Hotels and inns with a cultural flair

by Jamie Rhein on

When you just need a place to stay on your way to somewhere else, finding a comfortable bed and a clean room may be all that’s required. But for atmosphere that reflects a unique location look beyond a chain hotel, no matter how glammed up that chain hotel might be. Why stay at a hotel with an ambiance that says it could be anywhere when you can stay at a place that is influenced by its location?

Head to the hotels or inns that are independently owned where the decorator has a passion for a hotel’s setting and authenticity is key. Often a creative, clever touch is a signature trait. Whenever I have stayed in such a place, the memories I bring home with me are more vivid and my experiences more satisfying. I picked these five because of personal experience–or that they intrigued be because of their sense of place and culture.

1. Glenlaurel Inn and Cottages in the Hocking Hills of Ohio. The bag piper who stands outside the manor house (in the first photo) in the evening and plays a Scottish tune to announce that dinner is served is only one part of Scotland that’s been transplanted to the hills of Ohio. There’s also the Scottish poetry read before dinner, the complimentary homemade shortbread in each accommodation and the look of the place.

The manor house looks like it is in the highlands of Scotland instead of the highlands of Appalachia. The main feature of the terrain is the Camusfearna Gorge that the manor house, the crofts and cottages use as backdrop. Trails wind throughout the property offering waterfalls and nooks and crannies for exploring. The mist in the morning adds to the allure. Be aware that this is an adult only establishment.

2. Broadway Hotel, Philipsburg, Montana. Reflecting a love for Montana and a sense of travel adventure, this small hotel has one-of-a-kind thematic rooms. Some have a western flavor and others reflect owners’ Jim and Sue Jenners’ world travels. Overlooking downtown Philipsburg, a former mining town that is one of the prettiest painted towns in the west and on the Pintler Scenic Route, the hotel offers a place to park your car for a weekend of wandering among shops, a museum, restaurants and live theater.

If you go here, take time to hang out in The Big Cowboy Room with its upscale western decor. This is the hotel’s common lounge. If you bring a bottle of wine, there are wine glasses available for use.

3. Hotel Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Adobe stucco hotels are not uncommon in Santa Fe. It’s the look of choice. But, for a more authentic experience, try this option. Hotel Santa Fe is the only Native American-owned hotel and the decor and offerings reflect it. Here is a sense that you’ve ended up somewhere special.

Native American cuisine from other areas of the U.S. are incorporated into the hotel’s menu. There aren’t many places where you can dine in an authentic tee pee for a private meal. Native American dances, flute playing and story-telling are part of the entertainment. The Hacienda–also part of Hotel Santa Fe, offers Native American decor as well. Both hotels have a Native American package that includes pueblo tours.

4. The Saint Ann/ Marie Antoinette, New Orleans. If heading to New Orleans, stay near Bourbon Street. The French Old Quarter is made for wandering and walking. This hotel is small, elegant and captures the flavor of where it is located. It’s close to the action, however, by the description and looks, appears to be a bit of a hideaway location as well.

The courtyard and gardens caught my attention. I’ve stayed in New Orleans twice. Next time, I’d head here. I’m a sucker for creamy colors and arched windows with white trim.

5. Panama Hotel, Seattle. Located in old Japantown, the influence of this hotel is a mix between European and Japanese. Built in 1910, the hotel has the only remaining Japanese bathhouse in the United States. This Sento is still intact and can be toured, although it is not in use.

The hotel is unusual in that there are shared men and women’s bathrooms, although there are separate sinks in each room. There is also a tea house that features teas and coffees from around the world. Staying here is like staying in history.

Photo of the Day (7.26.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Neon reminds me of roadtrips. The open road. A solitary roadside motel with a glowing neon sign, welcoming weary travelers like a beacon on a lighthouse. When I saw this neon photo by dizzylizzie129, taken in Taos, New Mexico, it had me immediately thinking about the open road. Aside from the warm glow of the blue and yellow light, I quite like this electric cowboy’s goofy grin – it has a real personality to it. I could easily imagine an encounter with this sign out on some lonely road, late at night.

