Glennia Campbell has been around the world and loved something about every part of it. She is interested in reading, photography, politics, reality television, food and travel and lives in the Bay Area of the U.S.

She blogs about family travel at The Silent I and is also the co-founder of MOMocrats Beth Blecherman and Stefania Pomponi Butler, which launched out of a desire to include the voices of progressive women, particularly mothers, in the political dialogue of the 2008 campaign.

She found her way to Democratic politics under the tutelage of the late Rev. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., Cora Weiss, and other anti-war activists and leaders in the anti-nuclear campaigns of the 1980's. She has been a speaker at BlogHer, Netroots Nation, and Mom 2.0, and published print articles in KoreAm Journal.

Professionally, Glennia is a lawyer and lifelong volunteer. She has been a poverty lawyer in the South Bronx, a crisis counselor for a domestic violence shelter in Texas, President of a 3,000 member non-profit parent's organization in California, and has worked in support of high-tech and medical research throughout her professional career.

My husband, Frank, discovered that Abel Gance’s epic silent film, Napoleon, was playing with a live orchestra in Oakland last weekend.  When I found out it was 5 1/2 hours long, I told him, “You’re on your own, bub.”

This is his account of a classic movie-going experience that may not be repeated.

I had the good fortune to get a ticket last weekend for the final showing of Napoleon, Abel Gance’s silent movie masterpiece. I recall hearing about the version released with a score by Francis Ford Coppola’s father in the early 1980’s, but I skipped it then, and always wondered what I’d missed.

Now, for the first time in 30 years, a new, more complete restoration was on offer as part of the 2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, It was being shown with a live performance by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, playing an original score conduced by the composer Carl Davis. Billed as a once-in-lifetime experience, I snapped up a ticket online and headed to Oakland on Sunday, April 1.

This French movie was made in the 1920s, and was first shown in 1927. The director, Abel Gance, got funding to make 6 films to chronicle the whole life of Napoleon. He blew the entire budget on just the first installment, which only carries us through Napoleon’s early life, but even with this limited material, the film is over 5 hours long.

At first, we see him as a teen at boarding school, commanding a snowball fight among his peers. We watch the French Revolution and Napoleon’s imprisonment and the effect this has on him. We see his military talent (and defiance of authority) at the Battle of Toulon in 1793, his romance and marriage to Joséphine, who turns out (at least according to the movie) to have been imprisoned with him (and was saved by a judicious bureaucrat who literally ate – yes, tore up and swallowed – her paperwork rather than letting her be guillotined). The film finally ends with Napoleon’s invasion of Italy in 1796.

There is a lot here for the cinema buff. Some of the camera work was revolutionary for its time (1927): Double exposures (all done in camera), multiple exposures, split-screen shots, and ultra-rapid cuts (depicting the chaos and tumult of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror) are all over the place. Some cinematography techniques I think of as a contemporary (like the unsteady camera that always seems to be moving, – think Blair Witch or the Jason Bourne movies) can find roots in Napoleon from 1927.

Gance also used moving cameras mounted on operator’s chests as they walked through crowds, cameras mounted on horseback as they race along, cameras on swings over the crowds of revolutionaries, even a camera in the waves as Napoleon escapes a chasing mob by sea – truly a motion picture that lives up to the name.

He also experimented with color – having the entire image tinted blue for night shots, or red during the rage of the battle scenes, or yellow or sometimes even pink for … well, I’m not exactly sure what all that color coding meant. Since some scenes cut back and forth between camera angles with different colors for the different views, so I suspect it’s the film itself that is tinted, not just a projectionist holding up a filter. I’m not sure it adds much in this day and age, and it must be a nightmare for the restoration, but it must have been something back in 1927.

