I just got back from a cross country trip. I stayed in Tucumcari both ways. Outbound at the Motel Safari, returning at the Roadrunner Lodge. Both are old, old school park out front motels. (Picture of the Safari is vintage; there now is a outdoor fire pit sitting area in what is the empty grass area of the lower right in the image)
Roadrunner Lodge:
This was my room:
It came with a radio that played vintage music and ads, and included some vintage magazines and a Battleship board game.
Both are meticulously restored and maintained. I also stayed on a previous trip in the Blue Swallow.
The lobbies of all three are decorated in vintage motifs. Tucumcari does cater to the Route 66 tourist crowd, so there definitely is a market.
There are other vintage motels in Tucumcari, but I can’t tell how good they are.
Outside of restored vintage motels, I often stay in Motel 6 / Super 8 and only had one bad experience, and it was with cockroaches, not drug dealers.
That’s impressive. Thanks for sharing your collection. I may have stayed in a few of them, but I’m only certain about two.
I’ve stayed at the Lake Powel Resort & Marina, which I believe is the descendant of the Wahweap Marina. Taking a shower in the bathtub, I had to watch my head. I’m 5’6".
Also stayed at Lake Quinault Lodge at least once. I don’t remember if my parents are going there or one of the other nearby lodges. They normally go to Kalaloch, but it’s sold out. The beach erosion is eating the cabins and they aren’t allowed to build more.
“We wish you to feel at home while here. All equipment was carefully checked upon your arrival. Your license number is on record here. Use hot water sparingly. We reserve the right to eject without notice any objectionable person. Do not throw waste material of any kind in the toilet bowl. Thank you. Call again. The Management. P.S. We consider our guests the Finest People in the World.”
Just for fun, I thought I should post this image which is from the same short block of motels that I mentioned in my previous comment.
You just know that the “Cable TV” sign originally read COLOR TV, with each letter in. a different color of the spectrum.
But who needed color TV with all this glorious neon, and the Half Moon running that delightful pocket bar two doors down? Plus that Italian resstaurant acriss the street. We went there on our last night before leaving L.A.
You’re not that far off. Star Alliance points on Air Canada carry so many conditions, that they’re pretty useless. And now that Air Canada has chosen not to serve Canadians in smaller centres, to those of us who live in such places, they’re about as useless as mammarary glands on a male bovine.
To bring the thread back to the topic, I was pleasantly surprised by the Continental Motel in White River, Ontario. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it was very clean, with a nice bar and restaurant that had great food. I’d also recommend the Beaver, in Wawa, Ontario. No bar/restaurant, but clean and comfortable, with plenty of eating options available nearby.
At 5’8" myself, I am very frequently surprised at how low the showerheads often are in health clubs, community pools, and so on. I have to duck my head to use them.
Who designs these things? It’s not like I’m really tall.
It appears that motels are going the way of shoe repair stores, five and dimes, hand laundries and other businesses and professions (or trades, if you must, such as typewriters repair services and the like).
A friend of mine, well informed in these matters, claims that the next “big thing” going out is money. He means paper money, as well as nickels, dimes and quarters. I think this is premature, if only because there are too many,–how to phrase this politely?-- uneducated people, dunderheads, those with impairments, such as not so much a lack of mathematical skills as arithmetical ones; adding, subtracting, multiplying, etc.
Have you seen the James Lileks site? Among a plethora of all kinds of ephemera and other odds and ends, one area of the site is devoted to Roadside America, with a series each on motels and roadside restaurants. Both are quite long, and consist almost entirely of postcards plus James’ commentary.
Be warned, though, don’t start in on this website on a morning when you need to go places and get things done, for this thing is the truest of all rabbit holes.
Very impressive, thanks for all the work and for posting! Exactly the sort of nostalgia from the 50s and 60s that’s a perfect fit for this thread. James Lileks might be interested in adding this to his very eclectic website (I posted a link near the beginning of this thread to his reminiscences about the Gobbler motel, but he covers lots of other topics).
I passed this place driving up CA-99 through Stockton last weekend. I love the vintage neon sign, but that sign below it – “Adult Movies” (Am I reading that right? Does that mean free adult movies, since it’s lumped in with all the other free stuff?), “Low Daytime Rates”. That seems a little sketchy.
(Not my photo, just one I found through Google image search)
Nobody said it was charming, but the retro neon was undeniably evocative of earlier times when neon lighting was more common, before cheaper plastic conquered the realm of outdoor signage just like everything else.
I went to University High in West L.A., and lived nearby for about eighteen years. For eleven of those years we lived just below the school at Ohio and Barrington.
