Country Living

Sep 30, 2016

10 of the best US road trip stopoffs – readers’ travel tips

Winning tip: Freight car motel, Pennsylvania

Visiting Amish Country on our road trip from Philadelphia to Chicago, we stayed in an old caboose (railroad wagon): the Red Caboose Motel in Ronks. The motel consists of a string of old carriages in bucolic countryside. On the farm beside our caboose we watched Amish men in wide-brimmed hats farming with old-fashioned tools; we bought produce from women in bonnets and long dresses, and waved to Amish children peering from buggies. The cabooses vary; larger units cater for families with bunk beds, whereas the smaller baggage car is more basic. There’s a dining car restaurant and even a honeymoon caboose with whirlpool bath.
•
bowbank

Florida island restaurant

The Bubble Room Restaurant, Captiva Island

Stepping into the Bubble Room on North Captiva island, off Florida, is akin to stepping into every dream of 1950s America. From the vintage toys inside glass tables, to momma’s own cooking in the kitchen, you’re overcome with the sights and sounds of this playful restaurant with a kitsch Christmas theme. The hardest part will be choosing which room you’ll eat your dinner in.

Anna Kilcooley

Hooked on barbed wire? Texas

The Devil’s Rope and Route 66 Museum in McLean, just off the old Route 66, is housed in a former (underwired?) bra factory. Barbed wire was used extensively in ranching, and many of the 2,000 different patterns of wire, and the tools used to construct the fences, are displayed here. Not grabbing you yet? There’s also a photographic and textual history of the dust bowl (the 1930s period of dust storms caused by drought and poor farming methods) and cattle rearing. You can even buy barbed wire art, including some unique sculpture; and there’s a section devoted to Route 66 memorabilia, including the original Big Texan Steak Ranch cow, an old motel sign.

fionachaillier

God’s golf course, Kentucky

We’ve done our fair share of US road trips and often use roadsideamerica.com as inspiration for detours. The Bible mini-golf at the Lexington Ice Center, set in gardens with waterfalls and streams, was worth stopping at for sheer quirkiness alone. You can choose from three different courses, Old Testament, New Testament or Miracles, where you’ll find holes called Mount Sinai and Jonah and the Whale, for example. We played Miracles ... it’s as underwhelming as you might imagine!
•
Chris0000

Classic roadside cafe, Montana

As you head south from the west side of Glacier national park, side-step the main US93 in favour of the scenic MT-35 which hugs the eastern shore of Flathead Lake and takes in cinematic Montana farmlands and landscapes along the way. Echo Lake Cafe in Bigfork is the perfect place to refuel. A classic American roadside cafe with a menu to match (lunch from $9.40), wooden booths, outside seating, excellent bottomless coffee, and impeccable service. Be prepared to queue up alongside the locals; it’s definitely worth the wait.
•
VonBon

Kitsch amusement park, Indiana

Just south of Interstate 64 in Indiana you’ll find the bewildering, charming town of Santa Claus. Although the town features many Christmas-themed attractions, the main draw is the appropriately named Holiday World amusement park. The place is planned around four holiday-themed sections: Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and is as kitschy and wonderful as it sounds. With amazing wooden rollercoasters and a superb water park, Holiday World is a must see if you ever find yourself driving through southern Indiana.
•
klo3912

Big Sur literary stopoff, California

The Henry Miller Memorial Library is on Highway One at Big Sur. It is dedicated to the renowned writer and describes itself as a “place where nothing happens”. In the winter it’s a beautiful spot where you can stop off and enjoy the stunning coastal surroundings, browse novels and enjoy free tea and coffee. During the summer it hosts a variety of cultural events – from film screenings in the forest, to intimate gigs on a makeshift stage. For a man who said memorials “defeated the purpose of a man’s life. Only by living your own life to the full can you honour the memory of someone”, Miller certainly has the most beautiful one I’ve ever been to.
•
todayherenow

Wild west jailhouse, Arizona

We found this little corner of the wild west while driving through Arizona’s Tonto national forest. Founded as a mining camp in 1875, remote Globe in Gila County has remained a real frontier town – you can still find a few unique stores and old-time diners. There’s also the notorious Gila County courthouse, now the beautiful Cobre Valley Center for the Arts and the adjacent rather spooky Old Jailhouse. Globe’s history is laced with murders, hangings, stagecoach robberies, Apache raids, vigilante justice and links to the Clanton brothers of Gunfight at the OK Corral fame. Phineas Clanton married, had a ranch and is buried there.