Have any great travel shots you’d love to share? Why not upload them to the Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Great American Road Trip 2009: The fly and drive combo New Mexico to Montana and back

by Jamie Rhein on

For the past seven summers, ever since we moved back from India, we’ve embarked on a Great American Road Trip. The first was the mega version that put 10,000 miles on a new Ford Taurus station wagon in three months. Mind you, this was in 2003 with a 10 year-old and a 1 ½ year old-and without video games, computers or a DVD player.

This year’s version is a fly drive combo. Three months for tootling around between the Atlantic and Pacific is harder to come by-three weeks, doable. Without a burning desire to drive through the Midwest to get to Montana from Ohio like last year when I waxed poetic about Wisconsin’s cheese curds, we flew on Northwest Airlines (aka Delta) over those endless corn and soybean fields to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sure Albuquerque is no where near Montana, our main destination, but there’s a reason for the detour.

I used to live in Albuquerque. So did my husband. Between us, we have loads of friends we haven’t seen since that first road trip. Besides, Albuquerque is a budget destination with cheap flights to get there and inexpensive car rentals for heading out on the open road IF you rent away from the airport (more on that later).

When planning a Great American Road Trip, I highly recommend the fly then drive option. One year we flew to Denver and drove to Montana. Another year we flew to Seattle. With a limited time frame, the flight cuts out the parts you don’t necessarily want to see and provides the time to see those places that you do. If you’re going to be renting a car when you reach your main destination, why not head a few states away for the opportunity to explore the bounties in between?

For us the bounties might be a national park, the largest metal sculptures in the world, a mom and pop restaurant with regional food, or a town that a highway bypassed. Sometimes we know where we’ll stop before we head out, or one of us notices a point on a map and says, “Let’s stop here.”

In the next few weeks, as we’re traveling in a Toyota Sienna van through New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Montana, where the landscape and people have a flavor so unique I could return again and again, I’ll fill you in on the places we’ve stopped and give some Great American Road Trip how-to suggestions.

We passed by Arches National Park a week ago. It’s been a busy week. Stay tuned. Ghost towns, neon and great eats on the way.

[The first photo was taken two years ago at the parade at Flint Creek Valley Days in Philipsburg, Montana where I am now. The second photo was taken last year at the pheasant family sculpture, part of the Enchanted Highway, on the way to Regent, North Dakota.]

Top 5 favorite roadside stores and attractions

by Jamie Rhein on

There are roadside stores and attractions that are worth driving to. In some cases towns wouldn’t exist unless it wasn’t for the store. With the bounties of kitsch, confections, food, and often an array of items that offer endless possibilities of items to buy–or wonder who in his or her right mind would buy such a thing, some places are hard to resist.

According to the reader survey conducted by USA Today recently, these are the top five favorite roadside stores in the United States. I’m wondering why the term “store” was used because in two cases stores aren’t involved at all. Bessie the Cow stands where she used to grace the front of a store called Oasis. Oasis was bulldozed under and a Menards was built on the land. If Oasis was great, why was it bulldozed under?

Still, it’s an intriguing collection that offers ideas for places to head, either on their own, or when you’re on the way to somewhere else. You’ll see Bessie is number 4.

The first time we drove to Hilton Head Island, we stopped at a small roadside stand that sold fireworks. Unlike that stand which was a one trick pony, South of Border, is a store and more. Fireworks is only a fraction of the bounty. You can’t miss it if you’re on I-75 I-95. Pedro, a 97-feet-tall statue of a Mexican man in a sombrero, stands by the store’s sign.

Back in 1936 when no one was stopping at the drugstore in Wall as they drove by after seeing the newly finished Mt. Rushmore, owners Ted and Dorothy Huestead began passing out free glasses of ice water to attract customers and be nice. The result is that the store has grown to be an over-the-top, you have to stop to see it type of place.

