where to stay

Unless you're doing one of the famous 24 hour "Iron Butt" 1,000 mile tours around Lake Michigan, there is always the matter of where to stay on a motorcycle trip. I tend to favor small, single story, sleazy motels along the side of the road.

A few years back one of the highly publicized chain motels had an advertising campaign that boasted "no surprises" at their motels. I can appreciate that. When I am traveling with my wife and we're tired and want to rest before driving 12 hours the next day I want everything to be perfect. If there are any surprises I want them to be along the order of free ice cream in the lobby. When I'm on the Bro Ride I don't want a "no surprises" type of motel. In fact I want lots of surprises, the type that would horrify most motel managers. When we're on the Bro Ride, for some reason it's hilarious to me when I turn on the air conditioner and the front falls off or when I can park my motorcycle six inches from the door to my room, or there's no lock on the room, only a cable and a nail.

This year we stayed at a Comfort Inn. No surprises. Nothing to write about. But let me tell you about the place we didn't stay at. We saw this old hotel and spa that had been gloriously restored in West Baden Springs, Indiana near French Lick. It was so cool looking that we decided to take a tour of the hotel, the spa, the gardens and grounds. Wow, wow, wow and wow. $180 for the cheapest room. Pictured in this post is the driveway of the hotel. That says it all. For $180 you can drive up this spectacular driveway and check into a fabulous room and walk through a lobby that is so spectacular people take pictures of it. I resisted the urge. This place has an elegance of a time that has passed us by. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

My criteria for the Bro Ride; clean sheets, a working shower, an air conditioner that cools. Nothing else matters. I don't need a leaded glass window in a rotunda looking out over the lobby.

Next year I hope some surprises happen... like some doors falling off the hinges, or the ceiling falling in or a moose deciding to walk through the lobby. Yeah, that would be something to write about.