The final Act IV is the most amazing part of the whole movie. Gance expands the screen with three projectors, showing images side by side as Napoleon rouses his army to invade Italy, and then as the battle unfolds. Sometimes showing landscape panoramas, with troop movements across the continuous landscape of the three screens, sometimes showing a triptych of 3 different images all geared to make a collective impression. At the end, the three screens become the French tricolore, using tinted film for the left in blue and the right in red, with Napoleon in black & white in the middle. Wow! Even now, jaded as we are with IMAX and widescreen and all, this was really an impressive sight.

This is a real challenge, especially with 3 synchronized projectors running at only 20 frames per second (not the usual 24 fps used today), so Napoleon will not be coming to a multiplex near you anytime soon.

So, for film buffs, there is much to love.

For movie goers, though, it’s a challenge. The movie may be only 5 ½  hours long, but the program lasted over 8 hours, with two intermissions between acts and a dinner break as well.  And, although restored with all the titles in English, it is an effort to stay seated and concentrate for such a long event no matter what. The silent style, with uneven exposures, grand gestures, and exaggerated expressions on faces making up for the lack of words, is certainly an acquired taste these days.

The subject, just on Napoleon’s youth, seems way too much. Gance makes a great effort to convince you his quotes and facts are “Historical” (the word appears on all title slides when quoting from some record of events), but Gance’s hero-worship for this guy is a bit nauseating. The schoolboy snowball fight is amusing, since we are supposed to see the general-to-be in the boy, but as the film moves on (and on and on), it seems Napoleon could do nothing wrong. He called everyone around him idiots, and from this presentation, they really were! All you need is to let a heroic man of megalomaniacal vision take over and France will be glorious. The French nationalism ad nauseam is a bit hard to take. There is even a long scene where is seems Napoleon was instrumental to Parisian crowds adopting the La Marseillaise as a Revolutionary theme song. Really?

We’ve learned a lot about movies since this first was projected, but just a decade later, they were making movies like Gone With the Wind, with sound and in color, that we relate to essentially as we do today. In contrast, Napoleon seems like a piece from another world, both as cinema and as politics. It is a landmark achievement, yes, and since staging this production, with a live orchestra and a trio of synchronized 20 fps projectors is so difficult, by all means, catch this if they ever stage a screening near you.

But, it is a once-in-a lifetime thing – once is surely enough to sit through the whole thing, and it’s not at all what you expect from a movie today. So, I’m glad I did it, but am also glad I didn’t try to bring the family (our video game loving son would have been bored bored bored).

Napoleon was shown at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. This was the first event I’d been to there, and what a place! An art deco masterpiece, halls decorated with nude or near nude images of figures in vaguely Greek or Egyptian styles, latticework in the ceilings to dazzle and amaze. It’s worth a trip to the Theatre just to see the place.

 

Granny’s Chicken and Dumplings

Growing up in Ohio, Sunday dinner meant one thing to me: Granny’s Chicken & Dumplings, a warm and hearty stew made of the simplest ingredients of flour, chicken, salt and pepper. A staple in the Midwest and South, chicken and dumplings is about as comforting  as a comfort food can get. It seems to be something born of hard times, when only the bare necessities were on-hand to make a meal for a crowd.

As a child, I watched my grandmother roll out dumpling and make quick work of cutting out dumplings into little bite-sized squares. Her knife skills would put even the Top Chef Masters to shame. I often helped knead the dough, standing on a chair to put my whole body into the process of shaping and rolling the dough into a ball, then using a rolling pin to flatten it out.  Granny coached me through it, making sure my dumplings were not too lumpy or too thick.  Making dumplings was better than play-doh for keeping little hands busy.

Granny didn’t use a recipe, so for the longest time I had only a vague idea of how to make chicken and dumplings.  My mother showed me how to make it, using the “eyeball it and throw things in until it tastes right” method.  My brother Mike is a chef, and he coached me through turning it into a real recipe a few years ago. The recipe that follows is an approximation of what you need to make Chicken & Dumplings, just like Granny used to make. The original recipe only uses salt and pepper for seasoning. I’ve added some chicken stock base and herbs for extra flavor.

