The Historic Bothwell

Staying over in Sedalia tonight at the lovely old hotel, the Bothwell. Historic and -- allegedly -- haunted.

Interesting conversation with Liz, the assistant manager, and Tanya, the night desk clerk. As I'm passing through the lobby to go outside, I notice them sitting on the lobby's big leather sofas, chatting, and so I ask Liz if the hotel is supposed to be haunted. She gets this strange look and asks me if I feel like it is. I'm not one of those "sensitive" people, I say. In fact, I'm downright insensitive.

She says she has always had the feeling that she's not alone here at night, and that people have had experiences.

Of course, I want to hear all about them. So she tells me about a guest on the floor below mine who asked to be moved to another room because his boots keep coming off the top shelf of his closet. And that the old brass-gate elevator goes up and down by itself.

Tanya tells me about her experience. Apparently, one evening, the doorbell was broken. Repairmen had come to fix it, but needed parts, so they left the broken doorbell mechanism torn apart on the front counter until they could come back the next day to finish repairing it. A little while later, Tanya and another staff member heard the doorbell ringing.

Should have brought some ghost-hunting equipment!