Hotel San José | photographer | writer | Lebanon

If it’s booked, try …

15. Hotel San José, built in the 1930s as a motor court and since remodeled into minimalist splendor. Doubles with in-room bath start at $145. www.sanjosehotel.com, (512) 444-7322

---

drawn to the (neon) light
for 10 years, andrew wood and his wife, jenny, have traveled the united states in search of motel neon. the fruits of those journeys are displayed on their website, www.motelamericana.com, and in a book, road trip america. we recently asked wood about his sign collection.

how did your motel quest start?
when i was going to grad school in ohio, my wife and i would drive back to florida, where i’m from. once, we got off the interstate and drove the back roads, and we found these old motels with really cool signs. jenny’s a photographer and i’m a writer, and we decided to share motels from all over the country with people via the internet.

any favorites?
one is the blue swallow in tucumcari, new mexico, the oldest continually running motel on route 66. its neon sign is absolutely sublime. the former owner, lillian redman, would hand out this card that said something like, “we are all travelers between eternities.” she saw the motel as a place to contemplate life.

and you can’t go too wrong with the munger moss motel, in lebanon, missouri. its neon sign is so big and gaudy, it’d be illegal in most cities.

where should people look for interesting motels?
anywhere on a two-lane highway. you’ll find motels in any state. even in places you think might be too desolate, there are motels to be found. anywhere.