AUTUMNAL WEEKEND

Last week's walk

Well the weekend came and went ,and I have to admit I was a wee bit nervous about going out into New Hope. It always gets a nice crowd on weekends, but the summer and autumn the town swells in numbers. But with so many shops and galleries gone, from the pandemic, I thought it might not be to bad. Wrong. The town swelled and traffic was bumper to bumper. But luckily the restaurants and pub were all only at 40% and every place had outdoor dinning, and certain streets are closed and converted to more outdoor dinning. The best part was almost everyone we encountered had on masks, even on the street walking which was great to see. At one point, a huge 4x4 drove through with trumpers in it and in the cab, with huge American and trump flags waving off the back. Boy....were the passer-bys booing those suckers!! In this part of Bucks, it's rare to see any trump support anywhere. Yet the state republican here does very little who has this seat. She only inherited it from the one who was well liked four years ago. She had no experience....so I'm am wishing and donated to Marlene Katz hoping she will take her out. Marlene is a wonderful woman too. So the day was lovely. I made it to the first two shops I've been into since June. We had a meal out and got in right quick as I knew the drag queen that works there, and we heard some very nice street music. 

This lovely gent, plays the sax in Lambertville almost every day 

My favorite shop Love Saves the Day, for old fashioned bric and brac, old time toys, adult novelties and vintage clothing. And their signs are generally pretty funny. This store has never let more then 20 people in,  even before the pandemic hit, at one time...and no kids!!!!!

I had a Holly Golighty moment and couldn't resist this mask. Went nice with my paper boy hat!!! And it was pure coincidence I had on a NYC shirt!!!!

I want one of these lights! A man from the Middle East owns this shop. Glad to see he hung on.

Witches seemed to be everywhere all over town. Some in the middle of the woods.

The owner of this house did a very creative jack....a painted, old propane tank from a gas grill!!!! That is cool!

I love the Halloween festivity of this town. We really embrace the spirit here. It's big business here I tell ya.

LOVED THEM!!!

Hit up  Sciascia for some of their delicious macaroons for the room later.

I love this candy shop, but their windows look rather fun

The best thing we saw all day...that topped everything, was seeing the infamous peacocks over in Lambertville. We came around a corner and finally saw first hand,  the peacocks!!!!!! There my favorite bird, next to,  of course cock. Looked like they were out for a walk like everybody else, and quite possibly ran into Joe Finkle's Hardware Shop for something, I tried not to pry. I couldn't help but wonder if the male was the same one years ago that landed on the railing of the hotel while I enjoyed a libation? 

So a great weekend, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Nice to get out to take a nice walk about, a little shopping and another meal out all with good friends. After dinner, we walked more a bit,  before going back to the motel where I had booked us rooms. I sadly don't think this lovely motel will make it...and will yet be another gay owned place to shutter We were two of 40 rooms. There may have been maybe 15 rooms with guest. We continued to enjoy some good stiffeners on our little patios, with talk and music. My friend Kalen who also came down from  Harrisburg, shared my room. Did I mention he used to do porn? Sharing a room with a ex- porn star, who' s still not yet 32 during a pandemic!?!?!

Hope everyone has a wonderfully scary Monday!!!!!

SCARY NIGHTMARE

Make sure to Vote!!!

WEEKEND INTERLUDE

With out of town guest till tomorrow, I thought we would enjoy some more sounds of the season... with some chills and creeps.....and because the wonderful Dr Spo requested more so nicely!!!! So come on in, grab a cock-a-tail and a houseboy.

AUTUMNAL PIED A' TERRE

Today is one of those days it will be good to have a few hot toddies curl up on the sofa and watch horror movies all day. It is over cast, damp , a cool chill,  and raining pretty good. So before I settle in , what a better day to share what's been going on at the pied a' terre. While away, the whole places was repainted, carpets shampooed, new, lighter area rug in the living room, a new paint color and appliances in the kitchen, a new water heater, and a new tub and bathroom sink. Then I was able to come back in and do my seasonal touches I love so much that make it my sanctuary.

I love colored glass. The little vase in front was from my Buenos Aries trip from a potter. My vintage find of the compote is filled with fall delights of gourds and small pumpkins and pinecones. The old timey light up, was actually my grandmothers and is in excellent shape still. Who remembers those? It reminds me of her from when I used to stay with her when I was little.

This old vinatge find was from last year. It's a luminary or a candy basket they use to use back in the old days...and at night is actually very creepy when lit.

