April & May 2019

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