I read them all and enjoyed them very much. I am left with the following observation and question…
Miranda does not seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she does run the inn well enough I guess.
When, if ever, are her parents finally going to get around to visiting the poor girl? I realize there was some trauma with a departed horse, but she has been inviting them over and over for quite some time now.
Looking forward to installment XV.
Thank you for the bedtime stories, I had missed some of them the first time through. It sounds like a lovely place for a vacation. I would love more news about the men in bowler hats.
I can’t believe we are only at 21. They are so enjoyable, you’d like more frequent but don’t because that would diminish the joy of seeing the next installment.
@ItalianScallion@Kyeh No I haven’t. Some years decades ago, I did do a road trip through the Eastern Sierras, which wasn’t too different from the one Sidetrack Adventures took recently:
It’s a multi-part series that stretches all the way up the 395 to the Washington State line.
@ItalianScallion@Kyeh I visited Bombay Beach, which was billed as a resort town along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea.
/image visit Bombay Beach
I made the extra detour past Palm Springs after picking up an eBay auction I won: 7th gen i5 tower, local pick up only, no reserve, and the starting bid was $1. I was also the only bid …
(I slipped more under their doormat – even factoring that, some of my time and fuel, I still got a good deal.)
Steve (Sidetrack Adventures) does a much better job than I ever will, however:
@Kyeh@narfcake Here’s another abandoned place: the Olympic village from the 2005 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. I took these photos in 2011. I was the only person walking around the village and it felt so sad to see it so lifeless.
@ItalianScallion@narfcake Wow, that looks so desolate. Colorado is the only state ever to turn down the Olympics, in 1976, and I’m glad they did, really.
But I guess Italy’s hosting again next year! Cortina certainly has some beautiful sites for it. I hope they don’t end up with abandoned buildings.
@Kyeh@narfcake Oh yes, Cortina d’Ampezzo is in a beautiful area. I hope to get there one of these days. The reason I haven’t been there is because it doesn’t have a train station and renting a car is a bit of a hassle (anywhere, really). They do have bus service from the nearest station, 35 km away.
In 2014, Boston bid for and was chosen as the US pick for the 2024 Summer Olympics. There was a lot of support and a lot of opposition too. The main objection was the cost to the city, nothing new in Olympic bids. A serious effort was put in for well over a year. Committees were formed, studies were done, a decision to use private funding was made… then quietly broken. Seventeen transportation projects were needed, costing billions of dollars. Public support for the bid plummeted when the need for public funding was revealed, the mayor said he couldn’t sign the contract with the USOC because of the required financial liability clauses, and Boston’s bid was mutually canceled.
@ItalianScallion@narfcake I didn’t know that about Boston. I’d forgotten that Denver actually tried and failed twice more to get the 2022 and then the 2030 Olympics, losing out to Salt Lake City for 2030, which makes more sense because they’re already set up for it.
Dearest Mother,
When you run a hotel like mine–one upon a cliff, overlooking a forever tumultuous sea, framed always by gray skies, bequeathed by unsigned letter, et cetera–you are lucky enough to serve a self-selecting clientele. Given our location and distance from most major thoroughfares, we do not get guests who simply happen upon us during a long journey by car, hoping to get a good night’s sleep before returning to the road the next morning. No, the hotel itself is, for those who come here, the final destination. (Though it certainly sounds ominous when I say it like that! Ha!)
Their reasons for visiting vary widely. Maybe they hope to walk the grounds with a lover. Maybe they want some quiet time to themselves. Maybe they want to meet up with an estranged friend or two. And then there are the many artists who stay here, if you can believe it. Why, it is not uncommon to see one of them setting up an easel at the cliff’s edge to paint the view.
And this impression, of the hotel as a pseudo-artist’s colony persists even after an artist departs, as many of them generously donate their work to the hotel. “I could not possibly have this hanging in my home,” they might say, showing faux humility at the beautiful work they created. Or, as the most recent put it: “I cannot stand to look at it anymore.” Although, I admit, I am doing just a bit of interpretation with this. The painter was very tired and actually said of his canvas: “I cannot stand to have it looking at me anymore.”
(For further evidence of his exhaustion, he went on what could only be described as a sleep-deprived rant about “eyes in the clouds” and how “once you see them, you cannot unsee them, and moreover, they cannot unsee you,” and whatnot. Artists, you know! They certainly have a way of seeing the world!)