Rachel Bloomfield

A desert oasis, Arizona

We first stumbled across Rosie’s Den on the way to see the Great Wash (the westernmost part of the Grand Canyon). The exterior had a Bates Motel feel to it – clapboard shack with fading paint, windows thick with desert dust, a disused pickup truck surrounded by tumbleweeds and a rather sad looking Joshua Tree emerging from a gravel pit. Inside, there were just a few wooden tables, one elderly server and a short counter, so we weren’t expecting much. Then the menus arrived. Between the four of us we ate steak and mashed potatoes, biscuits and country gravy, pancakes and eggs, a cheeseburger and fries, and lemon meringue, blueberry and coconut cream pie. Rosie’s has undergone many changes since. The original building burned down, then Rosie passed away, but her son rebuilt, landscaped and refurnished it. He extended the counter, installed a jukebox and hired more staff. New menu items were added and the place now sells cocktails. But Rosie’s still has a huge amount of nostalgic charm and good, homemade food. It’s not just a roadside stop – it’s a destination itself.
• MelRoy

Giant hole, Arizona

Visitors take a guided tour of a meteor impact site at Meteor Crater — Photograph: Tony Rowell/Getty Images

Meteor Crater is an enormous and well-preserved meteor crash site in the middle of the desert. Everything about the build-up to the crater – the billboards, the gift shop, the museum – is wonderfully kitsch, but seeing the 1.2km-wide crater itself is a surprisingly powerful experience. It is just a six-mile detour off Interstate 40 (which replaced the old Route 66) about 20 miles west of Winslow, and is well-signed - you can’t miss it. The flat, dry landscape on this stretch of highway can be a little repetitive so this unique stop-off is certainly the best thing to break up the journey! At $18 entry this is a bargain – be sure to walk the crater rim for the full experience.
•
sw0001

Top 10 budget beach hotels and guesthouses in Sri Lanka

Beach Hut, Arugam Bay

This simple collection of rooms has been around for almost 25 years, and the atmosphere is pure surfer-casual – which is appropriate, given that Arugam Bay is Sri Lanka's surf hotspot. Seven rustic treehouses on stilts have views and cool breezes, and there are six more rooms on the ground (some have shared bathrooms, ask before you book). The popular restaurant turns out set lunches of fresh Sri Lankan seafood and hosts barbecues on Friday nights – grab a seat at the long communal table and strike up a chat with some of the surfers who have been coming to stay with legendary owner Ranga for decades. A loosely fenced-in outdoor area has tables and hammocks interspersed with scrubby trees just a few metres from the sea – the perfect place to hang loose with a lassi.

Meedum Villa, Unawatuna

Unawatuna beach. Photograph: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP

Popular with European travellers, the beach resort of Unawatuna is jam-packed with hotels that range from bare-bones to eco-chic but good value is thin on the ground. A few minutes' walk from the sea, Meedum Villa is a smart choice. The guesthouse offers large en suite rooms (those on the top floor are enormous) with hot showers, four-poster beds and good (ie hole-free) mosquito nets. Ask friendly owner Janath to book you a whale-watching tour in nearby Mirissa (at a rate much lower than you'd get by booking it yourself), and he'll give you a discount on the room rate as well if you stay more than a couple of nights. The open-air common spaces on each floor have refrigerators and drinks, and are the perfect place to meet other backpackers. The short walk to the beach takes you past trees full of monkeys.

Siesta, Tangalle

Fishermen on Tangalle beach, Sri Lanka — Fishermen on Tangalle beach. Photograph: Alamy

Husband-and-wife owned Siesta is one of the friendliest and cheapest places to stay in Tangalle. Plain, impeccably neat rooms come with oversized bathrooms and mosquito nets, and the 30-second walk to a wide and uncrowded beach makes this an outright bargain. Harshani turns out excellent Sri Lankan food while husband Tharindu is voluble and accommodating. Bright paintings add to the cheerful, homey atmosphere (there was a giant wedding photo on display as well on a recent visit) and there are thoughtful touches throughout, like the drying racks in each room that are perfect for beach-damp towels.

