Inauguration Action at the Hawthorne Hotel

Salem hotel serves inauguration specials

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer

SALEM — The Hawthorne Hotel got so swept up in yesterday's inauguration that it changed its menu to fit a presidential palate.

For lunch, it offered Barack Obama's favorite "Yes We Can" chili. It also served the same soup and corned beef and cabbage that Abraham Lincoln ate when he took office in 1860.

"The waitstaff was all excited," Kristie Poehler, a hotel marketing executive, said at midday. "People have been ordering the Abraham Lincoln lunch with the mock turtle soup."

For dinner, the Hawthorne put on the ritz. It duplicated the seafood stew and molasses-whipped sweet potatoes that were served at yesterday's inaugural luncheon in Washington, D.C.

If guests showed up dressed for an inaugural ball, they got 25 percent off the entree price. Anyone ordering the Lincoln lunch got it for the "bailout price" of $12.99.

Outside, the hotel flew the flags of Kenya and Kansas, the homes of Obama's late father and mother.

In the downstairs tavern, the flag of Illinois was flying, the home of both Obama and Lincoln.
The Hawthorne, it seems, thought of everything — except maybe adding one more item to its menu: Ba-rack of lamb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Wednesday's Salem News.

Juli