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Vintage neon signs

Ghostsoldier

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,408
Location
Starke, Florida, USA
Neon cowboy.
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Rob
 
Messages
11,894
Location
Southern California
Well...to be fair, when I'm traveling I tend to want to spend the least amount of money on a temporary place to sleep as possible so as to maximize the amount I have with which to enjoy myself wherever I'm visiting.
I didn't stay at the Drake (I stayed at a far more questionable looking place down the road) but it looked to be clean and very well kept up. I think the fact that it's in a part of town that probably has seen its better days might be off-putting for some folks.
That's the thing about hotel/motel rooms--we're mostly paying for an unoccupied room. My wife and I are rather frugal ourselves when it comes to traveling because we know we won't be spending a lot of time in the room, and we're reasonably self-sufficient (we even bring our own coffee) so all we really need is a room with a bed, a bathroom, and maybe a TV.

That frugality did come back to sort of bite me on the backside once. Back in the late-1990s I had to spend a few days out of town to train employees at another division on how to use the new company software. The motel I chose was conveniently located and comparatively cheap, and I found out why when I arrived. The motel was undergoing some renovations and in the room they gave me the bathroom door was missing, there were places on the walls that had been patched but not yet repainted, there were wires hanging out of one wall where a light fixture should have been, and the bed was so saggy it was almost like sleeping in a hammock. I casually/jokingly commented on this to the clerk at the front office, and he discounted the bill by almost 50%. Granted, it wasn't my money (the company reimbursed me), but it was the principle of the thing.

I casually mentioned this to the supervisor at the division where I was conducting the training, and he asked where I was staying. When I told him a look of shock and bemusement covered his face, and while trying to stifle his laughter he said, "You're staying there??? That's a 'red light' district. How many junkies and crack whores have you seen?" Yep, I can pick 'em. :cool:
 
Messages
11,894
Location
Southern California
Call it broadening your resume of life experiences.
The funny thing is I was there for three days and, except for one sketchy-looking guy walking down the street, I saw nothing that led me to believe he was right. No junkies, no "ladies of the evening", nothing but a few other guests who also appeared to be somewhat disappointed with their rooms. I'm sure he was right, I just didn't see anything that supported his claim.
 

EngProf

Practically Family
Messages
597
Elvis stayed here.
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Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Take it from a long-term Nashvillian, no "Star" has stayed at the Drake Motel for the last 50 years.
However, that area of town was on the local news just this past weekend: A man was shot dead on his front porch about a half mile away, as the bullets fly, from the Drake.
The Ideal Liquor store is about a quarter-mile away from the scene of the crime.
I would be hesitant to even drive through that area at night - in fact, I wouldn't do it unless forced to by some odd circumstance.

As for the Elliston Place Soda Shop, it's in a nice safe college, entertainment, and tourist area. It has good food and nice decor - not fake, since it's been there almost forever.
It's only drawback is the Yogi Berra Problem: "No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
Back when I was in grad school it was a nice place to eat - before this town attracted so many new people and so many tourists.
 
Messages
13,627
Location
down south
Take it from a long-term Nashvillian, no "Star" has stayed at the Drake Motel for the last 50 years.
However, that area of town was on the local news just this past weekend: A man was shot dead on his front porch about a half mile away, as the bullets fly, from the Drake.
The Ideal Liquor store is about a quarter-mile away from the scene of the crime.
I would be hesitant to even drive through that area at night - in fact, I wouldn't do it unless forced to by some odd circumstance.

As for the Elliston Place Soda Shop, it's in a nice safe college, entertainment, and tourist area. It has good food and nice decor - not fake, since it's been there almost forever.
It's only drawback is the Yogi Berra Problem: "No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
Back when I was in grad school it was a nice place to eat - before this town attracted so many new people and so many tourists.
We saw that liquor store, too.
5307616e8961c0eb88cd4df5767722f6.jpg


edit.... I see that I posted this one already. Apologies for the re-run. I had just left there when I posted most of those pics from Nashville.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
32,962
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
hollywood-revue-1929-marquee_1.gif


The Astor Theatre, Times Square, November 1929.

Those aren't statues or wax dummies atop the HOLLYWOOD REVUE letters. They're actual chorines, three to five stories above the cold concrete sidewalks, dancing on catwalks about eighteen inches wide, in scanty sequined costumes in the cold night air.

This is why chorus girls needed a union. Or at least a union suit.
 

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