Motel

Irrelevant photo of a boat.


The other not-at-all new revelation reinforced on this trip is that expensive hotels suck. We didn't know this most of our lives, but found out when D was being sent out to San Francisco for his job during the dotcom years. Beautiful rooms, elegant lobbies, no free amenities, only very expensive soda and candy bars, lotion and crackers - charged individually. D's brother put his parents up in this old resort hotel, with elegant beds, and $10 a day wifi, no fridge or microwave. At the Ramada where we stayed (via Travexorbitz) we had a fridge, microwave, free wifi (that worked perfectly) nice shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and a washer dryer down the hall.

I grew up with my father taking two week vacations that involved long car trips, getting up before dawn to get in the miles, stopping at every tourist trap along the way, and staying at the cheaper motels that still had AAA ratings, with occasional concessions to my brother and I to find one with a pool. They never had shampoo or coffee makers, not even the cheapest of plastic danish that constitutes what in this country gets called a Continental Breakfast. We ate tiny boxes of cereal, Corn Pops or Froot Loops, from the box, with milk bought at the truck stops, for breakfast. Mom made her tea with an immersion heater in the morning, and chewed on ice from the motel ice maker in the evening. (Never saw her chew ice in any other context.) We emptied the cooler of the melted ice, and bought more the next morning to keep the coke and milk and fried chicken brought from home cool.

The very one.


Can't say I enjoyed car trips as a small ride hostage to a rageful father. But I loved the swimming pools, and I'm glad I still have the cooler. And that we don't stay at ultra cheap motels, nor expense account posh ones. We'll stick with the comforts of the middle, preferably at a discount.