We love animals at the Story Inn and encourage guests to bring their well-behaved canine companions with them to the following cottages at a charge of $10.00 per pet:
Wheeler Back
Schultz Haus Front
Schultz Haus Back
Wilkerson Front
Wilkerson Back
Old Mill Loft
Garrison Gunflint
Garrison Treehouse
Garrison Durango
Garrison Tack Room
For a special outing with your pup try one of the hiking trail in the State Park and then take your four legged friend to Bone Appetit in downtown Nashville for a treat!
If you are unable to bring your own four-legged friend to the Inn you might enjoy the company of some very special Story residents (all quadrupeds too).
DOGS:
Meet Favory aka “Blackie”:
I am an aggressively friendly four year-old Great Dane, and have already reached an impressive 175 pounds. I was lucky enough to learn good manners from my older sister, Bella, before her passing in 2008. I attribute my good looks to good breeding, though my human pack members have assured that the royal line will end with me (there was some kind of operation when I was little). I attribute my success and health to a few simple maxims: if it comes with two legs, love it; if it comes with four legs, play with it; and if it smells good, eat it. I would say that I want for nothing, but my parents have a water bowl that flushes, and they refuse to share it with me. My mom lets me spoon with her in the bed.
Meet Riva aka “Little Girl”:
I came to the household because Blackie wanted a little sister. I'm a dark mantle like Blackie, and some people have a tough time telling us apart (unless we're facing away from them). It didn't take long for me to gain control of the household. I win hearts and minds with my good breeding, good looks, and my affection for mammals big and small. I especially love crawling into bed with my dad every morning at daybreak for a good cuddle. He doesn't like sloppy kisses on the face, so on most mornings I must be content with licking the bald spot on the back of his head, or just snoozing with my head across his chest. At only two years old, I'm already 155 pounds of pure lovin'!
Meet Messerschmidt aka “Goober”:
I am a foster Great Dane who became a permanent member of the pack through the art of persuasion. At birth, I was named "Messerschmidt", though I have acquired the nickname "Goobs" for the tendrils of snot I tend to deposit wherever I go. As Danes go, I'm actually of above-average intelligence, and have figured out how to open doors. One evening, I let myself out to go potty, much to the joy of my human pack members. I'm a Harlequin Dane (white with black spots-I look a bit like a bow-legged milk cow) and stand in stark contrast to my Dane siblings. I was undernourished when I joined the pack, and I'm still a bit gangly, like a teenage boy. But I'm gaining weight and filling out fast. I have the most impressive, deep bark that echoes back from the hills and keeps deer at bay, a secondary male characteristic that remains after the tardy removal of my rather large . . .well, you get the picture.
HORSES:
Meet Miss Lina:
I am a chestnut quarterhorse, and if I were a car, you would call me a “garage queen”. I’ve got training in classical Dressage, and stand ready, willing and able to wow you with my skills, providing you do not make these demands upon me on a daily basis. Having justifiably achieved prima donna status, I sometimes resent being ordered around by anyone, human or equine. I run the field.
Meet Tyco:
I’m a young Andalusian nearing my prime. My mother has ensured I have had a top-level Dressage education (no horse left behind!) and all that training is paying off. I love to meet new people, and try my hardest to please them. If you come to the fence, I will follow you around, but if you to get too close I might check your pockets for treats (wedding mints are especially appreciated). I would even try to drink the beer from your hand, mostly because I shouldn’t. My best friend is Regulus (the horse).
Meet Eroica:
I am a Lippizan, a rare breed, and I am the princess of the field (though I defer sometimes to "grandma" Lena). Like Tyco, I attended the finest schools, but I am more talented than him. I am so amazing that I can push Tyco off his food which, my mom says, I tend to consume in excess. Sometimes my mom needs to put me up to preserve my girlish figure. My mom says that someday I'll be a mom too, to preserve my rare talents, beauty and distinguished bloodlines. Dad says that he will find a suitable husband for me, and that he will likely "come" by UPS (whatever that means). Anyway, we need more mirrors in the arena where I work out, but otherwise, life is very good.
Meet Regulus:
I am a Hanoverian, a large German breed, almost as rare as the Lippizan. I am three years old, and the youngest in the herd. If I were a human (according to my dad), I would be of the age where I have acne, and would want to look at dirty magazines. I'm not human, and I can't read magazines, either. But I will tell you, Eroica looks mighty good to me, and sometimes Lena does too. Anyway, a vet did something to me several months ago, and I am having fewer such impulses these days. I am level-headed, friendly, strong, and I am learning to carry humans on my back. I don't mind hauling humans, no matter their girth, as long as they bring me carrots. Tyco is my buddy.
FELINES:
Goodbye, Tina, Chief Greeter:
We regret to report that our beloved kitty “Tina” passed away quietly in the evening of January 18, 2010. The immediate cause of her death was lethal injection, at the veterinarian’s office. We made the decision to euthanize Tina upon the vet’s diagnosis of an incurable cardio-pulmonary condition. She was somewhere between nine and sixteen years old.
Persons unknown dumped Tina and her fresh litter of kittens here in August of 2002. Tina and her precocious offspring soon became darlings of the Story Inn. After spaying and neutering the bunch, we found good homes for her entire clan, keeping Tina and her calico daughter, Summer. Tina and Summer were employed as the official Story Inn greeters ever since; they were often found sleeping on the front porch, forcing restaurant guests to step over them.
In 2007, Tina was struck by an automobile, breaking her tail. She endured the indignity of a surgical procedure which shortened her tail, and the bestowal of the unflattering nickname “Stubs”, with remarkable equanimity.
Tina was known to follow guests around the property with a slavish attention to humans more characteristic of canines. She was also known to sleep around indiscriminately with humans of either gender. Her favorite foods were salmon, scallops, and halibut.
Tina will best be remembered for her appearance as “Miss January” in the Story Inn’s 2008 and 2009 calendars, the photo having been snapped by the legendary Bloomington photographer Steve Raymer. More recently, we had numerous overnight guests describe their experiences sleeping with Tina, in a column we named "Pethouse Forum". She was, indeed, a creature of comfort.
Donations in memory of Tina's rich life can be made to the Brown County Humane Society, 128 SR 135, Nashville, IN 47448, (812) 988-7362.
Welcome Petunia, Greeter in Training.
Petunia is another ferrel kitty dumped here in 2012. She has a lovely disposition, but she is a bit shy (we believe that she was abused). We did her the service of spaying her and cleansing her of intestinal parasites, and she is gaining weight fast. At the present time, she hangs out primarily at the back door, where she can enjoy Ahi tuna, U-10 scallops and other such delicacies without too much human contact.
