“You put us in a hotel that is HAUNTED?”
Thirty minutes after booking the room for our
overnighter in Sedalia, I discovered that the hotel of my choice, the glorious
Hotel Bothwell in downtown Sedalia, had been featured on one of those hauntedhotel shows. Kelly and I decided not to tell the girls, but I wondered if maybe
that’s why a small suite at the Bothwell cost no more than a standard room at the
Best Western.
They found out when their cheerleader
friends at the fairgrounds asked where they were sleeping that night. “We can’t
stay there, we can’t stay there, we're hungry, we can't stay there” they shouted all the way across town. “Look,”
I said in my best now-girls-let’s-be-reasonable voice, “all the so-called
paranormal activity only happens on the third floor. There are seven floors, so
the chances of us getting a room on the third floor are slim.”
Kelly and the girls checked in while I got the rest of
our luggage, and I heard familiar screams and nervous laughter as I walked in.
Kelly held up our room key, clearly marked 320. “We’re doomed,” one of the
girls moaned.
It was a tense ride up the
elevator. The girls didn’t notice the fabulous lobby, with the crystal chandelier,
the brilliant polished wood and the gleaming brass, the lovely fabrics on the
chairs and walls. It was stunning.
They jumped at every step, every shadowy doorway, every
corner. They balked entering the room, holding each other and screeching. They
went to the bathroom with the door open.
It took hours for them to
settle down as their imaginations took hold of them. Of course, Kelly and I
didn’t help, scratching on their door, turning out lights, making sudden “what’s
that” sounds and “buwawhahaaaa” laughs.
It
was actually a lot of fun, for at least two of us. Apparently the ghosts are
accused of stealing small trinkets during the night, so Kelly and I tempted
them with her cheer pin. It was still there when we awoke, so perhaps the
spirits had the weekend off.
Haunted
or not, I love these old grand hotels with their aging luxury. They are like
scenes from movies, romantic old movies. They are packed with history, and the
Bothwell, built in 1927, is no exception. Like all these old places, famous
people visited often, including Harry Truman and Scott Joplin. And now, our girls.
We
are going back again, but next time, sans children. The ghosts will have to decide for themselves. The girls won't be there to scare them off....