These old paper accordion pumpkins were a gift from the Dame.

My old Henri Bendel boxes and my little cast iron airplane! Lord knows where I got that anymore, but I love the whimsy of it.

My wall of mirrors!!!! Also come in handy so you can check your do if for some reason someone has you bent over the sofa doing the dirty!!! The little wooden sun disk was a gift to me this year at camp from the photographer guy Christopher I met. The flip side has a moon on it. I love it.

The new kitchen! 

Everything but the cabinets. I wasn't sure at first with the medium grey color...for some reason, I'm getting into greys now. But once everything was back in...I LOVED IT. The inspiration was from the front of the bar I got some time ago. The drawer fronts and doors were finished in grey, but the bar itself was against a cream wall. The grey really popped the bar out more and the art is also more visual. I sit at the table alot....so I love my little nook. 

The arrow was a gift from Daddy Warbucks from a shop here in New Hope. He thought it should be pointing to the boudoir, but that interfered with the turn style, so I hang it next to the bar. The picture next to it , is a pen drawing of inspired by Betty Page, and was done by a bear artist friend of mine, and the larger oil painting was by a lady I used to work with years ago, very intresting and colorful lady... who also happened to come here to check out my ghost disturbances I had once. She is sadly passed on.

The bigger pumpkin was also a gift from the Dame. The little one I stuffed with orange lights. Looks cool at night.The apothecaries are all filled with seasonal delights as well.

The bar is ready for another season!

These black cats were from the Mother. I placed them in the bar so they keep watch over the bar from the likes of Anne Marie from the gins and wines!!!!

A early birthday gift!!!!!! My dear, close friends who moved away from here recently stopped over before my last jaunt to the woods, and gave me these pictures. Doug did these of me when I sat for him for an art show New Hope does every year, Naked in New Hope. The three others he did- sold. When the exhibit ended, thanks to the pandemic closing the art gallery, he picked these up and decided he wanted me to have them. Immortalized in art. I wonder where my other naked bodies are hanging? I will treasure these.

A nightstand creation.

Buster doing a Dumbo impersonation. This was before he left the country house to go to stay at the city house with the ex. He called the other day and said the poor thing got a tape worm and wasn't keeping anything in or down and is now on meds...and seems to be doing much better. I told him no more dog parks...you have no idea what lurks in them.

 I have this weekend The Dame and Russel coming to visit to hang out, and then I shutter....the Mother is coming Tuesday, for a weeks visit, leading up to my birthday. So I best get all my naughtiness hidden. Last time here I accidently left out a flesh jack, and I told her it was a mini wine bottle chiller. She is probably still looking for one at BB&B..

MADDELYNN

One of my other sought out favorites queens, has always been Maddelynn Hatter. When in New York, it's one show you need to see. She was almost right behind Sharon Needles on the scene for bringing this new form of dark and twisted drag. Now there are numerous queens on the scene. but I must say, I have never met a queen where the name couldn't be more perfect. To date, the way she forms her mannerisms and shapes that mouth, I would truly believe she is mad!!!! If there is anyone that knows how to stand out, it's this New York City drag daredevil Maddelynn Hatter. With a strong aesthetic, twisted act and an even stronger perspective, this creep queen wonder is truly one of a kind, So much so, that her unique performance style has torpedoed to headlining gigs at The Black Party in New York as well as in Provincetown, MA. I think every queen should experience a Maddelynn show. They are visually stimulating and engaging, and I have never seen a queen like her look people in the eye and  connect with her audience. She likes bright colors and a whole bunch of different kinds of music to perform to from Fiona Apple, to Marilyn Manson to Zedd! Maddelynn finds the need to be physically moved and inspired by the music, or its simply all about the look. She puts some concept around what the music makes her feel as well. If ever the Mad Hatter came to life, it came to life in this queen.

One of my favorite performances of her from Drag Carnage...still gives me chills

CABARET AND SPIRITS

Chez Odette was another of those gems here is New Hope that had a happy and tragic story for many. I still miss this place. Chez Odette was still in full swing when I moved here...famous for many a hung over Sunday brunch. And Odette's nightly cabaret saw a who's who of performers. It 's where I saw that great Shirley Bassey perform once,  and Patti Lupone. The palace was also famous for it's campy and roaring New Years Eve parties in the 60's and 70's. But I wasn't to enjoy it long, as three back to back floods in 2006 ended it's life span and the place sat vacant up till last year. And of course was another place that one could feel a strong presence.