Ingredients

For Stock:

12 c water

3 bone-in chicken breasts

2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

2-3 leaves of fresh sage (optional)

1 packet Knorr Homestyle Condensed Chicken Stock (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

For Dumplings:

6 c + 1 c Gold Medal Self-Rising Flour

1 c water

1 t dried sage (optional)

1 t dried thyme (optional)

1 T salt

1 T black pepper

1. Make the Chicken Stock and Cook the Chicken

In a large stock pot, combine chicken breasts, thyme, sage, condensed stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 30-40 minutes.  Remove chicken breasts and allow them to cool. Allow stock to continue to simmer to reduce.

2.  Make the Dumplings

While the chicken is cooking, make the dumplings.  In a large bowl, whisk together 6 cups of flour and the dried herbs.  It is important that you use Self-Rising Flour so that your dumplings will be fluffy.  Gold Medal is the brand we have always used.

Add water to the dry ingredients, and stir until the mixture starts to stick together. Mix with your hands, and add water as needed to form a ball.  The dough should be about the size of a football.  Work the dough until it forms a ball, but do not overwork it.

Flour a work surface to roll out the dough on.  Cut the dough in half, and roll it out on the floured surface, until it is about 1/8 inch thick all the way through.  The thinner the dumplings, the faster they will cook through.

Trim off the ragged edges to form a large rectangle, then cut the flattened dough into 1 inch squares.  Place on a place to transfer to the stock. Repeat this with the second half of the dough.

3.  Cook the Dumplings

Skim the stock for excess fat and remove the herbs from the pot.  Place the dumplings in the pot one at a time.  They will be crowded.  Turn up the heat to medium, and bring to a boil.  The dumplings will rise to the top and plump up, like they are trying to escape from the pot.  When this happens, reduce the heat to low and cook for about an hour. Stir occasionally, making sure the dumplings don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

4. Shred the Chicken

While the dumplings are cooking, remove skin from the chicken breasts and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.  Place in a bowl and set aside. Discard the bones & skin.

Note: my grandmother used a whole, cut-up fryer for this, and didn’t shred the chicken, but allowed the pieces to stay intact.  You can do this to save time.

5.  Add Chicken

Add the shredded chicken to the pot, cover, and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes on low heat.  If you  like a creamier consistency, whisk together 1/2 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of flour in a small bowl.  Add to the stock to thicken it.  Cook until dumplings are tender, not chewy, and cooked through.

Variations

The basic recipe might be bland or unexciting to some palates, so you can always add your own touches: Mike adds a little Cayenne pepper to give it an extra kick; my Aunt Betty (always a radical) adds an egg to the dough to make it yellow. You can add some peas, carrots, celery or other vegetables to give it a fiber boost.  My mom adds kimchi whenever she eats dumplings, for a little Korean flair. Serve with a salad and cornbread for an excellent, hearty meal.

If you don’t have time to make everything from scratch, you can use ready-made chicken broth, any kind of cooked chicken, and canned biscuits rolled out for the dumplings.  I’ve used some variation on these ingredients from time to time, and it all tastes pretty good.

I still miss the way Granny made it, and no matter how many times I’ve made it myself, it’s just not the same. I think the secret ingredient that Granny always added was a little bit of love.

When planning our December roadtrip, a stop at the Saguaro National Park was an absolute must-see for my husband Frank.  Frank loves cacti of all shapes and varieties. He has kept a cactus collection for more than twenty years through moves from California to Texas and back, with only a few casualties along the way.

We arrived in Tucson too late in the day to catch the sunset light, so we had to defer Frank’s version of cactus nirvana until the following day.  He was quite insistent that we had go to Saguaro National Park and see the giant Saguaros. He managed to roust us up early so we could get there and still have time to drive to our next stop in New Mexico before sunset (or so we hoped).  Alex and I were just along for the ride, so we went along with it.

