The Bluffs
Bay Head, New Jersey

~ The Story Of A Hotel At The Jersey Shore ~

by Francine LaVance Robertshaw

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Interview with Francine LaVance Robertshaw
~ May 2007 ~

The author at home in California
with best friends, Winnie and Pooh Bear.

Francine LaVance Robertshaw was raised in Short Hills, New Jersey and summered in Bay Head and its environs before moving to “the shore” year-round in 1967. After working eight seasons at The Bluffs (seven with the Johnson family and one with the new owners), it was time for a lifestyle change and she moved to Palm Desert, California. By then, the hospitality business was in her blood, and in 1987, she became a concierge at Marriott’s Desert Springs, a brand new, nine-hundred-room, luxury resort. It was quite a change from the thirty-eight rooms at The Bluffs, but she adapted quickly, going on to win many prestigious hospitality awards. She credits her years at The Bluffs as a solid foundation for her success in the hotel industry. Francine devotes her spare time to the Palm Springs Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, a charitable organization of executive woman of high achievement in culinary and hospitality fields. Although addicted to the desert climate, her heart is forever in Bay Head at the Jersey Shore.

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What inspired you to write this book?
The Bluffs as it was, was inspiration enough, but knowing that I had many photographs, the treasured memorabilia, and the stories in my head that I had learned from the family over the years of my employment there, I came to realize, after being coaxed by my brother and a dear friend, that no one else, other than a Johnson family member, might be able to do such a book. They said, “You have to do it!”

How long did it take you to write this book, and how did you go about creating it?
I never wrote an “outline”—I think that’s what a writer of books is supposed to do. Nearly a year before I began, I wrote notes, mostly lists of my recollections, names of guests, bar customer, their nicknames, and various distinct memories that I thought would be worth sharing. The first draft, once I began writing, went very quickly, and was finished in about four months. The “tweaking” took much longer, but only because time was on my side, and I was very self-critical. Every time I re-read it, I changed it, but very little from what I wrote down originally, only things like vocabulary, or sentence structure. I found if I read it aloud, it seemed different to me, and I’d make changes, I hope for the better.

Please describe your writing process.
I kept a journal next to my bed and would often awake in the night and remember something significant, or the name of a long-forgotten person, and write it down. I also talked to my brothers and many old friends who would remind me of things that happened years ago—“Do you remember so-and-so, do you recall when such-and such happened?…” We sure laughed a lot! When I finally began the physical writing, I sat down at the computer, opened the journal, looked at the first page, closed it, and began typing. It seemed to be ten pages long before I opened the journal to look at my notes again. That’s pretty much the way it went through the whole process. I didn’t really have a plan…it just seemed to flow. There was a story of The Bluffs waiting to be told!

What were some of the difficulties you encountered, and were there any “hard choices” that had to be made?
There were a number of “technical” difficulties, which drove the publisher, George Valente, art director, Judy Cardella, and me slightly crazy, but nothing we couldn’t handle, and it all worked out. Some of the borrowed memorabilia had to be re-scanned, and borrowing it a second time was a bit of a chore, and in some cases a nightmare…it held up the presses! The three of us seemed to work exceptionally well together. Really, it has been a joy to work with them. I definitely want them to do my next book! The most personal difficulty I encountered was the death of the person who first encouraged me to write the book, Bunny Pollock, followed by the death of Fred Paulson, one of the people who helped me so much with the photo and document scanning, who also helped me with “navigation” of the computer. Also, my personal physician and dear friend, Dr. M. Melvin Goldfine passed away just recently, and he was my greatest supporter. He would call me and say, “Is this the famous authoress?” And that would always make me smile. I will never stop missing them, and I am so saddened that they didn’t live to see the book come to fruition.

What were some of the pleasures you encountered while creating this book?
Jersey Shore Publications was my ONLY choice to publish this book, and George Valente was worth waiting for. I knew even before I put one word in the journal that I wanted George to do this book. I loved what he did with Dick LaBonte’s book and the “Spring Lake, Revisited” book, and I had a vision for my own book. I knew it had to be JSP. Also, re-connecting with old friends who have shared their memories in essays, and just catching up with many more on the phone or in emails has been a great experience. I have made many new friends through the process, too. Writing, as it turns out, is not such a lonely profession!