All of this is to say, given we exclusively host those who actively seek out lodging within our walls, you would think guests would have the decency to read and follow the rules. But alas, this has proven to be naiveté on my part.
Recently, we have had an epidemic of defiance against our policy that bans smoking on the premises. Just last week, we entered a vacated room only to find the odor of stale cigarettes in the air. In another, the smell of smoke came not from tobacco but from burnt paper; sure enough, Hugo found one ashen scrap under the bed of what appeared to have been a letter. Concerning what, I have no idea. I could only read the final line: “Forgive me. Please. I do not act by my own volition anymore.” Yet another room we found filled with a strange, brown-tinted haze, that, when breathed made me cough and called to mind the smell of fallen pine needles settled on wet dirt. (It really left an impression on me, I must say. The past few nights I swear I have smelled it just before nodding off to sleep and dreaming about climbing tall trees to the very top so that I may converse with a strange-faced moon about its “master plan.” So vivid!)
At any rate, I should say, in each of these cases, we have managed to refresh the room with ease thanks to our HEPA Digital Tower Air Purifier. With three fan speeds and a coconut carbon in the pre-filter to neutralize harmful volatile organic compounds, it can clear the air in any room up to 196 square post-haste!
Just tell me when you and father plan to visit and I will be sure to set one up in your suite so you can breathe easy the whole trip. You will come soon, mother? I know that the pony show circuit is just around the corner for father, but surely you could squeeze a long weekend in before then? Do let me know!
Sincerely,
Miranda Prillchisky
Proprietor
The Dread Inn at Death Rock
That’s a great collection of write-ups! It’s so interesting to see how everyone thinks and feels about different topics. I’m especially enjoying the photos—they’re really cool. It’s awesome to have a community where everyone can share their unique perspectives!
I read them all and enjoyed them very much. I am left with the following observation and question…
Looking forward to installment XV.
This series is my favorite of the various write-ups. Thanks for posting the whole list!
Thank you for the bedtime stories, I had missed some of them the first time through. It sounds like a lovely place for a vacation. I would love more news about the men in bowler hats.
Thank you for the compilation of my favorite running write-up!
I admit to googling “entrails of swordfish poem” and discovered this rather morose one:
https://allpoetry.com/poem/10774551-Shoes-of-the-Fishermen-by-liquidmindforever
Recovering from one of the season’s nasty viruses, this was so satisfying to read! Meh.com, you make me happy!
/showme A Bump
Hey there @dseanadams, it looks like the link for “Ghastly Comfort XX” is broken. Can you fix it? I’ve been enjoying the series immensely!
@therealjrn That offer’s no longer viewable, so I moved the write-up into this post itself. Thanks for the heads up.
@therealjrn
/giphy hello!
@sammydog01
/giphy Is it me you’re looking for?
I can’t believe we are only at 21. They are so enjoyable, you’d like more frequent but don’t because that would diminish the joy of seeing the next installment.
Is this the kind of hotel where you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave? Is it in an obscure part of California by any chance?
@ItalianScallion Like so?
@ItalianScallion
That’s fantastic, @narfcake! Have you been there?
@ItalianScallion @Kyeh No I haven’t. Some
yearsdecades ago, I did do a road trip through the Eastern Sierras, which wasn’t too different from the one Sidetrack Adventures took recently:It’s a multi-part series that stretches all the way up the 395 to the Washington State line.
@ItalianScallion @narfcake That looks like a great trip! I remember you telling us you visited the Salton Sea a while back - that was interesting.
@ItalianScallion @Kyeh I visited Bombay Beach, which was billed as a resort town along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea.
/image visit Bombay Beach
I made the extra detour past Palm Springs after picking up an eBay auction I won: 7th gen i5 tower, local pick up only, no reserve, and the starting bid was $1. I was also the only bid …
(I slipped more under their doormat – even factoring that, some of my time and fuel, I still got a good deal.)
Steve (Sidetrack Adventures) does a much better job than I ever will, however:
@ItalianScallion @narfcake Oh, right. Nice eBay win!
There are a lot of weird abandoned places in the world, apparently.
@Kyeh @narfcake Here’s another abandoned place: the Olympic village from the 2005 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. I took these photos in 2011. I was the only person walking around the village and it felt so sad to see it so lifeless.
@ItalianScallion @narfcake Wow, that looks so desolate. Colorado is the only state ever to turn down the Olympics, in 1976, and I’m glad they did, really.
But I guess Italy’s hosting again next year! Cortina certainly has some beautiful sites for it. I hope they don’t end up with abandoned buildings.
