Chicago Tribune article on John Margolies - Beyond Tiki

T thejab Grand Member (1 year) Tradewinds Apartments, Alameda, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2992	T thejab Posted posted on Thu, Jul 10, 2003 12:03 PM On 2003-07-10 09:51, Kailuageoff wrote: Great article. Thanks for sharing it. Another road worth exploring just about anywhere on the east coast is US 1. Also, thanks for plugging the AAA TourBooks (my employer). The current editions are a great resource for auto travel to out of the way places. The old editions (available at a lot of thrift stores) are just fun to look through. [ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2003-07-10 09:55 ] I love the AAA maps and tour books but I get the feeling that the Tour Books focus on the chain hotels and don't cover older mom & pop motels enough. Do you guys really check every motel? Do many older places not get into the book because they lack certain minimum amenities? Are many motels encouraged to upgrade or modernize in order to get in the book? I have stayed at a few older motels that were in the book and some that were not in the book and were perfectly clean and safe. On the other hand I have also stayed in flea bags that were not in AAA because it was all that had a vacancy. So I usually plan out my road trips rather than winging it like JT. I have found the Tour Books (even current ones) to be great for finding older restaurants. For example, I was browsing through the Florida tour book and found a listing Julian's in Ormond Beach (a great polynesian style steakhouse from the 50s). It was well worth the long drive from Fort Lauderdale to eat there.

On 2003-07-10 09:51, Kailuageoff wrote:
Great article. Thanks for sharing it. Another road worth exploring just about anywhere on the east coast is US 1. Also, thanks for plugging the AAA TourBooks (my employer). The current editions are a great resource for auto travel to out of the way places. The old editions (available at a lot of thrift stores) are just fun to look through.

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2003-07-10 09:55 ]

I love the AAA maps and tour books but I get the feeling that the Tour Books focus on the chain hotels and don't cover older mom & pop motels enough. Do you guys really check every motel? Do many older places not get into the book because they lack certain minimum amenities? Are many motels encouraged to upgrade or modernize in order to get in the book? I have stayed at a few older motels that were in the book and some that were not in the book and were perfectly clean and safe. On the other hand I have also stayed in flea bags that were not in AAA because it was all that had a vacancy. So I usually plan out my road trips rather than winging it like JT.

I have found the Tour Books (even current ones) to be great for finding older restaurants. For example, I was browsing through the Florida tour book and found a listing Julian's in Ormond Beach (a great polynesian style steakhouse from the 50s). It was well worth the long drive from Fort Lauderdale to eat there.

Post #42425 by thejab on Thu, Jul 10, 2003 12:03 PM