A few weeks ago, I received an email from our reservations office alerting me to the presence of a certain guest that I NEEDED to get in touch with. Not only had this individual been spotted multiple times on property, proudly sporting his handmade Madonna Inn t-shirt, he had also been in contact with various Madonna Inn employees throughout his stay; quizzing them on Madonna Inn trivia, asking for property maps, and chit-chatting about Mrs. Madonna's book. Happily, I reached out with the email provided by our staff, and spent nearly an hour on the phone with this MI super fan just a few days later.
Meet Baron. He is eight years old, going into third grade, and hails from the Washington, DC area. On a recent 20-day vacation to California, he and his family spent three days staying at the Inn and enjoying all that SLO has to offer. Baron, who was essentially his family's personal tour guide during their stay, fell in love with the Inn nearly a year and a half ago when he was assigned a non-fiction book report in school and chose to read My Point of View. After reading Mrs. Madonna's book cover to cover (literally) he began creating digital renderings of Madonna Inn guestrooms and points of interest through his Minecraft gaming software.
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| Country Gentleman Minecraft rendering |
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| Registration Office Minecraft rendering |
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| Showboat Minecraft rendering |
Of all the things Baron loves about the Inn, individually themed rooms, stained glass cupolas, and pink champagne cake were at the top of his list. In our telephone interview he was straightforward, inquisitive, and even helpful - giving some suggestions for possible new bedspread designs, and pointing out that the Copper Cafe and Silver Bar have confusingly similar names! I found myself continually impressed by his MI knowledge and passion. Before we said goodbye I made sure to let him know he could expect gainful employment with Madonna Inn, should he ever decide to move to California.