I have to admit, cactus don’t really thrill me that much.  I do, however, like birds, and after seeing the American White Pelicans at the Salton Sea, I decided it was time to learn a little more about them on the trip.  We stopped off at the visitor’s center on our way in, and I decided to buy a copy of a bird field guide.  I asked one of the park rangers which book he would recommend, and he pointed out the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America.  He told me that this was the best one for identifying birds in the field, and that he led the bird walks in the park.  He pointed out a few birds we might see or to keep our eyes out for on our trip around the park.

The road around the park was paved, and wound around stunning desert vistas, with dramatic mountain backdrops.  I always think of the desert as brown and flat, but in this part of Arizona is more rugged, with hills and valleys and green brush around.  One of the vistas labeled, aptly enough, “Riparian View” had a small stream trickling down the hillside.  I have to say that this portion of the desert was really lovely

When most American think of the west, visions of Saguaro cactus likely come to mind first: those tall, spiny green ghosts in a permanent “stick ‘em up” position, poised along some lonely trail like guardians of the desert.  In movies, from John Ford westerns to the opening scenes of Twilight, Saguaro cactus have come to represent face of the American West.  Growing up in Ohio, I thought these cactus were all over the western United States, and was disappointed that they didn’t grow in Texas when I actually moved there.  In fact, Saguaro’s only grow in parts of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico, and in a small area of Baja and California.

Saguaros take a long time to grow, and according to information in the park, it can take up to 8 years for a new Saguaro to grow 1-2 inches in the first years of life.  A single arm can take up to 75 years to grow.  It is believed that some are more than 200 years old, and weigh up to 6 tons and 50 feet tall.

Throughout the park, we encountered thousands of Saguaros and their spiny relatives, like the Cholla or “leaping” cactus.  Frank explained that these cactus get their name from how they seem to leap onto animals, birds, and people to spread.  Chollas have very fine, long needles that are somewhat hard to see, so you might not know you have gotten too close until you find a little hitchhiker attached to your pants or your shoes.

Frank ended up with one on his shoe without even knowing it until he looked down.  He flicked it off, but later realized that there was something itchy on his foot.  He took off his socks to find a Cholla needle had penetrated his shoes and thick socks. The needles didn’t even look long or sharp enough to do that.  If you’re hiking in the desert, be forewarned about the tricky Cholla.

The only other type of cactus I actually recognized or knew anything about were the flat, green prickly pears.  My mom has a prickly pear cactus in her garden in Ohio, and we have some in our cactus collection in California.  These hardy survivors seem to be able to grow just about anywhere.

On one of our stops along the road, I finally got to see some birds.  There was one noisy little creature that kept flitting about, not staying still for long.  I was able to use the Kaufman guide to determine that this was a Verdin, based its yellow head and red markings on the wing.  Verdin are tiny songbirds that live primarily in the Southwest, according to Kaufman and The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Trying to figure it out was a like solving a mystery, and kind of thrilling.  I can see why people keep life lists and go on birding expeditions now.

All in all, I really enjoyed our visit to the Saguaro National Park. The Saguaro National Park has a vast, wild beauty all its own, unlike anything you will likely find in any other state.  It is well worth a trip to Tucson to experience this unforgettable place.

Driving through the desert in Southern California is a study in contradictions. We drove from the opulent resorts of Palm Springs to the abandoned buildings and forgotten towns of Imperial County, where the unemployment rate is the highest in the state. The desert landscape is dotted with date palms, scrub, and not much else.  When my son looked up from his video game player long enough, he looked up and said, “Hey, mom, is that the ocean?”

I was looking in the opposite direction and replied, “We’re pretty far from the ocean.” Then, I saw it: the calm, blue waters of the Salton Sea, looming on the horizon like a mirage in the desert.

