Independent America

Sometimes it does take a Village

When I was a young whippersnapper with NBC living in Tel Aviv, I'd always try and book my home leave to New York at the Sheraton or the Hilton.  They usually had the best prices for midtown and I was intent on accumulating frequent stay points.  The idea of choosing an independent hotel was beyond my comprehension.

Of course, I now know much better.  And it would be anathema to stay with a chain when we return to the Big Apple for our April 27th screening at the Pioneer Theater (buy tickets ahead of time, there are only 99 seats!).  Our trip across the United States last year also taught us the joy of staying with Moms & Pops.  New York's big challenge however: the best and most affordable places to stay are booked months in advance.

After much research and following the advice of those who know better on TripAdvisor.com, we came upon West Eleventh, a B&B in Greenwich Village -- ranked third on TripAdvisor...We liked it for the price, the decor, its independence, and most importantly for its location.  In Heather's old neighborhood (I was notoriously Upper West Side when I was a NYC resident), next door to Magnolia Bakery (the Chronic-What?-Cles of Narnia).  Yes, it's a three-story walk-up, but my top-floor apartment on West 87th Street was up four flights of narrow stairs.  So there'll be much sweetness in nostalgia come the end of April.  And joy in finding such a great place to stay in Manhattan's nicest neighborhood.

Best Independent America Sleeps

On our arrival home in July it was so nice to unpack our bags (for good) and sleep in our own bed.  It's something we thought of often during our cross country journey - especially that one late night we checked into a dive in Lake Tahoe, CA!
Still, there were a few nights' rest that that gave us the peace we needed on the road.  Clean rooms -some of them downright delightful- and charming innkeepers made all the difference.
Should we revisit our route one day, we'll return to our favorite hotels and B&B's & enjoy their regional hospitality once again.

Good Night from Iowa

Burlington, Iowa

One lone firefly is lazily hovering over the parking lot asphalt belonging to the Arrowhead Motel here in corn country.  His bright little light shines less frequently than his Tennessee counterparts,  nonetheless I’m happy to have his company.  In the distance pre Fourth of July fireworks are punctuating this quiet Iowa night.  I’m sitting outside, enjoying the cool evening breeze and waiting for our laundry to finish.  Clean clothes are something of a luxury on this trip.

We didn’t have anything on the schedule today.  Other than getting from there (Logansport, IN) to wherever “here” might be.  In the present case, that is Burlington, Iowa.  (I still can’t believe I’m in Iowa.)   Shirking the chains off the interstate we passed a couple of independent motels that didn’t look quite right before spotting the Arrowhead’s bold yellow signage high above the street.  The “free high speed internet” caught our attention and we agreed that if the rooms were clean, we were staying. 

The rooms are more than clean & the hospitality is endearing.  At the front desk, Jerry told us all about the hotel – it’s been here since the 30’s.  The original owner was a cabinet maker who got paid in lumber during the Great Depression. He built a few cabins with that lumber, rentetd them out and after a couple of major renovations over the decades, the Arrowhead Motel still welcomes guests from across the country.  The current owner, Dennis, has a soft spot for antiques and art so the lobby and the extended stay suites are adorned with art he has purchased locally & from around the world.  The Arrowhead even has a working Thomas Edison gramophone.  Jerry cranked it up for us and as soon as we heard that scratchy fuzz of the vinyl manipulated by the needle  we were transported back in time.  A woman’s voice sang to us of “breezin’ along” and despite its age it sounded as real, if not more, than any CD in our collection.

We’re glad to have an early night tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be a quick three hour trip and we can unpack our bags in Seward, Nebraska for a couple of days.

Time to Go...

Up late editing.  So three hours sleep.  Seven hours of driving ahead of us.  Gastonia and Charlotte N.C. (with lunch, we hope, in beautiful Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway).  Then tomorrow we finally begin our trek north.

