What happens when an assisted living by the inlet decides to put on its own version of the Lost Colony. Not on a grand outdoor stage, but in the cracked asphalt parking lot under borrowed strings of lights. At the Hotel California Inn, the days look the same. Fog over the water. Coffee in the dining room. Meds, bingo, and carefully managed routines. Then Melody, the tireless activities director, walks in one morning and says the four dangerous words: “I have an idea.” Her idea becomes The Really Lost Colony , a homemade play that will raise a little money for the garden and, maybe, raise something else in the residents too. Hank, a retired shrimper with more stories than steps left in his knees, ends up in a ridiculous hat. Birdie, a former lounge singer, rediscovers what it feels like to stand in the light. Neal, the history teacher who always trusted facts more than feelings, finds himself writing a script that will not stay on the page. Part One of the book follows the Inn as everyone scrambles to build a stage, sew costumes, and wrestle with old fears. Part Two takes you into the play itself, presented as a script performed in the parking lot, where the past and present share the same patched-together stage. Part Three returns to the dining room the next morning, as the cast sits with sore feet, empty coffee cups, and the strange new knowledge that they are not as finished as they thought. Tender, funny, and quietly defiant, Hotel California Inn: The Really Lost Colony is a story about what it means to be “lost” and what can happen when people who feel invisible decide to step into the light and take a bow.