The Salton Sea is on of the world’s largest inland seas and one of the lowest spots on earth (-227 feet below sea level).  The sea existed in ancient times, but dried up until 1905 when high spring flooding on the Colorado River crashed the canal gates leading into the developing Imperial Valley.  For the next 18 months the Colorado River rushed into the dry seabed, creating the current 35 mile long,15 mile wide inland sea.  The sea is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, but not as salty as the Great Salt Lake, and the increasing salinity over time has lead to changes in the ecosystem. The only fish that can be caught there are tilapia, but hundreds of gorgeous waterbirds make their homes and migratory stops along the shores of the Salton Sea.

About 14 miles of the shoreline is used for human recreation (boating, kayaking, fishing, and camping), but due to state budget cuts, most of these services are dwindling. There is a State Recreation Area near Mecca, California, and that is where we stopped for a visit.

We drove through a thicket of palm trees to the park entrance, where a friendly park attendant named Nick took our $5 entrance fee and gave us a sticker to put on the car.  We drove to the lot by the Visitor’s Center, which was closed when we arrived. There was one other family in the parking lot at the time, and a lone fisherman out on a jetty casting a line out to the sea.  We decided to explore the beach a little, and could see hundreds of gulls and large white birds that looked like swans floating by in pairs.

Walking up to the beach at the Salton Sea is like walking through a fish apocalypse, with thousands of dead fish strewn across the sand, some looking as though they were cast out in schools along the beach. Some have pieces missing, as though they were a partially-eaten bird’s lunch.  It is a disquieting, eerie sight.

The group of birds floating slowly by on the water had fluffy, snow-white feathers, elegant necks and long yellow beaks, but I knew they weren’t swans. Frank thought they were pelicans, but I didn’t see any diving for fish the way I had seen other pelicans behave.  We later found out that these were American White Pelicans and 30% of their remaining population live in the Salton Sea area.  They float along and hunt for fish in groups, circling their prey and forcing the fish into tight groups before sticking their heads in and feasting.  They don’t dive for fish like brown pelicans, and have a much daintier way about them.

I watched the White Pelicans and the gulls by the shore for quite a while, trying not to step on the dead fish carcasses along the salt-encrusted seashore.  It was a beautiful, serene sight, despite the creepy fishpocalypse.  It reminded me that we need to preserve the habitats and homes of these creatures who share our planet.  I thought of the lines from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner that I learned in high school, many years ago:

He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.”

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I hope that something can be done to preserve the Salton Sea recreation areas, “for both man and bird and beast.”

Ever hear of Country Inns & Suites?  I hadn’t until about a year ago, when they generously offered us a voucher to stay in one of their fine establishments.  We were not able to take them up on the offer until our Christmas roadtrip to Austin, and I was pleasantly surprised by the accomodations they offer at reasonable prices.  We enjoyed a complimentary overnight stay  at the downtown location in Tucson, Arizona, during our long journey through the desert.

Like many of the better highway hotel chains, they offer free Wifi in the rooms, complimentary breakfast, and a pool.  What sets Country Inns and Suites apart are the little things, like complimentary cookies and bottled water on arrival, a full hot breakfast (not just microwaved sandwiches and cold cereal, but bacon, eggs, the whole works), and a homey, charming decor.  We found the staff to be friendly and efficient, as well as knowledgeable about the area.

On our December roadtrip, we left the Salton Sea Recreation Area and headed east on I-8 through the dusty California border towns toward Tucson. We were hoping to be in Saguaro National Park before sundown.  Unfortunately, we arrived too late for the park.  I dubbed this our “Too Late Tour,” since it seemed like we always arrived at our destinations just after the sunset so we couldn’t see anything.  Frank said that he planned a perfect itinerary for summer, or anytime the sun stays up a little past 5:00 pm.

Anyway, we arrived in Tucson after dark and couldn’t get to the Saguaro National Park on time, so we went straight to the Country Inns & Suites.  We were welcomed with freshly baked sugar cookies in the lobby, a homey fireplace, and some bottles of water, which were great after a long, dry drive through the desert. The front desk staff was extremely friendly and answered all of our questions.  There were some kids running around the lobby, and the hotel seemed to be extremely family-friendly.

