The Perfect Christmas Gift
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Wouldn’t Christmas be perfect if you didn’t have to
fret over finding the perfect gift for those special
people in your life? Just imagine how great it would be
if you had a gift that was sure to please, wouldn’t
disappear into a closet forever, and would be
anticipated and loved every single year. Wait, that
sounds familiar! In fact, it is a perfect description of
a gift certificate to The Queen Victoria.
Yes, Queen Victoria gift certificates truly are the
PERFECT Christmas gift! They are sure to be the
favorite, treasured gift of anybody who receives one.
What really makes them perfect, though, is the fact that
they will be enjoyed several times. Think about it. When
your loved one opens it they will start imagining a
wonderful, relaxing get-away. When they start browsing
our website to choose the perfect room the fun
continues. The days and weeks leading up to their
arrival date will be full of anticipation of a wonderful
time. Of course, their actual stay at The Queen Victoria
will be the relaxing, romantic, and wonderful experience
that you envisioned when you gave it to
them.
Throughout this entire process, at every
step, they’ll be reminded of the wonderful, generous,
and loving individual who gave it to them … YOU!
Ordering a gift certificate is FAST & EASY. Just
give us a call and you’ll have it in your hands within
days.
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Thanksgiving at The Queen Victoria
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Anna Marie and I have so much to be thankful for, so
we’re always looking forward to Thanksgiving. Keeping
with tradition, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving here at
The Queen Victoria again this year.
Lots of folks think of family and home when they
think of Thanksgiving. For many of our guests, though,
spending Thanksgiving at The Queen Victoria is a
wonderful alternative when situations are a little
different.
When kids are off at college, or
maybe spending Thanksgiving with their in-laws, home
might seem a little quiet. For many families, The Queen
Victoria is a wonderful “nuetral” and central location
for a family gathering, especially for families spread
out and coming together for the holiday.
One big
bonus about spending Thanksgiving at The Queen Victoria
is that you get a head-start on Christmas. That’s right,
we’ll be fully decorated for the holidays by
Thanksgiving day.
We help make the day special
by turning tea into a special hors d’oeuvres holiday
reception. Dinner at Union Park completes the day with a
wonderful and intimate 4 course dinner.
If your
plans for Thanksgiving are up in the air, give us a
call. We’ll be happy to be your home for the
holiday.
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Dickens Holiday Extavaganza
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Sure, you struggled through a few stories by Charles
Dickens in high school, but if you stop and think about
it, you really do love Charles Dicken’s works. Admit it,
you could watch “A Christmas Carol” every year. Who
doesn’t love “Oliver Twist”? You’re definitely a bigger
Dickens fan than you realized. Charles Dickens was like
the John Grisham of his day (that is actually quite a
compliment to John Grisham). People literally waited in
line to purchase each installment of his stories, which
were often presented serially, one chapter at a
time.
The first week of every December Cape May
hosts the wonderful Dickens Holiday Extravaganza. This
event is a treasure that should be experienced by
anybody who has a true love of Cape May, the Victorian
era and Charles Dickens’ wonderful literature.
This year’s event promises to be one of our finest
with feasts, house tours (including the Designer Show
House), stage presentations and discussions and review
of Dickens’ fabulous work “Bleak House”, as well as
various aspects of Christmas in the Victorian
era.
This year, in addition to our traditional
hor d’ oeuvres reception, The Queen Victoria will also
continue the tradition of treating our guests to the
“Welcome” dinner. Did I mention the 10% discount off of
your room?
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Christmas at The Queen Victoria!
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Christmas is THE original Victorian tradition.
Christmas as we know it really did originate in
Victorian England, popularized by none other than Queen
Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, who brought the
tradition from his German homeland. We honor and
celebrate that proud tradition every year at The Queen
Victoria.
In fact, The Queen Victoria has a proud Christmas
tradition of its own, spanning over 25 years. Each year
we welcome back many couples and families to share
Christmas together at The Queen Victoria. We’ve got
special holiday receptions, special Christmas Eve and
Christmas dinners, little elves with Christmas
surprises, and enough joy to fill any
stocking!
Christmas is a special time to spend at
The Queen Victoria. We’re still taking reservations for
the Christmas holiday, so call soon to reserve your
room.
