April & May 2019
April & May 2019 Color Issue
April & May 2019
Color Issue
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copiously than others). Then along came prohibition and, when<br />
it ended, Congress Hall became the first hotel in post-prohibition<br />
Cape <strong>May</strong> to open a cocktail bar. As a result, Congress Hall<br />
became, not for the first or last time, the center of Cape <strong>May</strong><br />
nightlife. During World War II, locals rubbed shoulders at the<br />
bar with naval officers and troops stationed in town, listening to<br />
the sounds of Eddie Sheppard, an RCA and CBS recording artist<br />
who played requests on his Hammond organ.<br />
In the 1960s, the formerly conservative decor was given an<br />
update, decorated in red vinyl and named the Yankee Doodle<br />
Cocktail Lounge (“fabulously beautiful,” said local newspaper<br />
advertisements). It was by all accounts a rocking and occasionally<br />
raucous little joint, open until 2am. The entertainment was<br />
supplied by Kenny Shaffer, whose lyrics were the sauciest ever<br />
heard by an entertainer at Congress Hall. Often, people would end<br />
up dancing on his piano.<br />
That all ended in December of 1967, when Reverend McIntire<br />
bought the hotel. On his first day, McIntire summoned a group<br />
of helpers and had them dismantle the cocktail bar. It would<br />
be 35 years before another drink was poured at the hotel, when<br />
McIntire’s grandson, Curtis Bashaw, reopened the hotel and<br />
renamed this historic bar The Brown Room following a renovation<br />
that featured, well, a lot of brown paint, chairs and bar stools.<br />
So, today, whether you’re sipping a scotch (as President<br />
Ulysses Grant very much liked to do) or savoring a hearty glass of<br />
cabernet, you’ll be enjoying it in fine company and fine comfort,<br />
surrounded by some very ornate wallpaper...<br />
exit zero 67 april-may