Our room was nicely furnished and large enough for the three of us. The furnishings and decor were nicer and more traditional than some that we encountered later on our trip at similar hotels. It seems that the latest trend in hotel decor is blinding florescent lighting and migraine-inducing neon green bedding with fuschia accents and large black and white photos of doorknobs and exposed pipes in the hallway.  I was happy to find the room to be comfortable and not over-done, with more muted colors and soft lighting.

The hotel itself does not have an on-site restaurant, but there is a nearby Italian/Pizza restaurant called Bianchi’s that delivers to the hotel.  We decided to stay in and enjoyed a pizza, salad and pasta dishes that were delicious.  The following morning, we were happy to find that the breakfast was not the usual yogurt and cold cereal, but a full array of bacon, eggs, waffles, pastries, and other goodies.  We fueled up and hit the road.

Our only complaint about this experience was that the pool was outdoors and it was a little too chilly to try it out at night.  This is probably not much of a problem in Tucson for most of the year.  There was a 24-hour exercise room available, so I guess we could have set our energetic son on a treadmill to burn off some steam if needed.

Disclosure: I received a voucher for a free night at Country Inns & Suites, but no other incentive to write this post.  All opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Country Inns & Suites or Carlton Hotels.

If you’re looking for a true oasis in the desert, with luxury spa, swimming pool complex that includes a mini-beach for the kids, and an excellent restaurant, the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, California is the place for you.

We booked a special rate that included a “Kids Eat Free” promotion. We enjoyed two meals at the Cava Restaurant, with their fresh, well-prepared menu items and well-stocked buffets.

After driving all day into the wilds of Southern California and Los Angeles, we finally made it to Palm Springs on our Holiday Road Trip 2011. We passed through the glittering lights of swanky downtown Palm Springs, home of movie stars, golf courses, and Sonny Bono, and ventured a bit further to Indian Wells and the Renaissance Esmeralda.

The lobby decor was tastefully simple, and I liked the display of candles in the entryway. The Renaissance Esmeralda was the exact counterpoint to the glitzy, over-the-top Madonna Inn we stayed in the night before.

Our room overlooked the massive swimming pool, with a view of the mountains in the distance.  The room was decorated with clean simple lines in muted desert tones. The beds were comfortable, with plenty of soft, cushy pillows. We had a small balcony overlooking the pool area, and in the morning, could see the mountains off in the distance.

The hotel did not seem terribly busy, so the pool was empty most of the time we were there.  It is heated year round, but the chilly air probably kept most of the guests at bay.  Our son, who must have been raised by dolphins in a past life, is never deterred by a little cold when it comes to swimming.  He insisted on trying it out the night we arrived.  He was particularly fond of the little sand beach, a great place to build a sandcastle.

Renaissance Hotels are part of the Marriott chain, but on of the higher-end of the spectrum.  Even so, the price for a night was only $129, including free meals for kids with the purchase of an adult entree.  There is a separate resort fee of $25 that covers parking, internet access and other amenities. The prices vary from $99 to $329/night depending on the season and check-in dates.

Alex was so enchanted with the place he asked,”Can we come back here and stay for a week?”

I was inclined to agree with him, and would love to go back and check out the Spa and other restaurants, and see more of what the Palm Springs area has to offer.

Disclosure: Thanks to Klout for sharing a $200 gift card with us from Renaissance Hotels as a Klout Perk. I received no other compensation or incentive to write this post.  All opinions expressed herein are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Klout, Renaissance Hotels, or Marriott.

Driving on Highway 101 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, there is an unmistakable midway-point that every frequent traveler knows: The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.  The glowing neon sign, complete with animated horse-drawn stage coach, beckons weary travelers into a giant themepark of a hotel, where each of the 109 rooms is unique. If you love Americana, kitsch and funky decor, this place is a must-see.