@Kyeh @narfcake Oh yes, Cortina d’Ampezzo is in a beautiful area. I hope to get there one of these days. The reason I haven’t been there is because it doesn’t have a train station and renting a car is a bit of a hassle (anywhere, really). They do have bus service from the nearest station, 35 km away.
In 2014, Boston bid for and was chosen as the US pick for the 2024 Summer Olympics. There was a lot of support and a lot of opposition too. The main objection was the cost to the city, nothing new in Olympic bids. A serious effort was put in for well over a year. Committees were formed, studies were done, a decision to use private funding was made… then quietly broken. Seventeen transportation projects were needed, costing billions of dollars. Public support for the bid plummeted when the need for public funding was revealed, the mayor said he couldn’t sign the contract with the USOC because of the required financial liability clauses, and Boston’s bid was mutually canceled.
@ItalianScallion @narfcake I didn’t know that about Boston. I’d forgotten that Denver actually tried and failed twice more to get the 2022 and then the 2030 Olympics, losing out to Salt Lake City for 2030, which makes more sense because they’re already set up for it.
Part XX: (here because our other link broke)
Dearest Mother,
When you run a hotel like mine–one upon a cliff, overlooking a forever tumultuous sea, framed always by gray skies, bequeathed by unsigned letter, et cetera–you are lucky enough to serve a self-selecting clientele. Given our location and distance from most major thoroughfares, we do not get guests who simply happen upon us during a long journey by car, hoping to get a good night’s sleep before returning to the road the next morning. No, the hotel itself is, for those who come here, the final destination. (Though it certainly sounds ominous when I say it like that! Ha!)
Their reasons for visiting vary widely. Maybe they hope to walk the grounds with a lover. Maybe they want some quiet time to themselves. Maybe they want to meet up with an estranged friend or two. And then there are the many artists who stay here, if you can believe it. Why, it is not uncommon to see one of them setting up an easel at the cliff’s edge to paint the view.
And this impression, of the hotel as a pseudo-artist’s colony persists even after an artist departs, as many of them generously donate their work to the hotel. “I could not possibly have this hanging in my home,” they might say, showing faux humility at the beautiful work they created. Or, as the most recent put it: “I cannot stand to look at it anymore.” Although, I admit, I am doing just a bit of interpretation with this. The painter was very tired and actually said of his canvas: “I cannot stand to have it looking at me anymore.”
(For further evidence of his exhaustion, he went on what could only be described as a sleep-deprived rant about “eyes in the clouds” and how “once you see them, you cannot unsee them, and moreover, they cannot unsee you,” and whatnot. Artists, you know! They certainly have a way of seeing the world!)
All of this is to say, given we exclusively host those who actively seek out lodging within our walls, you would think guests would have the decency to read and follow the rules. But alas, this has proven to be naiveté on my part.
Recently, we have had an epidemic of defiance against our policy that bans smoking on the premises. Just last week, we entered a vacated room only to find the odor of stale cigarettes in the air. In another, the smell of smoke came not from tobacco but from burnt paper; sure enough, Hugo found one ashen scrap under the bed of what appeared to have been a letter. Concerning what, I have no idea. I could only read the final line: “Forgive me. Please. I do not act by my own volition anymore.” Yet another room we found filled with a strange, brown-tinted haze, that, when breathed made me cough and called to mind the smell of fallen pine needles settled on wet dirt. (It really left an impression on me, I must say. The past few nights I swear I have smelled it just before nodding off to sleep and dreaming about climbing tall trees to the very top so that I may converse with a strange-faced moon about its “master plan.” So vivid!)
At any rate, I should say, in each of these cases, we have managed to refresh the room with ease thanks to our HEPA Digital Tower Air Purifier. With three fan speeds and a coconut carbon in the pre-filter to neutralize harmful volatile organic compounds, it can clear the air in any room up to 196 square post-haste!
Just tell me when you and father plan to visit and I will be sure to set one up in your suite so you can breathe easy the whole trip. You will come soon, mother? I know that the pony show circuit is just around the corner for father, but surely you could squeeze a long weekend in before then? Do let me know!
Sincerely,
Miranda Prillchisky
Proprietor
The Dread Inn at Death Rock
That’s a great collection of write-ups! It’s so interesting to see how everyone thinks and feels about different topics. I’m especially enjoying the photos—they’re really cool. It’s awesome to have a community where everyone can share their unique perspectives!
EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!