A light in the window
Four pillows on the bed
Heaven
***
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word motel was first used in an article in Hotel Monthly in 1925, in which the Milestone Interstate Corporation proposed to build and operate a chain of motor hotels from San Diego to Seattle that would be called "motels".
I prefer the apocryphal tale of the owner of the Milestone Motor Hotel in San Luis Obispo, California running out of room on the sign he was painting. By necessity he changed “motor hotel” to “mo-tel.”
But all sources consulted agree that the Milestone Motel Inn was the first roadside motel in the United States. In a 1993 article an octogenarian who was a waitress when it first opened said, "And oh, it was wonderful to work at the Motel Inn. They trained us to fold the white linen napkins, to polish the silverware. In those days, there really was service."
There are no white linen napkins, no polished silverware, and limited service but pulling up to your door is still a delight at the end of a day of travel.
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