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The Journey to RediscoverAmerica’s Roadside Motelspart 1By Andrew Beattie #213041Beach CarouselMotelVirginia September 201968 BMWOWNERSNEWSBeach.

What began as a road triphas now officially become anadventure.On June 28th, I began my journey across America, spending 50nights in 50 roadside motels todocument their stories and introduce them to the motorcyclingcommunity. The mission to discover these hidden gems has so fartaken me 4,241 miles to my current location in Tucumcari, NewMexico.I’ve traveled to the Catskills inNew York, over to Pennsylvania,down to the Wildwoods in NewJersey, back into Pennsylvaniaand then down to Virginia Beach.I’ve also spent the Fourth of July inJacksonville, North Carolina, thenridden down to Savannah, Georgia, and back across the state,traveling southwest to PanamaCity Beach, Florida. From there, itwas over to Biloxi, Mississippi, upto St. Francisville, Louisiana, overto Austin, Texas, back up toDallas, up to Amarillo, and finallyover to Tucumcari.On the next stage of my journey, I’ll continue west to Los Angeles, then north to Boise and backeast to Chicago before finishingback in Ottawa on August 17th.Most of the motels I am staying inwould be considered destinationmotels. Regarding the age-oldquestion of “Is it the journey or thedestination?” for many of themotels on this trip, you couldanswer by saying it’s both. Butbefore I tell you about the motels, Ishould begin by telling you aboutthe journey.Austin Motel Poolside and lobby.September 2019 BMW OWNERS NEWS69

Through all this, there have been incredible destination motels, all welcoming to motelorcyclists witheach different in their own way. The first night westayed at Kate’s Lazy Meadow in the Catskills. Whileyou may not recognize it by name, Kate’s LazyMeadow, located just west of Woodstock in Mt.Tremper, New York, is owned by Kate Pierson, leadsinger of the B52’s and her partner Monica Coleman.I met Monica while I was there and—true to motelierlife—she was trying to fit a new pump on theJapanese salt pool. They themed the entire motel onthe B52s timeless classic hit single “Love Shack” andits accompanying music video. Eclectic and fun. Andas the song goes, it’s truly a place where you can “gettogether.”Throughout my adventure, all of the moteliersoperating destination motels have seemed to takepride in the heritage and history of their properties.For example, both the Lincoln Motor Court inManns Choice, Pennsylvania (c. 1941) and the 3VTourist Court (c.1938) in St. Francisville, Louisiana,are two of the few remaining original tourist motorGuest Room Living Room Kate's Lazy Meadow.16'x14' Cabin Lincoln Motor Court.70BMW OWNERS NEWS September 2019

courts still operational today. Both are listed inthe National Registry of Historic Places, yet bothoffer very different guest experiences. Bob andDebbie Altizer in Pennsylvania have focussed ondelivering an authentic experience, as thoughyou’ve checked in to 1941. The furnishings are allantique, and the couple have spared no detail,including providing a nightshirt in the closetinstead of the terry bathrobes of modern hotels.In St. Francisville, Skye Willis, who managesthe property on behalf of her mother Robin, theowner, agrees that it has a cooler vibe. Maybe it’sbecause Robin was a hippie when she bought theproperty in 1982 and built the Magnolia Café nextdoor, which became known as the town livingroom. Here you get a sense of the owner’spersonality, and the motor court has a few moremodern amenities than the Lincoln does. And,though tastefully done, offer both very differentexperiences.Above, 3V Touris Court original carport parking for bikes.Left, Magnolia Cafe.September 2019 BMW OWNERS NEWS71

