Princess Tales

Mark Twain and Peggy Mosley

Mark Twain visited us the other night! Or… Samuel Clemens, or Pat Kaunert… he has a lot of names! He told a lot of really interesting stories, and my mom Peggy dressed up in her best gown for the occasion, a really actually old one from about 1900 that belonged to Mrs. Armour, of the famous meatpacking company.

Mr. Twain told stories about things he’d seen and places he’d been, some of which were actually true! The dinner was full of recipes from the time that he was here before, the 1800s, and there was trout and apple crisps and beet salad and other delicious things. He told stories while people had dinner, and everybody loved it so much he came back and told even more! He said he had a really fun time and will be back again some day, and that maybe he would bring his friend Bret Harte along too for more different stories.

Did you know that right across the street is a marker for the Mark Twain/Bret Harte trail? They visited up here over a hundred years ago, when the hotel was only about 20 years old! The whole town of Groveland is a California Historic Landmark, and it’s a great place to live.

You know what tree is my favorite? The dogwood! And that’s not just being silly, because this time of year the leaves turn such beautiful colors. Red and orange and pink and yellow and fruit colors and every color in between! Yosemite has lots of dogwoods, and there’s a tree across from the Chapel too that’s full of reds and darker colors like that, a sugar maple, I think. I don’t know the names of trees very well, you’ll have to ask my mom! The waterfalls in Yosemite are really full right now too, so it’s a good time to come visit us before it gets too cold and snowy.

Halloween was a lot of fun. There’s no neighborhoods for the kids to trick or treat in, so they all come to main street from miles and miles around. We had about 400 kids come through, and about a dozen dogs in cute costumes. Some of them stayed right here, too, and there was even a beagle like me! I liked the little fairy princess on the chihuahua the best, I think. The beagle didn’t have a costume, that was too bad. Lots and lots and lots of kids, though, that made up for it!

We have two resident cats here at the Groveland Hotel, Lola (who is actually a boy… one of the guests named him) and Fat Cat. You’d never guess that they were from the same litter, because Lola is beautiful and sleek and outgoing with big green eyes, while Fat Cat is almost wild and small and kind of deformed, hobbling around and hiding under the wicker chairs on the veranda. Fat Cat had been missing, though, for a few weeks. Lola was around entertaining the guests and begging for food as usual, but not his little sister. But the other day Fat Cat returned! Her fur was full of stickers and she was far too skinny, but it was nice to see that she was still okay and hungry for some dinner.

Guests wonder what other kind of animals we have here in Groveland, sometimes asking if the bears will break into their car if they leave food in there. I’ve never seen a bear here in town! I know they’re way out by the landfill that’s miles from here, along with some mountain lions, but not here at the hotel. I have seen foxes, skunks, opossums, deer, rabbits and raccoons, though! The raccoons love to come at night and eat the cat food left out for Lola and Fat Cat, and mostly I only smell the skunks. A seasonal creek runs right next to the hotel, so they’re probably after water, too. I love all the animals, birds and wildflowers here in Groveland — it’s better than TV.

And the weather! Usually we only have months of dry, hot days, but this year we’ve had some rain showers throughout the summer to make things interesting. It can really pour in Yosemite, however, so if you’re coming up our way, expect the unexpected and bring rain gear at least. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Oh my goodness, has it really been a whole month since I wrote? Time flies when you’re having fun here at the Groveland Hotel!

On May 22 we had our first Courtyard Theater performance of the year, the Beach Boys tribute band, and they were really great. They played for a long time, and people really loved them and were dancing and everything. On the 19th Paperback Writer is coming back, the Beatles tribute band from the Los Angeles area. They even play at Disneyland, and last year they had people literally dancing in the streets! People came out from the Iron Door Saloon and I think there was even a conga line going at one point. Don’t miss this show, it’ll sell out again for sure.

The rhododendrons have already bloomed and gone, but more flowers are coming out for the summer, like the sweet woodruff and hydrangeas. Evening dinners are really nice, especially with the music and tiki torches going as the sun sets. I love our Garden Courtyard at this time of year!

Here it is, slowly opening! The rhododendron we’re watching bloom in the Groveland Hotel’s Garden Courtyard, day four.

Here’s the flowering rhododendron in the Groveland Hotel’s Garden Courtyard, day three!

Our Garden Courtyard here at the Groveland Hotel is bursting with blooms! We have tulips, lilacs, azaleas, geraniums, herbs, rhododendrons and other pretty flowers all going right now out there, and my mom is going to take a photo every day of one of the rhodies so you can watch it open! She’s taking them with her Blackberry so if they’re a little fuzzy that’s why. Here’s the first two!

Groveland Hotel rhododendron flowering

It’s raining again! The hills and flowers and lakes really need it, even if it makes the people run around kind of funny and ask where they can buy an umbrella. They get really mad if they forget and leave their car windows down. I try to bark and warn them, but they don’t seem to understand what I’m saying.

Tonight all 17 rooms at the Groveland Hotel was full for the first time this year, and the Cellar Door Restaurant and the bar were both packed full of people! It was really buzzing with activity and the new menu looks so delicious. The Wine Spectator magazine gave us their Award of Excellence again this year, and the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce gave my human mom the April Remodel Award.

A pretty new golden peach color was added to the upstairs over the restaurant, and downstairs in the Victorian Annex building. It looks amazing with the new carpet! The upstairs will be painted soon too, and the inside of the whole place just glows all warm now. Come and see it! But if you want to eat with us you gotta make a reservation so you don’t have to wait when it gets as busy as it did tonight! See you soon!

We’re getting some beautiful warm weather now! The tulips in the courtyard are in full bloom and some of the flowers have already gone by in the hills. The grass is high and I love nosing around in all the green stuff and flowers and looking for bugs. Yosemite is really amazing right now too — the falls are loud and full, and there’s lots of flowers and animals too.

And we’ve got carpeting! Lots of new carpeting is going into the Groveland Hotel in both buildings. All the rooms and hallways and even the stairs up from the Cellar Door restaurant have new carpet. The rooms got a nice tan berber-looking one, and the halls and the parlor upstairs and the stairs got a pretty old-fashioned looking kind with diamonds made out of leaves. It looks really good with the new color of the dining room. Oh, and paint, too! The upstairs inside the 1849 building is a golden peach now, and it looks so pretty and warm with the carpet and the new trim color.

Come in and see the changes at the Groveland Hotel, both inside and outside!

This time of year the wildflowers are starting to come out, and the daffodils too. And all over town the American Cancer Society has vases full of daffodils to remember people lost and give people hope. It looks so pretty, all the yellow flowers in their vases with big yellow ribbons, lined up all down the highway. They even match the hotel’s yellow and white colors.

More and more people are coming here and making reservations, so don’t wait if you want to come visit me! Make sure you reserve with the nice people at the front desk instead of coming up and hoping we’ll have rooms, because for weeks last summer we had no more rooms. Sometimes people would argue over the last room! We want everybody to be happy here, so make sure you get your room in advance.

It’s been spring weather for the past few days, but a big storm is coming in tonight, and there might be a little snow tomorrow. The weather here is so unpredictable in the spring!