The hotel room is a wreck: an office and edit suite for two (and a kennel for one) over the last three days.  It's time to pack, eat, and re-arrange the car before we go hunting for Route 70 out of Nashville.  Thanks to everyone who visited us over the last couple of days: we had a record number of hits.  I think it had something to do with my good friend Sree who mentioned us on the New York City ABC station over the weekend.

Except for last night's dinner (see Heather's entry below), we didn't really "see" this famous town.  I saw the skyline from a distance yesterday.  But we're here, in this 3-star motel, bookended by two Waffle Houses (are they good?  they're everywhere!), right below the airport's flight path.

Happily, there were a couple of independents within walking distance: good Mexican food, and a gyro place.  I asked the young man there whether he was Lebanese, because he certainly didn't look Greek.

"Kurdish" he said.  "Which country?" I asked stupidly.  Syria?  Iraq?  Turkey?  I'd been to them all, and had encountered the Kurdish "question" in each one.  "Kurdistan," he responded firmly, and none too kindly.  I really should have known better.  I recovered quickly and told him how I had met the Kurds of Iraq last year, but hadn't been able to get up to Mosul.  That cheered him up somewhat.  The chicken salad was pretty good, but I wish I had ordered the tabouleh.

Day 29: Bentonville AR

Hanson: The fierce rain scraped away all the bug juice from our vehicle's facade.  Awe-inspiring thunder and lightning battles between the gods raged overhead as we pulled into northwestern Arkansas.  It was pretty much route 71 all the way from Shreveport LA -- all seven scenic, rolling hours of it. 

And we didn't really hit the road until 3 p.m. because it took us that long to find out that my Powerbook's motherboard had gotten fried.  Happily, we spent a bit of time at Monjuni's restaurant, where they overfed us and the servers adored Miles. 

It was difficult not to get excited as we entered the Bentonville area last night.  Is this what Silicon Valley was like in the late 70's?  Here Wal-Mart rules over its huge, growing worldwide empire ($285 billion in sales), making this once rural area one of the fastest growing in the country. It's also the focal point of intense criticism -- opponents call the company "The Beast of Bentonville."  We're going to speak to a company official about all of this tomorrow.  We'll also relate to her some of the comments we've heard from Americans on our route, from both sides of the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Today, we get the lay of the land.  We've rented a vacation townhouse for a few days, just two miles from the Missouri border.  It was cheaper and easier than trying to find an independent motel here in boomtown!  And after five weeks on the road, it's very comfortable to have such a large space to ourselves.  High speed internet too, almost as important as electricity and water to us.

Exploration

Hanson: We're sitting back, sipping on wine, munching on some gingerbread cookies here at the over-the-top comfortable Carrington's Bluff B&B in Austin -- thanks to an excellent recommendation from our Austin friend Chris.  As Heather said while innkeeper Phoebe gave us a tour of the writer's cottage, "Why would anyone want to stay at a Holiday Inn after this?"  Miles the steaming hot dog is relishing the A/C.

We've just returned from a free concert at Waterloo Records, five minutes from here.  Sara Lee Guthrie (Woody's granddaughter, Arlo's progeny) and her husband Johnny Irion gave a terrific unplugged performance.  A guitarist myself, I marvelled at Johnny's wicked slide playing.  The lyrics of their CD's title track, "Exploration" ("it's gonna be a nice vacation for you and me") spoke to us.  We're hoping to create an soundtrack of independent American music for our film, and this certainly fits the bill.

Waterloo Records' John Kunz told us that he's surviving and thriving just fine against iTunes, Napster, Starbucks' burn-your-own-CD, Whole Foods' music section, Barnes & Noble and Borders -- all within a 10-mile radius.  He's done so well, Fortune Small Business singled Waterloo Records out in their issue "Beat the Beast" -- how to compete against chain stores.  I guess it's all part of what keeps Austin weird.

Off to Nissan tomorrow for more service.  I wonder this.  If Nissan had kicked in for some of our vehicle expenses, would we have felt free to complain out loud about some the issues we've had with our Xterra so far?  Independence.   It's liberating.  And expensive.