‘Over the Rainbow’ was almost cut out of the 1939 classic Wizard of Oz. It seems the directors and editors argued about taking the famous song out of the movie because it slowed the pace of the film. Clearly they decided to keep it. Good thing too. Because had it been cut, maybe husband and wife team Joel Greaves and Devon Vaillancourt may not have had the inspiration to buy a motel and totally transform it into the Somewhere Inn Calabogie. For many hospitality businesses, the pandemic has been devastating. Without tourism, moteliers were hurting and many have struggled to survive. But Joel an ..read more

That leads to your door… Some songs hit a fitting mark. And for my first foray back to writing in over a year, this one by The Beatles does just that. The past fifteen months have been a long and winding road – one this motelorcyclist would rather not ride again. So first, I feel the need to explain my absence. When the pandemic hit last March, I like many of you felt that this would pass within a few months and life would return to normal. Sleeping Around in America was just released and while there were various restrictions put in place, we widely believed that the summer would open up and t ..read more

The movie Easy Rider consummated the marriage between motorcycles and movies – just add motels and the three make up the holy trinity of American Pop-Culture. Easy Rider would become one of the most recognized counterculture films of all time.  Jack Nicholson was nominated for a Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 42nd Academy Awards and Dennis Hopper received the First Film Award in 1969  at the Cannes Film Festival! Film Festivals have always played an important role in bringing people together to share in the experience of movies together.  The most fam ..read more

‘The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music‘ Custer, South Dakota, for those unfamiliar, is a small town nestled in the beautiful Black Hills and founded in the late 19th century when gold was discovered in the river there. It is located about 20 minutes from Mount Rushmore and is home to the filming location of the Alfred Hitchcock classic North by North West starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.  I stayed here when I visited Sturgis on my Sleeping Around in America tour because it is only 69 miles up the road. Custer isn’t a big town, with a population of j ..read more

Making the ordinary extraordinary.  That’s what the awesomely absurd carnival of roadside attractions seek to do – beckoning wayward travelers with the siren song of whirligig farms, backyard museums, and llama petting zoos.  All found in places with names that are punching above their weight, like Cuba, Oklahoma, Coffee, Alabama, and Metropolis, IL.  Stephanie Stuckey, CEO Stuckey’s Corporation at Wigwam Village #2 I recently took a crash course in kitsch, taking a trip along the back roads of America while fulfilling my promise to visit every Stuckey’s duri ..read more

No one knows the trials of extended road travels like musicians. The grind of nights on the road and one motel after another can kill even the heartiest spirit. Perhaps that is why motels are cited in the lyrics of so many great songs. Artists from PitBull to Bruce Springsteen and even Jackson Browne in his 1977 hit song The Road (…blues in old MOTEL rooms, girls in daddy’s car, you sing about the moon and dream about the stars) are just a few artists with lyrics that reference nights spent in a motel.   photo: Ty Helbach When the legendary musician and songwriter Pat mAcdonald (ye ..read more

Clark Gable on a Harley-Davidson Clark Gable stayed here twice in the 1940s but that should come as no surprise. A journey along Route 66 is a dream for many motorcyclists. And Clark Gable rode a motorcycle. The ‘mother road’ is on almost every motorcyclist’s bucket list and each year thousands of travellers from around the world come to ride it. When sisters Debye Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw embarked on an epic road trip together by car, travelling the entire 2,278 miles of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, they stopped along the way to photograph all the iconic sites – one of whic ..read more

Because the coronavirus has made air travel less attractive, U.S. tourists may turn more to road trips for their vacations in the coming months. The … Tourists’ bigger commitment to road trips may help Route 66 in a COVID-19 world ..read more

Roadside motels offer a safer travel option for road trips As much of America looks to re-open for business on June 1, roadside motels are being rediscovered as a popular accommodation option. During this stressful time, travellers are seeking out nostalgic motels to give them a sense of security and serenity. And now, with health and well-being topping the list of traveller demands, motels are in a unique position to cover that too. Motels by nature of their very design offer unique social distancing options because you can ride up to your room, and even avoid crowded lobbies, elevators ..read more

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness… Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain According to PEW Research, 91% of the world’s population lives in countries with travel restrictions amid COVID-19. And a growing fear in a post COVID-19 world is that those restrictions may contribute to an increase in nationalist sentiment. This fear is one shared by Paddy Tyson, editor of Overland Magazine. Tyson raised his concern during a recent interview on Bedtime Stor ..read more