The original stone structure was built in 1784 as an inn and tavern, eventually becoming the River House. In the late 1950's, it was purchased by French vaudeville actress Odette Myrtil. Odette was a story in herself. Mme. Myrtil may not have been a huge star, but she showed up in over two dozen movies directed by such venerable talents as William Wyler, Preston Sturges, Alfred Hitchcock, Jules Dassin, and George Cukor. One reason that those filmmakers chose to use her was that she could lend a trace of her sophistication to American films, and provide an intriguing contrast to the heroines she so often helped, tempted, and guided through their personal dramas. In her own time she was a favorite on stage, screen and cabaret stages on two continents for many decades. She often appeared in studio era films as the quintessential pragmatic Frenchwoman. Myrtil's success in cabarets and theaters in France and Britain soon led her to work on both sides of the Atlantic, beginning in 1914 when the sixteen-year-old was engaged for two editions of the famed Ziegfeld Follies in New York.

Eventually, after several more small triumphs on stage, including replacing Juanita Hall in the part of Bloody Mary in the original New York company of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, Myrtil, was finally able to build her nest in the countryside she loved so much. It was probably from Oscar Hammerstein she came here, as he too had a residence outside New Hope. In the late 1950s, the actress found a cozy berth in the town of New Hope. Odette first took over management of the Playhouse Inn, now the infamous Bucks County Playhouse,  where Broadway shows tried out, and high quality theatrical productions had flourished since the 1930s, attracting famous actors and their well-heeled audiences to the spot, not far from Philadelphia and New York. Bringing her flair for food and fashion to play, Odette featured jazz and dancing nightly, creating a bistro atmosphere in the dining room of Chez Odette, which was decorated with Mme. Myrtil's memorabilia from a lifetime of performing. Sometimes Odette even introduced her patrons to new and different performers, including Nina Simone in 1957, the unique and sometimes eccentric singer, found herself surprisingly at home in the night spot, here in New Hope.

Mme. Odette passed away at 80 in 1975,in her Doylestown home where she also spent much time... and had sold Chez Odette  three years before her death, . Many who worked there and years after her death,  said no question,  Odette still frequented the place. Her perfume could also be smelled in the parts of Odettes she spent time in, her office door to her suite would often lock, and many workers and guest heard the piano play. One guest remarked at the beautiful playing she heard in her room. The worker didn't mention to the guest though that there was no piano player, that afternoon. They always assumed it was Odette tickling the ivories.

Guest and workers have also felt a presence on the third floor, where Odette would often stay overnight instead of driving home, and guests had heard their names being called out, by a male voice. A psychic couple also identified the ghost of a woman, many had seen, who was murdered in the bar area and gets upset when someone sits in her favorite seat. Cocktails were known to slide down the bar. Many have said they also have seen the ghost of actor George C. Scott, who also loved New Hope and was often a guest of Odette,  he is said to haunt both locations. Then there’s the tragic story of pioneering female newscaster Jessica Savitch.

On October 23, 1983, after having dinner at Chez Odette, Savitch and male friend, Martin Fischbein, vice president of the New York Post, somehow had a mishap during heavy rainstorm and drove off the parking lot and into the canal upside down. Both were trapped in the car and drowned, as did Savitch’s dog, Chewy. It’s said that all three are still wondering the area and there have been many sightings of the blond new anchor standing late at night, watching the river,  and many others hear Chewy haunts the site of their deaths near the restaurant. Many others claim to hear a dog barking, while others walking dogs pass the site, say their dogs start acting agitated and barking for no reason.

Investors purchased the historic building two years ago, and spent years obtaining the proper permissions to move Chez Odette. The site has now been turned into The Riverhouse at Odette’s. The old building was literarily picked up and moved about 2,000 feet down the street and converted it into a haunted French museum and French boutique hotel. 

Do ghosts stick with their paranormal residence if it’s moved? That would seem to make sense if they’re attached to events in the building rather than being buried beneath it. Odette, Jessica and the others may decide to roam a drier location. Then again, the new complex sounds pretty nice. Could the murdered ghost find happiness and peace in elegant new bar? Guests and patrons of The Riverhouse at Odette’s will find out soon as it just opened four weeks ago. A friend of mine is working there and sent this picture. It was so cool to see they still incorporated her name and it's history and have a whole wing of Odette Mytle's portraits hanging in her honor.

This incidentally is also the same company that bought my home away from home the Raven. This is Odette's today.