So after the Surreal Mad Hatter Tea Party Restaurant Encounter, we decide to go on to the town where we do have a motel reservation for the night, check in and find something to eat near there. Thanks to our NEFFA stays, we had a free night coming to us and had booked a (nonrefundable) room using our accrued points.
Welp friends, here is irrefutable proof that you do indeed get what you pay for. We come around the corner to find a building demolition in full swing right next door to the motel. At this point the giggles have taken hold and we're pretty much, "Whatever - how much worse could it get?" Yeah, don't ever ask that...
We go in just in time to hear the very tired registration people say to the couple ahead of us, "It'll be a minute - we just got the power back on and the internet is still down." I hear Bill mutter behind me, "I swear we've gone from a Kafka story straight into an episode of Twilight Zone." I asked the desk clerk if they were happy about the demolition or not. She said, "Oh we're happy about it. It was a real problem because a lot of homeless people were living in there." Oh wow. Not going into it here, but it did get me thinking about the consequences of evicting an unhoused population without offering any support or safety net. Needless to say, we didn't leave anything in the car.
Thankfully the staff had already printed out everyone's reservations so we all got checked in. We get our keys, grab our stuff and walk into one seriously grody motel room. We probably should have asked for a different room, but the staff looked so tired and depressed, I had no confidence any other room would be better. I figured either they were really short-staffed or had just given up. We did a careful check for bedbugs and other critters. No bedbugs, but the fishing lure tucked up on a light fixture tried it's best to scare the life out of me. Once I photographed it, I was a little naughty and put it back where I found it.
We found a place that had veggie burgers on the menu and went in. "Do you have a reservation?", chirped the hostess.
"Uh, no, we just got into town."
"Well, if you want a table, it's about an hour's wait or you can sit at the bar."
We walked back to the bar passing at least three empty tables on our way and sat down next to the margarita blender. Two burgers and adult beverages later, we were feeling much better and we headed out - passing those same empty tables.
Doo dee doo doo
Doo dee doo doo....