If you can’t spend Christmas at The Queen
Victoria, but still want to experience Cape May at
Christmas, the entire month of December is “Christmas in
Cape May”. There are special tours, lots of lights,
great shopping, sleigh rides (actually, horse carriages
with sleigh bells), and lots of festivities all the
time. Don’t forget the shopping! Think about it. Doesn’t
Cape May sound better than “The Mall”?
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Back by Popular Demand … Seasonal
Specials |
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Wow! Last year we introduced a few new specials for
the cooler months and judging from your response, you
really liked them. So this year we’re bringing them
back. Yes, all of our seasonal specials are back: “Gift
of Romance”, “Two for Two”, “Gourmet Getaway”, and
“Winter Weekend MADness”.
All of these specials are available starting in
November. The Gourmet Getway, Two for Two, and Winter
Weekend MADness run through April, while the Gift
of Romance runs into June (but is not available in Jan,
Feb & Mar). All except the “Winter Weekend
MADness are weeknight specials, including Sunday
evening.
All four of these specials are GREAT
deals.
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Upcoming Events
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- Thanksgiving at The Queen Victoria Nov 21,22
- Christmas Preview Weekend Nov 16, 17
- Cape May Christmas parade Dec 1
- Candlelight tours Dec 1, 8 & 15
- Dicken’s Christmas Extravaganza Dec 2-4
- Holiday Inns tours (yes, I hate the name) Mon-
Thurs, Nov 26 to Dec 13
- Lamplighter tours Nov 23,24,30, Dec 7,14,21,27,28,
29
- New Years Eve!
- Christmas at The Queen Victoria Dec 24, 25
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The Christmas and Holiday season is always such a special
part of our year. We’re so excited about this wonderful season
again this year that we’ve already started decorating.
Actually, with as many lights and decorations as we put up, we
need to get an early start.
Whether you celebrate
Christmas or not, a visit to Cape May during this beautiful
season is definitely worth while. Careful though … you may
find it is your favorite time of the year in Cape May and
become “hooked” on it.
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So what makes Christmas in Cape May, especially at
The Queen Victoria, so special? Well, the decorations
are certainly a big part of it. It goes beyond that
though. Cape May is perhaps ideally suited for the
Holidays.
With its quaint shops for Christmas shopping (all
within easy walking distance), horse carriages fitted
out like sleighs (yes, the horses wear bells), the
annual Christmas parade, special house tours, carolers
and strolling musicians and generally friendly and
joyous attitudes that abound, Cape May just seems like
the epitome of Christmas.
Many of you know this,
of course, as we see you every year at this time. What
you may not know, however, is that to a great extent, it
all started at The Queen Victoria. Cape May wasn’t
always “Christmas Central”. It really wasn’t until The
Queen Victoria opened its doors for Christmas and
introduced the annual “Dickens Extravaganza” that Cape
May started its transformation into one of America’s
premier Christmas season destinations.
We’re
continuing the tradition this year, of course. We’ll be
celebrating all season long, with a very special
Christmas week package for our friends looking for a
home away from home for Christmas itself. If you are
looking for the perfect place to spend Christmas this
year, give us a call.
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Featured “Room of the Month” …
Westminster |
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It is hard to believe that I haven’t featured
Westminster before. It is an annual favorite for SO MANY
of you that I kind of assume everyone has stayed in this
room before. Obviously that isn’t the case.
So what makes Westminster such a perennial favorite?
It is a big room with lots of windows, including a big
bay window with a charming Victorian setee. The bathroom
is also spacious, boasting a one-person whirlpool tub
and charming pedestal sink. Though I don’t know this for
sure, I strongly suspect that Westminster was the
original master bedroom of the house. All together,
Westminster is one of the nicest, most popular rooms at
The Queen Victoria. If you haven’t stayed in this room
yet, I highly recommend it.
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Stay & Play Special … the
last Hurrah! |
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The “Stay and Play” package is still going strong. As
part of our ongoing support for great theatre in Cape
May, we’ve purchased 20 season tickets to the Cape May
Stage. That means we have 160 tickets to give to our
favorite guests. Of course, our favorite guests are
those who stay for several nights!
