even better, really. But what about Dad?
I’ve always kind of felt that Dad gets the short end of the
stick in this area. Seriously, have you noticed all the little
silly tool gadgets and junky stuff on the special stands in
the department stores. You know, the stuff Dad always ends up
tossing in some drawer or closet for all eternity. Why don’t
we treat Dad as well as Mom? Great question! My personal
theory is that we never know what to get a man who doesn’t
really need anything, so we settle for this stuff.
I
say we start giving Dad equal treatment. In fact, he is
probably due some “back love” and deserves a really special
gift this year. Yes, you can see where I’m going with this …
give Dad a gift of The Queen Victoria. I can’t really see too
many of you actually bringing Dad to The Queen Victoria, but
sending him sounds like a wonderful idea. That’s right, give
Dad a gift certificate to The Queen Victoria for Father’s Day
this year. Believe me, he’ll be thrilled and this will be one
gift that won’t be forgotten in some man cave in the house.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Mom will be thrilled too,
because she’ll get to go with him (at least I hope she’ll be
thrilled to spend some time in Cape May with
Dad).
We are once again pleased to announce the start of our only
summer package … the “Stay & Play”. Lots of you have
taken advantage of this great deal during your visits in past
years. If you love theatre and don’t know about this great
deal, then pay attention.
If you reserve a 4 night stay that includes a weekend, or a
3 night stay mid-week, any time that Cape May Stage is open
(May 20 – Dec 31) we’ll be pleased to present you with
complimentary tickets to Cape May Stage. This is a GREAT deal!
Tickets for a show are $35 each, so the value of the package
is about the equivalent of a dinner out (excluding
drinks).
Speaking of Cape May Stage, I thought it might be
appropriate to feature their opening play of the season. I
haven’t seen it yet, of course, as it opens on May 20, but
from reading the write-up on their site it sounds fun. I know
I won’t be missing it.
Have you ever met anybody who is completely convinced that
they are really good at something that they have absolutely no
talent for? Souvenir is a true story about a wealthy New York
socialite who was convinced that she was the world’s greatest
opera diva of her generation, despite the fact that she
couldn’t put two notes together correctly. Somehow she manages
to fill Carnegie Hall. Variety called Souvenir “A beguiling
comic jewel with a heart“. My guess is you’ll love it
too.
Memorial Day … There IS still time
Do you wish that you had booked a stay with us for Memorial
Day? Guess what … it is not too late. Believe it or not, we
usually don’t book our last couple of rooms until the week of
the holiday and this year is no exception.
If you are as ready to start your beach season as I am,
give us a call soon. We have 3 rooms left for the weekend, a
couple of which are 2 night openings. Think about it! You
could be sitting on the beach for Memorial day instead of
battling the grill in the back yard.
Upcoming Events
Cape May Music Festival May 17-Jun 11
5th Anniversary of owning the QV May 26
Cape May Restaurant Week May 31 – Jun 7
World War II weekend Jun 5-7
SUMMER !!! Jun 21 to Sep 21
Doug & Anna Marie’s Anniv. Aug 8 (my favorite day of
the year!)
Cape May 400th Anniv Parade Aug 29
Food & Wine Festival Sept 19-27
Victorian Week Oct 9 – 18
I know that spring is always welcome, no matter where you live. I
have to tell you, though, that spring in Cape May is truly magical.
Just stroll through our beautiful tree lined streets, with their
fresh, light green leaves opening up and you can’t help but slip
into an extremely relaxed state of mind. The flowers are blossoming
everywhere you look and the sunny beach beckons. What a wonderful
place to be. I wish you were here to enjoy it with us!
This picture of our peony tree doesn’t even look real!
Featured “Room of the Month” … Hampton Court
I’ve been waiting about 4 months to show you this room
again. We started planning our winter renovations back in
December, which is when we decided to upgrade Hampton Court.
It took months to get the job done, and then I missed a month
of newsletter. I’m so excited about sharing it with you now!
Hampton Court has always been a great suite, but now it is
truly something special. We started our renovations by adding
a beautiful corner fireplace to make this an especially cozy
room for the winter. As many of you know, we love Bradbury
& Bradbury wallpapers, so we picked an elegant and rich
combination of papers to decorate with. Once we had picked the
paper, though, we realized that we needed to install some
crown moldings to finish the look. To make it nice and comfy,
we added a plush leather loveseat and large flat-screen TV.
I hope you’ll agree that the result is truly
magnificent. Not only does the new decor look great, it makes
the wonderful Victorian furniture that was always pretty look
truly spectacular. I know that Hampton Court is destined to be
one of our most popular rooms now, so if you want to stay here
next visit, be sure to book it early!
Trying to keep up with the latest internet fad, we’ve
launched a “Fan Page” on Facebook. It seems like everybody I
know is using Facebook these days, so I thought we would give
it a try. If you don’t know what facebook is, it is basically
an internet networking site that allows friends to connect and
keep in touch. Just yesterday an old college friend found my
page and we reconnected. It was great. Today I was touching
base with him and I noticed that Clint Eastwood had become his
“friend” on Facebook … really!