It’s a culture shift from the historical 1930s and '40s to theDoo-Wop era of the 1950s and early '60s. But that’s what happenswhen you check into the Caribbean Motel in Wildwood, NewJersey. There, you are transported back in time to 1957, when theybuilt the resort motel. Owners Carolyn Emigh and George Millerhave preserved the blue-collar summer vacation experience thatthe Jersey Shore became best known for. Everything, from the 50sand 60s music playing around the crescent-shaped pool, theshuffleboard game, to the plastic palm trees, is precisely how it wasin the 1950s. Carolyn and George also sourced and commissioned50s replica furniture for the guest rooms. I’m sure they customordered avocado green paint because no one today has that muchof the flashback-inducing color in stock. The motel’s iconicarchitectural features include a floating circular ramp rising to thesecond-floor guest rooms and the brilliant Caribbean neon motelsign that shines magically as it beckons travelers off Ocean Ave.Another cool thing about the Wildwoods is that it maintains themost extensive collection of space-age Googie architecture, a typeof futuristic architecture influenced by the Space Age, of any othercommunity. So, the Caribbean isn’t alone. There are over 150operational establishments and members of the Doo WopPreservation League. In my opinion, the Caribbean is just thecoolest.Googie architecture of Caribbean Motel.72BMW OWNERS NEWS September 2019Not all moteliers are interested in their motel’s history. The Innof the Dove in Dallas was built in 1947 and was initially known asthe Double ‘R’ Ranch Motel. It serves as the only remainingoperational Green Book establishment in the Dallas area andstands almost identical to the way it was in 1947, with a red brick,crescent-shaped motel façade, white hitching posts all around andattached garages. If you aren’t familiar with the Green Book andmissed the Oscar-winning movie, it was initially titled The NegroMotorist Green Book and published annually by New York Citymailman Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966. He published it tolist motels, restaurants and service stations that would welcomeAfrican American travelers during the era of Jim Crow laws whenhotels remained segregated. Had it not been for a reporter with theDallas Inquirer telling him the history, it is possible the ownerwould have never known. It remains a historically significantproperty.Bob Lee and his brother Bryan own the Big Texan Steak Ranchin Amarillo, Texas. Started in 1960 along Route 66, they were savvyenough not to fall victim to the forced shift in traffic pattern whenI-40 came along. Instead, they moved their business to a newlocation to capture the shifting traffic patterns.Through the years, they expanded their business to add elementslike the Texas-shaped swimming pool, an RV park and, most

Dusk Caribbean Motel.Big Texan Motel.September 2019 BMW OWNERS NEWS73

Thunderbird Inn, Savannah, Georgia.recently, the Starlight Events Centre just down the road. If youcan’t get in to sleep in one of their 50 motel rooms, they have alimo that will come by and pick you up and drop you off. It’s theclassic Lone Star State cowboy theme that makes this place. Therooms are incredible, and all of the staff wants to deliver a greatexperience.No adventure would be worth the name without some adversity,and so far, my journey has been no different. For me, it started onday two.The Red Caboose Motelin Ronks, Pennsylvania,turned me away from mydestination motel becausethey had canceled myreservation despite theconfirmation email I hadon my phone. There was noarguing as they sold myroom and there were noneleft. It was up to me to findalternate accommodation. No problem. I’mresourceful and can figureout what todo. And I did. I Thunderbird Inn Moon Pies.was thinking, “If this is asbad as it gets, this trip will be a breeze.”Well, you know what they say about things happening in threes!Or is it fours?Day five into the adventure, I was coming down from WesternPennsylvania, heading southeast to the coast. It was July 3rd,which AAA says is the busiest day on the roads in America. Theymust have been in Fredericksburg, Virginia, when they declaredthat because that’s where I was when I heard it—stopped dead onthe I-95. After crawling at five miles an hour for two hours in98-degree temperature, the congestion cleared, and I was finallyrolling.74BMW OWNERS NEWS September 2019Not an hour later, a car raced up beside me, pointing at the backof my bike. I turned around and was horrified. My pannier wasopen, the contents gone. Inside the pannier had been all myelectronic equipment, including my laptop, camera equipment,and personal notes. Basically everything that wasn’t tools orclothes.I backtracked 30 miles to my last rest point on the GPS only toturn around, this time at a slower speed while scanning theroadside. And then I foundit. For a quarter-mile I saweverything broken in athousand pieces, withnothing recoverable. Alllost. Fortunately, there’s thisthing called the cloud, so95% of my files wereretrievable. Luckily, myphone was with me, and Iwas able to continue tophotograph the motels.When I reached VirginiaBeach, I made a quick tripto Office Max to buy a newnotebook so I couldcontinue to write.Hoping the worst was behind me, not two days later whileriding down I-95 in South Carolina and on my way to theThunderbird Inn in Savannah, my tire warning light came on. Ipulled into the next rest area and quickly discovered a three-inchnail in my back tire.I got this covered, I thought. Hell, I even wrote about it back inJanuary in “Getting Direction.” Although the temperatures were inthe high 90s and the humidex over 100, I got it plugged with onlyinflating the tire left to do. This is where my problems started.My mini-compressor wouldn’t work. OK, not a problem, I havea back-up plan. That is why I purchased the AAA Roadside