Motel Stories

Traverse City, Michigan

So after photographing the famous Cherry Bowl drive-in theater, my GPS unit sent me to Traverse City to find a Motel 6 (most reliably decent and affordable of the chains if you don't have time to find something interesting). But it's Friday night, that's the airport and a lakefront resort area, and the place was full. But the very old Economy Inn (forties-looking construction) across the parking lot had vacancies. The same young woman I'd talked to at the 6 walked across the lot when I followed instructions and dialed 0 at the office of the Economy. "Same owners," she said. There was drive-up to the door parking, (I'd almost gone there first having pulled into the parking lot) much more convenient than the fortress-style place across the drive, and the price wasn't bad for being stuck in a resort area on Friday night. While I was signing in at this accessory venue, the cat (I'm not kidding) jumped up on the counter and came over to head-butt my hand while I was filling out the forms. Like all yellow male cats, aggressively friendly, even when obviously elderly. I asked about WiFi, and was told no, we don't have it over here, but you can go over and sit in the lobby of the 6. Then a helper who had come along advised that if I sat in the window, I could probably get a signal from my room. This turns out to be true. Sitting on the side of the bed at the window, I got my email. Moving the MacBook to the bedside table lost the signal. So I put an equipment case on top of my cooler and made a desk right at the window.