Anyway, not only do I have a page, I’ve created a Fan Page
for The Queen Victoria. Big deal, right? Actually, I think it
is going to be a great thing for you. We’re going to use our
Fan Page to post announcements of specials and last minute
openings so that you, our truly dedicated guests, can take
advantage of 1 night openings, and some really great deals
without us having to bug you with emails. You’ll just have to
check out our page once in a while.
Anna Marie and I are excited and pleased to announce that
The “Fifth Annual” Cape May designer show house is opening its
doors next month. We’ve always been big fans of the show
houses in the past and this year is no exception. In fact, the
location of the house this year, just a short walk from the
inn, makes it even more exciting for us.
I did a walk-through of the house a few weeks ago before
any of the designers had gone in. Most of the carpentry had
been done and you could see that some interesting changes had
been made to the house (I had also walked through the
“clearance sale” of the house’s contents prior to the start of
the project). Anyway, I really think that the house is going
to be fantastic this year and I’m really looking forward to
seeing it. I think that you’ll want to see it too during your
next visit to Cape May.
They say “No News is Good News”, which could translate to
mean that either all news is always bad (a distinct
possibility if you’re referring to the general media) or if
you haven’t heard anything then things are probably OK.
Hopefully the latter is true, because I haven’t heard a thing
about the convention center.
The project is still on, which is the good news, but
nothing seems to be going on. If you know somebody in Trenton
involved in permits for beachside projects, give them a call
and complain.
Favorite Guest Photos … John & Diana
Lot’s of you send in photos of yourself and I can’t
possibly use them all in our newsletters, so sometimes it is
hard to choose. So how did I arrive at John & Diana? Well,
first of all, John & Diana have been coming to The Queen
Victoria for years (longer than I’ve been here). Secondly,
they’re illustrating a few things that we love … 1) a happy
moment at The Queen Victoria 2) Breakfast in the House of
Royals courtyard (look for new umbrellas on the tables this
year) 3) Beach Chairs! we’re excited to have put them out
again last week.
So even if you haven’t seen any of your photos in our
newsletter or on our website, don’t give up on me. Keep
sending the photos. I’m getting ready to post a whole bunch
more photos to the site soon. It just occurred to me that I
can also post photos to our FACEBOOK fan page. Perfect! I just
love it when one topic ties back into another
one.
Are you one of the many people who come to Cape May
primarily for the fine dining? It wouldn’t be such a surprise.
After all, it is pretty easy to argue that Cape May is the
fine dining capital of New Jersey. Anyway, the folks at Cape
May Magazine and the Cape May Chamber thought it would be a
great idea to make our fine dining more affordable. Who can
argue with that?
This May 31 through June 7th our restaurants will be
offering a special fixed price, 3-course menu at fabulous
prices. The list of participating restaurants is impressive,
and includes some of my absolute favorites.
There are
two levels of dining being offered, $22.09 and $35.09 (I guess
the “.09” is in honor of 2009). All participating restaurants
will offer a three course meal, including appetizer, entrée
and dessert, from a menu that shows at least three choices for
each course every night they are open during Restaurant Week.
Beverage, tax and gratuities are not included.
I think
this event is destined to become an annual affair. What a
great time to come to Cape May!
Doug & Anna Marie’s Restaurant Pick Of The Month
… Gecko’s
I don’t think Anna Marie and I have ever featured Gecko’s
as our restaurant pick of the month. For the life of me, I
can’t figure out why.
Gecko’s truly is one of our
favorite restaurants. We probably eat here once a week during
the season. Really, the place is great. Not only is it great
food, but it also has a very charming “dining room” outside on
their deck. Gecko’s is tucked away just off of Carpenter
Street, near Perry (where Congress Hall is).
If you love FRESH food,
you’re really going to love Gecko’s. Everything is made right
there, even the salsa. Gecko’s serves “Southwestern Cuisine”,
which translates to Mexican +++. The “+++” is for the really
interesting and different items on the menu that are way
beyond what you would expect from your local Chi- Chi’s (are
they still around?) or Taco Bell. Seriously, how does Mesquite Grilled Salmon sound? How about Duck en
Mole Verde de Pepita? I’m getting hungry just thinking
about it (in fact, I just decided I’m going there tonight!)
Actually, the chef is from New Mexico, which might
explain the differences. Anyway, if you have an adventurous
bone in your body, make sure to check Gecko’s out on your next
visit to Cape May. Anna Marie recommends the Grilled Chicken
Fajitas (awesome). I’ve been pretty adventurous over the
years, but I’ve kind of settled on the Grilled Chicken New
Mexican Burrito, which sounds pretty boring, but is wonderful.
Don’t forget to bring your own wine or
beer!
Make your reservations today for a romantic getaway at The Queen
Victoria Bed and Breakfast. We are looking forward to helping you
plan your next visit!
