Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Updates - Best Choice Inn, and Discovering New Locations

On June 17, 2016, I travelled through Dunsmuir while en route to LA.  I was hoping that the Best Choice Inn would still there, and it was - however, the condition on the motel has worsened considerably. 



It looks like vandals / thieves have been there a few times, and the property owners have put fences up all around it.  Lots of broken glass - I don't know if I saw any untouched windows, including the huge windows in the cafe portion of the building. 





























Like last time, I wasn't able to stick around to poke around.  At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets torn down in the next couple of years.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Route 66, Glendora to Rancho Cucamonga

On January 10, I found myself in Glendora, CA looking at an Eames-inspired Selig Lounge Chair and ottoman.  After initially declining the chair due to some cracks in the leather, the seller responded with an attractive lower price, to which I counteroffered, and he accepted. 

After a clean up (not shown here), I'm pretty pleased with my purchase. 

After loading up my new possession, I decided to spend a few hours exploring Foothill Boulevard, which had been known decades earlier as Route 66.

My wife and I had explored sections of Route 66 from the Rialto area through New Mexico the previous summer, but I had never really seen the sections closer in to Los Angeles.  Given my fascination with anything old, abandoned, and decrepit, I was hoping to see empty shells of buildings with faded signage and hints of sunnier times.  But as most of the towns I passed through were still heavily populated, I instead saw more evidence of businesses having been removed and replaced with modern strip malls and businesses.  So where I didn't see any forgotten properties, and I did see lots and lots of restaurants and businesses that had obviously been built during the highway's heyday, and had been operating in some form or another since that time. 




 The 20th Century Motor Lodge in Glendora was a perfect example of this - likely built before the 210 or 110 had been built, this motel seems to have been operating since the 50s or 60s. 




It still looks very much the same today.   Just a guess, but most of the guests appeared not to be road-weary travelers, but more of the long-term variety. 





 Signage was very mid-century and in good repair.  Pool was clean and functional.  Maid service carts were present with fresh towels and sheets.







I drove East, looking for more relics that I could hopefully easily connect with photos from decades before.  While I saw several older businesses lining the road in each town, I didn't see any that I could find much history on.

La Paloma Restaurant is a great example of a Route 66-era business..  Originally opened as Wilson's Restaurant, it has been operating since 1966.







Over and over again, I saw several small mom-and-pop type businesses.  Long before Autozone, O'Reilly, and Kragen, there were small auto parts stores like this.

 Early drive-thru businesses dotted the highway. 

One I was not familiar with was the drive-thru mini-mart:  freezers and refrigerators like you would see in a 7-11 were next to your car as you drove in. 
  
There are quite a few restaurants on Foothill that have been open for decades.  The Magic Lamp restaurant has been operating since 1955.

The Golden Spur has been open since 1918. 




The Sycamore Inn has a history going back to the 1800s.  The current building has been the restaurant's location since 1920 .









I was surprised to find a go-cart manufacturer's building, complete with sign!  After some research, I found out that K & P Manufacturing has been in business here since the early 1960s. 






After about 3 hours of driving up and down Foothill, I finally got bored with the stop and go traffic and had seen enough 90's mini-malls for the day.  Like travelers decades before, I decided to skip all of the local attractions, businesses, and stoplights, get on the 210, and head directly towards my destination in Los Angeles at freeway speeds.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Best Choice Inn, Dunsmuir, CA


While blazing up Interstate 5 on my annual winter break trek to Oregon, I've always noticed this roadside motel in Dunsmuir, CA.  The fairly vast expanse of the motel, with its attached restaurant and mountain views led me to believe that it had been a pretty nice place to stay at one point or another.  But even at 70mph, I could see peeling paint, weeds, and what looked like broken windows and detached siding.  What had this place actually been like at one time?


The earliest linen postcard of the Oak Lo Motel shows an artist's rendering of the motel's scenic location, with the beautiful Mount Shasta in the background.  Flowers, trees, and a lush lawn make for an inviting image. 

An actual photo of the same view showcases the expansive green lawn, ideal for a picnic or just a place to settle in and take in the amazing view of the mountain. 

A different angle of the property at about the same time shows a basic motor hotel, mostly single level with a second-story addition towards the southern end of the building.






A slightly newer postcard highlights a new pool and smiling visitors in the foreground, along with the motel's close proximity to both highway 99 and an incredible view of Mt. Shasta.  This postcard lists the Oak Lo to be a Best Western Motel, with extra long beds, carports, tubs and showers, and a heated pool.  Mr. and Mrs. J. Morgan Jones are the owners and managers.


"OAK-LO MOTEL - HOUSE OF GLASS RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE" This postcard, from roughly about the same time period, shows the entire expanse of the motel, complete with an  attached restaurant.  The sign for the motel now includes a large Best Western sign above the original Oak Lo Motel sign.  Postcard reads, "Refrigerated air conditioning, room phones, picture window view of Mt. Shasta.  Direct access from U.S. 99 and Interstate 5 at Dwight Way." Mr. and Mrs. J. Morgan Jones are listed as the owners and managers. Note the direct access from northbound highway 99.



A few years later, the Oak-Lo motel now features a second story addition on the north end of the building.  Postcard lists direct access from U.S. 99 and Interstate 5 at Dwight Way.  Ownership and management have switched to Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Rogers. 







A few years later, and the Oak-Lo shows increased signage.  Postcard lists direct access from Highway 5, and includes shuffleboard as a feature.


A different angle from the same era showcases the pool area and lawn, along with the same breathtaking view of Mt. Shasta.  Note the second story addition on the north end of the building, and what seems to be discoloration on the roof.







This photo, likely taken from the restaurant, highlights the views of the mountains, but also shows the ease of access from both sides of highway 99.  Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Rogers are listed as owners and managers.  I can only guess, but I'd imagine these final postcards are from the mid-seventies to early eighties.  I cannot find many photos of the motel through the 90s to early 2000s.






So what happened to the Oak-Lo motel?  Did it fall prey from local competition?  Did Interstate 5's new on- and off-ramps cut off the ease of access to Dwight Way for potential customers?  Did the cost and upkeep of maintenance along with the larger payroll slowly kill off the aging roadside lodge?  I can only guess that it was a combination of factors. 

Tripadvisor reviews of the motel from 2008-2011, by then renamed the Best Choice Inn, are poor.  I can only guess that it closed shortly after, and since then has been largely abandoned.  By the time I got a close look, it's fallen into a pretty poor state of disrepair.  No trespassing signs, a close proximity of neighbors on a Saturday afternoon, and a tight travel schedule kept me from taking better photos.