LOVE
SHACK
J
ust off the beaten path on
Hwy 28 in eastern New York’s
Catskills, and less than ten
miles from the famous con-
cert site of Woodstock, there
is a ‘little old place where
you can get together.’ But don’t blink.
You’ll miss the faded sign by the side
of the road that reads Kate’s Lazy
Meadow. Welcome to the Love Shack
in the Catskills.
This is the first stop on my jour-
ney to rediscover America’s roadside
motels. There has always been a
cheesy romanticism with motels and
motorcycles. The mere mention of
the two conjures up images of James
Dean and bright neon lights. But
motels have always been more asso-
ciated with car travel. So last year I
married the two and coined a new
word-motelorcycle, with me being
the motelorcyclist.
Over the past three decades,
motels in America have declined
in numbers. Once a staple along
TRAVERSE
51
America’s roadsides, these icons of
the highway are disappearing like an
endangered species. In 1964, there
were 61,000 independently operated
motels in America, today there is just
a fraction of that number still open.
So my goal was to set out on my
motorcycle checking in on fifty of
America’s remaining roadside motels.
For fifty days and 16,334 kilometres
(10,150 miles) I travelled around
America meeting motel guests, other
motorcyclists on the road and the
moteliers that are keeping this tradi-
tional accommodation option alive.
So all packed, I headed out but first
I had one major obstacle I needed to
overcome. I had to cross the border
into the United States.
Pulling up to the border crossing
I immediately realised that my year-
long preparation for this journey
could be thwarted before it began.
Now Canadians don’t require visitors'
visas or carnets to enter the US, but
the border agents have complete