There is a store at Rock City, but the main attraction, from what I gather is the landscape. Located on top of Lookout Mountain, six miles from Chattanooga, there is a mix of fabricated attractions and ones that nature did on its own. Here you can see 7 states, tour a cavern and wander among rock formations that astound. Plus, buy stuff. Lots of it.

This 20 foot-long, one-ton bovine made out of fiberglass, stands where she used to stand after being refurbished. Here’s an idea. There needs to be a Bessie, the Cow ice-cream stand to highlight Wisconsin’s dairy hertiage. It could be next to Bessie. Here’s an article about Bessie’s return.

The Thing is a tourist attraction that is hard to explain, although there are 247 billboards that over a 200 mile stretch of highway between Deming, New Mexico and Mountain View, Arizona.

One you get to the Mystery of the Desert, you pay a small admission to enter for the chance to solve the mystery. According to the description on Roadside America, there are more than one thing to look at, each as unusual as the next. There are also The Thing related memorabilia to buy. Considering this place has been around since 1950, in today’s economy, that’s a reason to drive there. If you head to Deming, New Mexico, you won’t be far from Silver City, a very cool New Mexican town that is worth a stop as well.

I’ve driven by Wall Drug three times at least and have never stopped. I haven’t been able to talk my husband into it–yet. Next time. I’m determined. I want the cheap coffee at least. I’ve seen a sign advertising it.

Yo-Yo travel to day hike ventures on the Continental Divide

by Jamie Rhein on

For National Trails Day this past weekend, I hoofed it around Manhattan making my own trail between 2nd Avenue and the Hudson River and back, criss-crossing streets that had trees that depended upon which park I happened to pass. People watching was more my past-time than communing with nature.

For a few days late nod to National Trails Day, I’ve become engrossed in the hiking trails to be found along the Continental Divide. It all started when I found a video of Francis Tapon’s 6,000 mile trip along the Continental Divide. Tapon, a walking type traveler that must sport some great boots, took this journey two years ago.

This travel feat, the first yo-yo trip of the Divide where a person begins and ends in the same place, was one where Tapon passed through scenery quite opposite to my journey around Manhattan. Tapon’s scenery fit song lyrics to elementary music class favorites like “This Land is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful” –as cornball as that sounds.

The snapshots also pay tribute to the notion that spring weather in the United States is not the same. Although some people are throwing backyard barbecues and tossing back beers to cool off by Memorial Day, other places are still covered with snow. As Tapon passed along the trail, the snow lessened.

A person doesn’t have to be a hiking animal like Tapon to partake in the enjoyment. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail offers several options. There are day hikes and longer that have been mapped out by folks who have made trail development and maintenance their passion. Here’s are links on the Continental Divide Trail Alliance website to hikes in Montana and Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. One detail I appreciate about this website is how the trails have been organized according to which ones are family-friendly to difficult. Family-friendly designates those that are easier to traverse. The trail descriptions also provide information about how to get to particular trail heads and variations on hiking in each location.

From browsing the list, here is one hike from each area that I can personally vouch for based on experience. I’ve seen these spots myself. There’s a big difference in the scenery among these choices which adds to the notion that if you’ve seen one, you definitely have not seen them all:

  • Anaconda/Pintler Wilderness–Montana. I pass through here each summer on the way to Philipsburg. Anaconda, the town with the same name is touted as “Where Main Street Meets the Mountains.” A brother of a friend of mine camped at Lost Creek State Park campground near here and said it was the most gorgeous place he’s ever been.
  • Rocky Mountain National Park–Colorado. When I hiked here, the wildflowers were gorgeous. I was by myself and did not see another person for the few hours I set out to enjoy the scenery.
  • San Pedro Parks Wilderness, Santa Fe National Forest–New Mexico. If you head to this trail in the winter, cross-country skiing is in order. Cross-country skiing in New Mexico is sublime.
  • Shosone Lake Loop, Yellowstone National Park. When I was in Yellowstone, I hiked in back of the Roosevelt Lodge. The Shosone Lake Loop is closest to Old Faithful. You can’t go wrong in Yellowstone wherever you roam. Old Faithful is worth hanging around for as long as you’re in the area.