Lighting of the green at the Boots Motel!

We’ve been watching the restoration of the Boots Court Motel in Joplin, Missouri for years, from the “Save the Boots Motel campaign”,  until they reopened in 2012 and we got to visit and check it out in June 2011. This latest, and possibly the last piece of the  renovation not only highlights what a great […]

Mamaroneck Motel, New York

One of our favorite parts of Mid-Century travel is finding those fabulous out of the way motels for an affordable price. One of our biggest challenges on our trip back east was finding something near New York City. We knew we wanted to stay close by – because we were spending the day in Manhattan. […]

Googie and neon sign preservation and museums

One of our favorite mid-century things are Googie signs. There are plenty of photos out there, but one thing is certain and it’s that they’re a dying breed and ripe for preservation efforts. In case you’re not familiar with the term, “Googie” architecture, approximately from 1950-1970, is a futuristic or ultramodern derivative of art moderne […]

The Historic Boots Motel, Carthage, MO

If you’ve been a regular reader, you probably remember our articles in 2011 about saving The Boots Motel in Carthage Missouri. Save the Boots Motel In 2011 the bank put the property on the market, and it was snapped up by the current owners, sisters, Debye Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw. Fans of old Route 66, […]

Retro Roadtrip: The Blue Swallow, Tucumcari, NM

We have had the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, NM in our Motel Directory for a long time.It’s as much of an icon along Route 66 as the WigWam Motels. Owner Lillian Redman, a legend along Route 66 ran the motel from 1958 to 1997.  By a stroke of luck, owners over the years after […]

Kingman, Arizona: the past and the present collide on Route 66

Immortalized in the anthem penned by Bobby Troup, Kingman in western Arizona is a bit of an enigma. On the map, it appears to be in the middle of nowhere and yet for the adventuresome traveler it is in the middle of everything. It is a stop for travelers on the road to somewhere, and […]

Retro Roadtrip: Little American Hotel Resort in Cheyenne Wyoming

What we love about Mid-Century travel is feeling you’ve been thrown back in time to a period where motor travel was cool, lounging by the pool was the most fun you could have as a kid and Motels took guests seriously and didn’t just provide you with an impersonal place to sleep. Little America in […]

Retro Roadtrip: Phoenicia Lodge in the Catskills

Eight years ago, Brian and Sara, two Brooklynites, stumbled upon an old roadside lodge where the paint had faded, the floors were cracked, and most of the toilets rocked from side to side, but they were able to see the honest simplicity in the humble cabins that appealed to their desire for a simpler life. Shortly […]

Retro Roadtrip: White Eagle Inn, Cortez Colorado

You have to give owners credit when they change the name of a motel, and yet keep the cool Googie sign. The new one is a bit bland, but we love that they have tried to keep the original feel of this cute motel. Formerly the El Capri Motel, established in 1958 – the rooms […]