A cultural anniversary we almost forgot

On this day 100 years ago, Arthur and Alfred Heineman opened the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo, Calif., filling a need for lodging that Americans didn't even realize they had:

At the time, motorists had limited options. Their dust-covered clothes hardly suited the highbrow standards of most hotels, and parking in cities could be challenging. So many drivers stayed in autocamps, roadside resting places that sometimes offered basics like firewood and communal bathrooms, pitching tents off their running boards and cooking underneath the stars.

n contrast, the brand-new Milestone featured novel comforts like hot showers and private garages. “There were orange trees in front of every door,” said Thomas Kessler, the executive director of the History Center of San Luis Obispo County, adding, “The idea of being able to reach out and pick an orange from out your window — you know, they talk about that in ‘The Grapes of Wrath.’ It’s such a concept of the American dream.”

[Now, a century later,] renovated motels become hot destinations, commanding prices that would make the Milestone Mo-Tel’s founders blush. High-season rooms go for up to $699 a night at the 1959 Skyview Los Alamos, in Los Alamos, Calif., which appeared in the first season of “re(Motel).” At the 1957 Silver Sands Motel & Beach Bungalows in Greenport, N.Y., rooms in the original motel building typically go for up to $695 in high season. Both motels often have waiting lists.

I haven't taken a multi-day road trip since 2022, and haven't needed to stay in a motel since 2016. As much as I love travel, this is one of those things where a small amount of nostalgia would collide with a whole lot of discomfort. But if I ever need to take Cassie somewhere, motels are usually the only option.