Your experiences at The Bluffs have obviously had a major impact on your life. Why do you think that is?
I had a love affair with Bay Head since my family first summered there when I was ten years old. It lives on to this day. I am inextricably tied to the Jersey Shore, going back several generations on my father’s side in Monmouth County. There was always that family history, but aside from that, there’s something about a favorite “summer place” that grabs you, and never lets go. By the time I was of age to go into The Bluffs Bar, it had the same affect. Once it was in my blood, it could never be expelled. My employment at the hotel was the final “hook” that brought me closer to the “inner workings” of The Bluffs as a business. Getting to know the owners better, as well as the hotel guests, was an added bonus. (I suppose I should also mention that I met the love of my life at The Bluffs…actually, several! But that's another book.)

This simple Jersey Shore hotel and bar—why do you think it became beloved by so many?
Some might say because it was the only place in this little town to go (unless one belonged to the Bay Head Yacht Club), but it was much more than that. Aside from its proximity to the beach, it had a relaxed charm, a rich history, camaraderie, a wonderful family ownership. It was un-fussy, but classy, unique in so many ways. It was simply a good place to meet nice people.

What one or two events from your years at The Bluffs stand out in your mind the most?
Other than meeting the love of my life? Probably the Rastall-Lee wedding in September of 1985. We all knew it was the “swan song” of The Bluffs under the Johnson family ownership. We wanted to hold on to that memory forever. The following December, the “closing party” certainly stands out. Probably because we thought it was going to remain as we always knew it, but “improvements” were coming, and we had no idea that The Bluffs was about to go through a drastic metamorphosis, becoming something it was never meant to be.

Did the coming and going of guests affect you?
The anticipation of opening day every June and the arrival of the “summer regulars” was an event I always looked forward to, even before I was employed there…and by Labor Day, it was sad to see them go…most of them, anyway! But I loved the changeover of guests as the summer wore on, warm greetings, long goodbyes, familiar faces, new faces. It was never dull, always an interesting mix. The presence of a “real” celebrity now and then certainly livened things up for Kathy Johnson Spies and me! I see celebrities regularly in California, and have become complacent, but in Bay Head, at the time, it was a very big deal!

Since your move to California, how often do you visit Bay Head and the Jersey Shore?
I used to “commute” quite regularly, but now not nearly as often as I would like, and it seems less and less as the years go by. Not because I don’t want to, but my schedule just doesn’t permit. The hardest part is not seeing nearly as much of my family as I would wish.

How has Bay Head and the Jersey Shore in general changed since your time there in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s?
Well, there’s always going to be that issue of “tear downs.” I have to wonder how long before I return to find the homes I’ve lived in gone, replaced by “mega-mansions”…sort of like what happened to The Bluffs. Losing The Bluffs has been hard enough to deal with, but if my former homes disappear, that will be another sad time for me. I hope I never see the day.

It is now more than ten years since The Bluffs was torn down. Since then, Bay Head has gone from having five bed & breakfast inns and one hotel to two inns and one hotel. How has Bay Head changed in other ways since the demise of The Bluffs, and how has it changed because of the demise of The Bluffs?
The area is certainly much more diverse now than it ever was, more ethnically mixed. But still a bastion of Republicanism! And still historic and beautiful with gorgeous beaches. Other than The Bluffs being gone, as much as it changes, it stays the same, at least for me. I still get that old nostalgic feeling when I come to town, a feeling of “coming home” to a quaint little village. But the choices for accommodations have narrowed, and that’s not likely to reverse. There’s nothing like seeing old friends…if only we could all meet at The Bluffs. Many of the newer homes are much larger than should be allowed, but that’s progress, I guess—an inescapable trend. In my opinion, it was the “transient” hotel guests that made Bay Head a more interesting place.

If The Bluffs was still here today, what do you imagine it would be like?
Of course, I’d wish for it to be the way it is when I dream about it—which fortunately, is often—exactly the way it was when I first walked in the door in 1967. I know that’s not practical, but I would have hoped that at the very least it was always kept up by the “new” owners, well-maintained, and loved, much as the Johnson family cared for it through four generations of unquestionable hospitality…something to hand down to their heirs, a legacy. There is no valid reason why it should not still be there…so much history, so many memories, it should have gone on forever. In my heart it will. I hope my book will bring back those memories, and for those who might never have been there, to bring it alive. If my book seems somewhat autobiographical, although it did not start out as such, it was unavoidable, because The Bluffs left an indelible mark on my life, as I know it did for so many others.