We’re on the road again, this time on a holiday road trip to visit family in Texas. When plotting our course, Frank asked me what stops along the way would be on my wishlist, and the first thing that came to mind was the Madonna Inn.  I have seen the neon sign and the sprawling property from the highway on a number of trips, and heard that some of the rooms featured showers shaped like rock waterfalls. I knew I had to stay there someday.

The Madonna Inn has been a mainstay of California hospitality since the late 1950′s, when Alex and Phyllis Madonna opened a 12-room inn. Alex was an architect and Phyllis was an interior designer and the two of them had a vision of a new kind of hotel that featured a different decor in every room, on a larger scale than a traditional bed and breakfast.  The Inn expanded over the years as it became a popular venue for weddings, parties, and honeymooners, and became an attraction unto itself.  I have wanted to go there for years, and finally had my chance.

When my trusty travel agent (aka my husband Frank) tried to book a waterfall room, he was informed that these rooms only have single king beds. Since we’re traveling with a child, we had to choose a double room due to their “no rollaway policy.”  We opted instead for the España Room, having no idea what we were getting into. It sounded vaguely European, and being adventurous sorts, we went for it.  Frank read a bunch of bad reports on a certain travel website that I can’t stand, but I convinced him that one night would not kill us.  Frank told our 11 year old son Alex that the place was allegedly haunted. Alex was expecting a Ghost Hunters type of adventure, and was ready to film it, should anything go bump in the night.

Upon arrival, the first thing Alex asked the desk clerk was, “Is this place haunted?”

She seemed a little startled by this question, and abruptly answered, “No.”

Alex was crestfallen. I told her he was looking forward to seeing a ghost or two, and she said, “Well, I haven’t seen any, but who knows? Maybe Mr. Madonna is hanging around somewhere.”

Encouraged by the possibility, Alex perked up and set out to find a bathroom while we checked in. There were a number of loud Christmas parties and a quicenera going on in the restaurants, and when he returned, he was elated and told us, “There is a bathroom AND a dance party going on down there!” He didn’t see any ghosts, but teenagers doing the Dougie was way more fun.

The España Room was everything I imagined it to be, and more. If the name “España” evokes bullfighters, flamenco dancers, and Spanish style furniture from the 1950s, then this room is for you. The room features two very spacious bedrooms, and a bathroom with a large outer dressing room. While the bathroom did not have a rock waterfall, it was adorned with black, white, and teal tile that looked like something used for infant brain stimulation, and a gilded sink that looked like it was stolen from Elvis’ boudoir.  The toilet was the only non-Spanish themed piece in the rooms; instead, it a was a fancy Japanese Toto toilet with a heated seat and bidet.  I almost expected it to play flamenco music when I sat on it, but it was remarkably silent.  I was overcome by the urge to do the Paso Doble on the faux-parquet linoleum.

All of the furniture was ornately carved, and the window shutters featured a stained glass that made the room glow pink in the morning light. The walls were painted to look like stucco, with trompe l’oeil exposed brick in parts, to give it that “old world” feel, I suppose. I particularly liked the bullfighter painting in the bedroom, and the big resin bull statue by the bed.

Alex and Frank ventured out into the chilly night to the pool, which is heated year-round and has an adjacent jacuzzi.  They returned and Frank, the skeptic in all this, declared it “delightful.”  We were sold.

Alex did not see any ghosts at the Madonna Inn, so he settle for a marathon of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. My only complaint about the room was that the bed was not terribly comfortable, so I tossed and turned a great deal and could not get comfortable. He complained the next day that I was grinding my teeth like a chainsaw and was moaning and groaning all night…

Or was I?

We enjoyed our stay at the Madonna Inn, but I will warn you that a night in one of their themed rooms is not cheap, ranging in price from $179 to over $500.  It’s a fun place to stopover on a family trip, and if you have time, there are several restaurants and spa services available.  The grounds overlook the mountains and a large fenced-in farm next door.  It is definately worth the price, for a little bit of fun California history in a lovely setting.

The Madonna Inn is located at 100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, California, just off Highway 101. For reservations call (800) 543-9666.