If a person of any age has ever gone north to south or south to north through the Mammoth Cave area, he or she has been enthralled by the sight of a circle of wigwams at the side of the road. Well, technically, they are teepees or tipis, but they have been called wigwams for years, so wigwams they shall remain. There are three, possibly four, of these little villages currently in operation. Thank Goodness!
As a child, I took several trips from Indiana to Florida and pressed my nose against the glass and whined, "Let's stay there! In a Teepee!" Thhe answer was always, "It's too early in the day to stop for the night." Or, "We will be home in a few hours, so there is no need to spend the night now."
As a grown woman with three children of my own it is unfortunate that my replies to my own brood were almost identical to the ones uttered to me. Drat!
But my kids grew up in an era of Kings Island, Holiday World, etc. They were not nearly as impresssed as I was. Also, western movies, were no longer in vogue for the younger set.
They never heard of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Lash LaRue, Wild Bill Hickock and others. Their loss! Heavy sigh, here! I loved those guys. I fully expected Gene to come thundering around one of those teepees, gun drawn, and Champion at full gallop. So, while my own children nodded, "Uh Huh!," when I would enthusiastically point them out on our trip south, I once again sighed with unrequited nostalgia. And, every time, I would say to my own Kingosabe, I ALWAYS wanted to stay in one of those. Yes, I had forgotten I probably said that a zillion or more times. We rolled on toward our summer vacation destination, Sanibel Island, loaded down with four bicycles, a Force Five sailboat, and a windsurfer. Those were the days. Visit one of our favorite museums, Gene Autry.
When the children went to college and on to their adult lives, I forgot about the Wigwam Motel. Then we bought the LER camper van, whch s featured in Vantrippin.com. We started touring the country for weeks, even months, at a time. It was glorious fun and the memories are precious.
So, as we headed home on one trip, Kingosabe reigned the old camper van toward the Tennesse/Kentucky border. This made a lot of sense to me since it really was on the route home to Indiana. BUT, we came to the Wigwam Village and he announced that we were going to spend the night here. I couldn't believe my eyes.....or my ears, for that matter. When the door opened to the tiny circular room, I felt I was stepping back into my childhood.
Yes, it was difficult to put aside my adult expectations of what I minimally expected from hotel rooms. But then the absolute joy took over. It was clean, that is absolutely , positively, necessary. Everything else was tiny. But wouldn't I have loved a motel room that seemed to be sized just for me when I was a little girl? The bed was fine. What more could I want. Nope! I was too old to squeal with delight, but inwardly, believe me, I did.
So, in honor, of all those folk of a cerain age, who finally came to share my experience, I have, chosen this hotel as the header for some of my blog pages.
And, as I wrote this, I thought to myself, 'Wouldn't it be fun to stay in all three.....or four......gotta research that one! A quest! I'm a happy woman!
More about these teepees: HISTORY ~ ~ ~ IOWA TEEPEES ~ ~ ~ WIGWAM VILLAGE ~ ~ ~ FOUR CORNERS ~ ~ ~
TEEPEE VS. WIGWAM ~ ~ ~ WIGWAM MOTEL, SAN BERNARDINO, CA
As a child, I took several trips from Indiana to Florida and pressed my nose against the glass and whined, "Let's stay there! In a Teepee!" Thhe answer was always, "It's too early in the day to stop for the night." Or, "We will be home in a few hours, so there is no need to spend the night now."
As a grown woman with three children of my own it is unfortunate that my replies to my own brood were almost identical to the ones uttered to me. Drat!
But my kids grew up in an era of Kings Island, Holiday World, etc. They were not nearly as impresssed as I was. Also, western movies, were no longer in vogue for the younger set.
They never heard of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Lash LaRue, Wild Bill Hickock and others. Their loss! Heavy sigh, here! I loved those guys. I fully expected Gene to come thundering around one of those teepees, gun drawn, and Champion at full gallop. So, while my own children nodded, "Uh Huh!," when I would enthusiastically point them out on our trip south, I once again sighed with unrequited nostalgia. And, every time, I would say to my own Kingosabe, I ALWAYS wanted to stay in one of those. Yes, I had forgotten I probably said that a zillion or more times. We rolled on toward our summer vacation destination, Sanibel Island, loaded down with four bicycles, a Force Five sailboat, and a windsurfer. Those were the days. Visit one of our favorite museums, Gene Autry.
When the children went to college and on to their adult lives, I forgot about the Wigwam Motel. Then we bought the LER camper van, whch s featured in Vantrippin.com. We started touring the country for weeks, even months, at a time. It was glorious fun and the memories are precious.
So, as we headed home on one trip, Kingosabe reigned the old camper van toward the Tennesse/Kentucky border. This made a lot of sense to me since it really was on the route home to Indiana. BUT, we came to the Wigwam Village and he announced that we were going to spend the night here. I couldn't believe my eyes.....or my ears, for that matter. When the door opened to the tiny circular room, I felt I was stepping back into my childhood.
Yes, it was difficult to put aside my adult expectations of what I minimally expected from hotel rooms. But then the absolute joy took over. It was clean, that is absolutely , positively, necessary. Everything else was tiny. But wouldn't I have loved a motel room that seemed to be sized just for me when I was a little girl? The bed was fine. What more could I want. Nope! I was too old to squeal with delight, but inwardly, believe me, I did.
So, in honor, of all those folk of a cerain age, who finally came to share my experience, I have, chosen this hotel as the header for some of my blog pages.
And, as I wrote this, I thought to myself, 'Wouldn't it be fun to stay in all three.....or four......gotta research that one! A quest! I'm a happy woman!
More about these teepees: HISTORY ~ ~ ~ IOWA TEEPEES ~ ~ ~ WIGWAM VILLAGE ~ ~ ~ FOUR CORNERS ~ ~ ~
TEEPEE VS. WIGWAM ~ ~ ~ WIGWAM MOTEL, SAN BERNARDINO, CA
