Any rooms at the Inn?

As I took a shower last night, my eyes landed on something that made me laugh out loud and provided inspiration for this note….The Von Trapps would have felt right at home! While they made dresses out of the curtains, our little island motel went one step further…they made curtains out of the towels! Dual-purpose, perhaps? (if you run out of towels, rip down the curtains….?!) and one of the delights of winging it on the road that I felt compelled to share…

Since we have many nights on the road, we set ourselves a budget of no more than $70/night for lodging along the way. Being mostly in charge of research and enjoying the challenge, I’ve taken it upon myself to beat that figure as much as I can. And here’s what we’ve found:

Night One – A nice little B&B in Amish country for $57 (without tax) which came complete with a spacious room, homemade apple cake for breakfast and commentary from Bob, the innkeeper who pulled his trousers up to his chest, ironed his underwear (as Skip guessed) and proceeded to use 100 words instead of 10 for every question we asked.

Night Two – Very pleasant motel in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (Fenwick Island) with a large room and king-sized bed for $48. Sadly, the rooftop bar provided us with some of the most foul-mouthed characters we’d seen in a while– and my withering English stare did little to deter them, so we tossed back our drinks and bolted.

Night Three – This one was the winner. The Best Western Ocean Reef Suites in Kill Devil Hills, NC, could have comfortably been our home for a while. At $62/night we had a huge suite with a balcony overlooking the ocean (where we saw dolphins in the morning), kitchen with full amenities, two bathroom sinks and breakfast buffet in the morning.

Night Four — The bathroom with towelling curtains … along with wood panelling on walls that were so thin we could hear the person next door snoring! Not quite a bargain at $67 but pretty much one of the only places open on Ocracoke Island in early March.

Tonight.?…After travelling for 11 hours, sampling a winery along the way and devouring delicious fried lunches (yes, it is the south!), we’re headed for a roadside motel.

BTW, as you’ll notice I haven’t provided names for our lodging except for the good one…TripAdvisor is available for that purpose….(ask me if you really want to know…)

PostScript… N.O.C.(Noteworthy Overheard Comment) of the week so far…Overheard in Dolphin Den restaurant on the Outer Banks…”Oh, you must be one of the Midgets“…..(Midget is the family who owns the real estate company in the region!…)