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Manchester Inn - Part 2
Written by: Janet Pope
Photography by: Donald
Don and Jan discover a Murder Mystery Dinner at a Bed and Breakfast in New Jersey.
The Manchester Inn is really a fully-operating hotel nestled among the many Victorian homes. It is only one block from the ocean and is four stories high with outdoor porches, each affording an ocean view. In fact, all the homes built within two blocks of the ocean have an ocean view, due to each home having a different front "set back" from the street, than the one next to it. The effect is that the street appears to get wider the closer to the beach you are. This allowed each next-door neighbor to have an ocean view and a cool breeze during the hot summers. The founding fathers sure had foresight.
We met our hosts, Clark and Margaret Cate, after we entered the main living room. Each room in the hotel is decorated to give a warm and casual feeling. There are painted murals throughout the buildings; some floral, some silhouettes and some whimsical such as a sitting cat or a jumping frog. Our bedroom had a faux fireplace painted on the wall, complete with a floral arrangement and the numbered key to the room. It was so life-like that I was tempted to grab the key before we left the room.
According to Clark, the Inn was built about 1880 as the Manchester Hotel and had been three separate buildings that were combined into one in the early years. When the Cates purchased the Manchester Hotel, about seven years ago, the decor was (so they say) Pepto Bismol Pink, now it is a mix of soft floral shades.
Soon it was time to join the other guests, as we could hear a crowd stirring
downstairs. This weekend the inn was hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner and we weren't sure if the crowd assembling were murderers, murderees or innocent bystanders. We eyed everyone with caution, as we tried to overhear their conversations and determine their status. Entering the dining room, we were greeted by a woman in a bold yellow, floor-length formal dress who introduced herself as "Laura Barnes, Class of 1987." Then, the plot thickened.
The storyline for tonight's dinner was a class reunion. After Don bantered with her for a few minutes she must have sensed that this guy from Brooklyn has a sense of humor and she handed him the envelope marked with a character's name: Jordan Whiner.
"Oh God," Don whined, "I don't want to do this!" Since his character's name was Mr. Whiner I thought his whining protests were humorously appropriate.
"Go ahead. It will be fun," I encouraged him. Thankfully, I was not one of the chosen few.
"But I'm not funny," said Don. This coming from a man who has made me
laugh for nearly 33 years; sometimes deliberately. Well, Don, not surprisingly, was the hit of the evening. He had to act out a small scene of Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof and he did so with his heavy Brooklyn Accent; a star was born. He heard the roar of the crowd and there was no holding him back. There were four other innocent bystanders plucked from the audience and everyone did a great job, going along with the fun, but I must say Don was outstanding - at whining.
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Manchester Inn and the Four Trees | |
Oh by the way, the food was good too. The Chef, Bill Regeor, did a great job. I usually find any dinner theatre is more theatre than dinner, but here the dinner was a delicious buffet.
At the end of the day, what a nice treat it was to have only to climb a flight of stairs to go to bed.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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