If you book a 4 night weekend stay or a 3 night
weekday stay, we’ll be pleased to share our tickets to
the Cape May Stage with you. These tickets have a $28
face value, so this is definitely a great deal. Be sure
to ask about the tickets when you reserve your
room!
Cape May Stage always presents something
special for the holiday season, and this year is no
exception. In fact, this year they are presenting not
one, but two holiday plays for your enjoyment. Running
between Nov. 23 and Dec. 2 is Charlie Bethel’s animation
of the Dickens classic “The Seven Poor Travelers”.
Starting on Dec. 5 Cape May Stage’s hysterically funny
original production “Every Christmas Story Ever Told”
returns until Dec. 30. I’m looking forward to seeing
both of these productions this year!
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Cape May Face Lift … Work
Begins |
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It is finally beginning! After years of planning and
more town meetings than you can shake a stick at, not to
mention a lawsuit or two, work is finally starting on
Cape May’s new and improved shopping district on
Washington Street.
Back in the 1970s the city of Cape May closed down
Washington street between Ocean and Perry streets and
created the pedestrian shopping district you all know
and love. Over the last 30 or so years our little mall
has gotten a little tired. Many of the trees that were
planted had died and much of the orginal surface had
been “patched” to remedy probems that had arisen. So it
was definitely time to freshen it up.
As might be
expected, the coming of improvements to the mall itself
has generated excitement and a burst of investment by
the individual stores, which are all privately owned
structures. In fact, Arden’s children’s store has been
completely torn down to be replaced by a new 3 story
Victorian building. Several other buildings are also
being upgraded. It seems that these improvements are
generating a lot of enthusiasm and
optimism.
Don’t worry, I don’t know of any stores
closing during construction (even Ardens has opened an
alternate store on Carpenter Street), and they’ll all be
open for Christmas shopping if you’re visiting us in the
near future.
Imagine, Cape May is getting even
better!
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Favorite Guest Photos
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OK, this is without a doubt the most different guest
photo that I’ve ever included in a newsletter. Though
this doesn’t look like your typical Cape May photo, if
you look closely there IS a Cape May angle. Notice that
the newspaper Bruce is holding is none other than the
“Cape May Gazette”.
This photo was submitted by our good friends Bruce
& Carol Polak. They traveled to Alaska this year and
planned ahead enough to bring a Cape May Gazette with
them to include in this photo. I’m not sure if they made
it into the Gazette with this photo, but I figured they
deserved to make it into my newsletter.
If you’re
planning on being at The Queen Victoria this
Thanksgiving weekend, keep a look out for this good
looking couple. They’ve been celebrating the weekend at
The Queen Victoria far longer than I have, and they’re
two of the nicest people you’ll ever
meet.
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Doug & Anna Marie’s Restaurant
Pick Of The Month … Moonfish Grill
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If you’ve come to The Queen Victoria in the last
couple of years then I’m guessing you’ve heard Anna
Marie and me talk about the Moonfish Grill. We really
love this restaurant. It is one of our favorite places
to eat. Moonfish is a pleasant walk or short drive from
the inn, located on Broadway (where Daniels on Broadway
used to be). It was completely renovated back in 2006
and still feels wonderfully different and fresh.
With its contemporary decor, sushi bar, live music
and creative menu, it is like nothing else in town. But
most importantly, the food is great!
Anna Marie
and I typically start off with the calamari appetizer,
which is as good as you’ll find anywhere. Anna Marie
used to always get the Moonfish Kettle, but has recently
taken to ordering the Broadway Shrimp & Scallops. I
tend to be adventurous at the Moonfish, often ordering
off the specials menu. It doesn’t really matter what you
order, though, it is bound to be good. For those of you
who love sushi, you’ll be pleased to know that they’ve
devoted an entire room to their sushi bar.
As an
added benefit, the Moonfish Grill features live jazz on
Thursday nights and live piano on Fridays. It just adds
to the already wonderful dining experience you’ll find
at the Moonfish Grill.
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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!
Sincerely,
Doug & Anna Marie McMain, Innkeepers
The Queen Victoria Bed and Breakfast
phone: 609-884-8702
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