Tiny Hiney

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"Exquisite Rooms and Suites from .00 Up"
12:51 a.m. - Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003

I saw an ad in Time for Holiday Inn's Towel Amnesty Day but forgot all about it until I saw a link for it at Guavalog. I haven't ever "borrowed" (their word, not mine) a towel from Holiday Inn or any motel/hotel as far as I can remember but I always clear a room of all stationery, postcards, pens and matches when I stay in one.

The other night, we (my mom, her friend Marie, Marie's daughter Nicole and Nicole's friend Jane) were going through a box of old pictures that once belonged to my grandmother. I found several postcards in there including one from the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo that I must have taken from the room and then gave to my grandmom. On the front of the card, scrawled in my handwriting, is "where we stayed" with an arrow drawn to the part of the building where our room was. On the back are my directions for my grandmother to read the pre-printed description of the Madonna Inn that was printed on the card. I drew several arrows in case she couldn't find it herself.

I just noticed the phone number on the post card is Liberty 3-3000. When were area codes invented? It also has "Exquisite Rooms and Suites from $10.00 up." Ten dollars?! There's no post mark on it but I'd say this card is from 1972 or 1973.

Each of the 109 rooms at the Madonna Inn is decorated in its own unique way. After seeing some of them, I really wish I could remember which room we stayed in.

So, I don't have any towels to return to the Holiday Inn but I still have a sugar bowl that I took off a room service cart that was parked in the hallway of the Regent Hotel in Hong Kong. Here's a lovely picture of a plate with the very same pattern as my stolen sugar bowl. And there's reason #251 why I love the internet. For years, I've seen the Replacements, Ltd ad in the back of magazines but I had yet to ever visit their website until now.

Well, two hours later and I've successfully tracked down matching dinnerware to this one bowl that I can remember from when I was a kid. According to one site, they were made in the 1950's and given away at A&P supermarkets. Funny how I never thought to check Google or Ebay for them before this. And don't laugh but I know what I want for my birthday now.

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