Day Two (Motels/Patels and Elmira, New York)


Last night, I spent my first night in a motel. Now, I have always loved motels. Road trips in America and motels are intrinsically linked. The fun news is that Indian-Americans have taken over the small motel biz, particularly the Patel family!  I was hoping my hotel was run by Indians, and it was! I didn't ask if he was a Patel because it felt rude or inappropriate, even though the clan does own a huge share of the market. Hey, if you want to get to know some Patels better, I suggest the "Meet the Patels" rom/com documentary from a few years back. I just love that Indian-Americans are cornering the motel market! On the downside, the hotel guy kept calling me "sir".  I pointed out I was a woman. Didn't matter. I was "sir" to him. Ok, I learned to love it.

A picture just for the hell of it. My road stash of little bottles with Jim Beam in them, and a present of Scotch for one friend.



In the morning, I drove to Elmira, NY, where my friend Nina lives.

The drive from Buffalo was interesting - basically very rural. No traffic. No anything. It took me hours to find a place to stop for coffee. Upstate New York is very lovely (except in the winter when there are no leaves on most of the trees and it looks like a massive fire ripped through it - at least that I what I thought happened the first time I was there in the winter). I liked the clouds which we don't really have in the summer in Santa Cruz.


Here is Nina at her office. (Yes, she still wears big pictures of animals on her t-shirts for those who know her.  She did not disappoint!)


Ok, I must confess I fucked up really badly!! You know when you send a message or email intended for someone (in this case Leslie) about someone to THAT someone (in this case Nina)? Well, I sent this to the wrong person: "Been here two hours and she hasn't asked one question about my life. Impressive!"

I seriously thought:  Is there a way to find her phone and delete it? This Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song came to mind!  But, no, obviously that would be a cop-out.  So, we had some drinks and I told her what happened, and why I felt that way.  We had a lovely talk; I think it is fine. But it was not a great start to my trip. I really do like Nina a lot, and we had a great time talking about all sorts of things - including our often infuriating years as electricians. And, I hope I never do that again. Certainly not on this trip.  (So counting fuck-ups here:  three spilled drinks, one wayward text).

Elmira, I learned, was Mark Twain's summer home and place that he was buried. Here is a a photo of his gravestone.

For some reason, people put pennies on his grave.  Don't know why. (Also on the grave was a part of a sandwich and a cheap pen; I removed them for artistic reasons.)

Elmira is also known for plane gliding - "soaring" they call it, just for your information.



Comments

  1. Leslie KarstAugust 11, 2019 at 8:05 AM

    I Googled why people leave pennies on Mark Twain's grave and came up empty. Huh. Anyone out there know why?

    ReplyDelete
  2. lynn bortnickAugust 11, 2019 at 11:13 AM

    Found this: A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited. A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lynn bortnickAugust 11, 2019 at 11:15 AM

    And this;
    https://legacyheadstones.com/blog/why-put-pennies-on-headstones/

    ReplyDelete
  4. TootsieAugust 11, 2019 at 7:53 PM

    I looked it up on Reddit: 70% of Indian motel owners in the U.S., and one third of all the motels in the U.S. are owned by Patels! So it doesn't just SEEM like there are a lot of motel owners named Patel--there are. And they are always very nice, in my experience....

    ReplyDelete

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