New Book Alert: Sleeping Around in America: Revisiting The Roadside Motel by Andrew Beattie; A Colorful Pictorial Look At America's Hidden Motels

New Book Alert: Sleeping Around in America: Revisiting The Roadside Motel by Andrew Beattie; A Colorful Pictorial Look At America's Hidden Motels

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




If we can get past the whole Coronavirus pandemic and other issues, I would say that Andrew Beattie's Sleeping Around in America: Revisiting the Roadside Motel makes for a good book for summer travel. This summer, I would say "Maybe wait a little bit. But,certainly when the opportunity arises, travel and by all means take this book with you."


Beattie's book is a travelogue, photo book, and travel guide of visiting the U.S. via motorcycle and checking out the various motels. Not the big name chains like Motel 6, or Econo Lodge, or others. Instead these are the out of the way places with names like The June Motel, The Cadillac Motel, and the Thunderbird Inn Motel. Places that are owned by a variety of hoteliers including former rock stars, members of the Amish community, and people who are so fascinated with the 1950's that they give their guests the whole '50's going experience complete with decor and Doo Wop music playing on the speakers.

These are the type of places that you find when you aren't looking, just driving along the beaten path and feel your eyes droop with highway hyponisis. Suddenly, you see a friendly neon light up ahead and find a bed for the night. These motels are among the hidden but loved treasures that dot America's landscape.


In his introduction, Beattie explains his own memories of visiting motels complete with swimming pools and HBO playing on TV. (Remember when that was a draw?) He also recognizes the hospitality industry's contribution to the United States' ever changing appearance. "(Motels) are the biproduct of the growth of a society in a post-industrial age. They are a fixture of America's landscape. Motels contributed to the changing social behaviors, and not just sexual customs, because of the anonimity and convenience they provide. Add that motels represent the freedom of mobility and exploration that are two essential characteristics of the American Dream."

The first chapter covers the fascinating history of motels and how they were designed to capture drivers' interests almost as soon as the automobile was mass produced. In 1935, The Official AAA Camp Directory listed 9,841 with the number reaching its peak in 1961 with 60,951. Beattie estimates the number now to be about 3,000 and 6,000 independently owned and operated motels. Beattie recounts the motel's many connotations such as a symbol of freedom, a comfortable place for the night, and an out of the way place for lovers to engage in secret affairs. (What do you expect from a title like Sleeping Around in America? The double entrende is very evident.)


Beattie explains that he set to create The Motorcycle Chronicles, a directory of independent motels that motorcyclists could check into during their trips. Based on suggestions from Readers, articles from lifestyle and travel magazines, and Google, he sought to travel to fifty hotels in fifty days. In a moving paragraph, Beattie described his father's passing right when he began his project. Beattie's father shared a mutual love of motels and motorcycles, as well as cows. Beattie's father also had a brother who was a WWII pilot. When he began his journey, Beattie saw an abandoned motel sign on a field near a herd of cattle and the remnants of a private airplane. Looking at the sight as a sign from his late father, Beattie knew that he was on the right track.


Each motel is lovingly described with its timeless decor, brilliant amenities, friendly owners and personnel, and unique individuality which make them stand out from the cookie cutter sameness of the bigger hotel chains. For example, even though the June Motel straddles the border between upstate New York and Canada, it has a distinctly Floridian theme with its plastic flamingo themed decor, the pink walls, and the references to wine. (The pillows say "Good Wine" and "Good Vibes" and instead of Gideon Bibles, the drawers boast guides to good wine.) The effect is to make visitors feel the warmth of Florida while in the cold of the north.


Among the more interesting of the motels is the Caribbean Motel of Wildwood, New Jersey whose owners, Carolyn Emigh and George Miller put their love of the 1950's to a new level. The colors of avocado green and replicated vintage style furniture captures the time period. Emigh and Miller are members of Wildwood's Doo Wop Preservation League and have music from the 1950's pumped into the loudspeakers of each motel room.


The hotel's owners are about as eccentric as the buildings themselves. Kate's Lazy Meadows Motel is owned by B52's Kate Pierson and is purposely patterned after the group's 1989 hit song, "Love Shack," complete with the "tin roof (rusted)" and white lights that provide the "glitter on the front porch". However, it is not "down the Atlanta highway." Instead it is in the Catskills.


Another unique group of owners are Dee and Peter Shah, a couple that emigrated from India and integrated themselves into the Amish community of Ronks, Pennsylvania. The Shah's Cherry Lane Motor Court is a tribute to their Amish neighbors. They are friends of the community so provide technology and modern conveniences while having benches and furniture for their friends' uses.

These motels are useful to provide history lessons. Those who saw the 2018 Academy Award winning movie, Green Book will know of "The N#$&o Traveler's Green Book," a book that highlighted segregated places in which African-Americans could stay in without interference. One of those former establishments, the Inn of the Dove, still remains though is thankfully integrated. The fact that it still stands recognizes its involvement in such a history that lead to monumental change and continues to echo through current changes. Many other motels were at the center of cultural events such as inspiring Glenn Frey to write The Eagle's hit "Take It Easy" and where Bono stayed when he worked on U2's album, Under the Joshua Tree.

Some of the decor couldn't be kitschier if the owners tried. The Big Texan road sign features a large cowboy and the building's exterior features a model of (what else) the head of a large steer. The Wigwam Motel of Holbrook, Arizona has a Native American theme including Wigwam designed buildings. (Fans of the 2005 Pixar film, Cars, might recognize the parody tribute of the Cozy Cone Motel which transfroms the wigwam style buildings into safety cones for its automotive clientele.) Many weird colorful signs and decorations pop up throughout the book proving that the tourist traps and roadside attractions are alive and well.


I couldn't leave this review without mentioning the photographs. Beattie captures each motel's unique individuality with color and vibrance. They make the United States' landscape into one that is waiting to be explored and shared.

Sleeping Around in America Revisiting the Roadside Motel is a wonderful book that will inspire travelers to hit the road and visit these fascinating places. These travelers will certainly get their kicks on Route 66 and beyond.