Ghostsoldier
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,410
- Location
- Starke, Florida, USA
Rob
These fascinate me. I don't think we've ever had a true equivalent in the UK (bearing in mind you can drive Britain end to end, more or less, in under 24 hours.... and the limits of Northern Ireland in under three), but they have something of a presence in my mind, thanks to Hollywood. I suppose their decline is due to a mix of faster road traffic, and more affordable air travel in recent decades. I've always wanted to do a road trip through the US, stopping off in these sorts of motels as and where possible.... (preferably not ones where the owner has a large collection of taxidermy birds....).
These fascinate me. I don't think we've ever had a true equivalent in the UK (bearing in mind you can drive Britain end to end, more or less, in under 24 hours.... and the limits of Northern Ireland in under three), but they have something of a presence in my mind, thanks to Hollywood. I suppose their decline is due to a mix of faster road traffic, and more affordable air travel in recent decades. I've always wanted to do a road trip through the US, stopping off in these sorts of motels as and where possible.... (preferably not ones where the owner has a large collection of taxidermy birds....).
I only stay in a chain motel when I absolutely have to...I'll stay as far as 10 miles from my intended destination, in a mom and pop, before I'll use a modern motel.
Rob
Oh, I think you do have something very similar in the U.K. and on the continent. The Sea Breeze auto court is pretty much the same as the little holiday villages along the Atlantic coast. There are differences, of course, and the Sea Breeze may be unusual in being located (I guess) near the ocean. It may have been more of a vacation destination for the summer as opposed to a place to spend the night on a long trip. In any event, they certainly used to be a lot more common than they are now.
They disappeared for the most part, I believe, because the interstates bypassed them and travelers started wanting better accommodations (with a free breakfast) than the older places offered. There were taverns for travelers in colonial times, too, many of which are still around. They are spaced out fairly regularly along the old National Pike, now mostly U.S. 40, if memory serves. I don't know what the original places for travelers were in the early west, when you didn't want to sleep under your wagon.
Big shootout there...the gang almost didn't make it.
Rob