The Green Rooms, Weligama

Local and sustainable aren't just trendy words at the Green Rooms – they're part of an ethos that means that electricity comes from a renewable source, the guesthouse doesn't have a negative impact on the local fishing village, and that as much of the furniture and fixtures as possible are made nearby. Currently there are five spacious, en suite cabanas, with five more due to be ready in September. Several have open-air showers and balconies with seas views. The Green Rooms offers one-week packages that include accommodation, breakfast, lunch and three hours of instruction in surfing and yoga per day from £450pp.

Aqua Hotel, Trincomalee

A sprawling place on under-populated Uppevelli beach – one of Sri Lanka's best – Aqua is a party zone in the high season. The fan-only rooms are a bit musty, but the more expensive, air-conditioned ones are good value, and the elevated restaurant (an open-air platform populated with cosy sofas and tables) offers unbeatable views right over the sea and in the quieter months is a relaxing spot to settle in for an evening meal and drinks. Aqua rents motorbikes and helmets if you want to ride into nearby "Trinco" or explore beaches further up the coast.

Udekki, Kalpitiya

For a splurge that won't put too big a dent in the budget, Udekki is a design-led resort in Kalpitiya, an up-and-coming destination for surfers and other water sports fans. Owned by blues musician Glen Terry from Australia, Udekki has three villas that comprise a variety of suites and loft rooms that can be booked individually or together. Cool, spacious, white-walled rooms are dotted with Middle Eastern and north African rugs, lamps and paintings. The H-shaped pool, complete with hot tub and surrounded by designer wicker loungers, is a tempting alternative to the beach, and the restaurant sources all of its ingredients locally (and takes requests).

Surfing Life Guesthouse, Midigama

This tiny place has just a handful of rooms but this home-turned-guesthouse attracts a loyal clientele of surf nuts drawn to the nearby reef breaks. There's no air-con in the rooms but there are ceiling fans and mosquito nets (essential). A grassy yard is paradise on lazy afternoons after a swim, with hammocks tied between trees and a brightly coloured mural adorning the yellow-painted wall. The mattresses are somewhat unforgiving but the bright red sheets are perfectly clean, and games and books are available for guests. Owner Eric rents surfboards for less than £5 a day but there is upright storage space for those who bring their own.

Ocean View Cottage, Hikkaduwa

A beach bar in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. — A beach bar on Hikkaduwa. Photograph: Alamy

Hikkaduwa is overrun with accommodation options (and tourists in the high season), but the Ocean View is a reliably good budget option with direct beach access, a swimming pool and a garden – all good places to escape from the visiting hordes. There are 14 spotless en suite rooms, all of which come with air conditioning or fans, mosquito nets and mini-fridges. The last is a necessity for keeping your beer cold, as no alcoholic beverages are served here although the owners – who live on site – don't mind if you bring your own. All that is blocking the view of the sea from the second and third-floor balconies are the palm trees.

Paradise Beach Hotel, Negombo

This is more of a traditional hotel than many of the places on this list; the kind of place where a waiter will bring you a cocktail made with fresh juice while you splash about in the (enormous) swimming pool. The 66 rooms are simply but brightly decorated in a style that looks like it hasn't changed since the 1970s, with satellite television, air conditioning, balconies and room service. It is not especially notable for its decor (except for the pirate-themed bar!) or character but the location is excellent: it is walking distance from the bars and restaurants on Negombo's main street, 15 minutes' drive from Colombo airport, and metres from the sea. Paradise is ideal for travellers in transit who are looking to take it easy for a day or two.
+

Ivory Inn, Mt Lavinia, Colombo

While Sri Lanka's largest city is right on the coast, Mt Lavinia is the only Colombo neighbourhood where bathing is really possible, so the beach gets crowded with local families in the evening, when the numerous beach bars and restaurants do most of their business. Ivory Inn is off the beach, which means it's quiet, and the spacious garden provides a cool, green spot that provides respite from the blazing heat. White walls and old-fashioned dark-wood furniture give a streamlined vibe to the simple rooms, which are sparkling clean and have hot showers (air conditioning is optional). The mattresses could be thicker but the mosquito nets are hole-free, and the staff friendly. The hotel does a Sri Lankan breakfast of "string hoppers" (nests of noodles topped with sambal and curry sauce) that's a filling way to kick off a day of swimming or sightseeing in the city.

Head in the clouds in Salta, Argentina

‘It’s a mystery,” mountain guide Fernando Santamaria says, as we peer through an arched doorway. The “mystery” is an ancient throne made from slate, inside a boxy stone building in the remote desert of Salta in north-west Argentina. “It could have been used by an Inca general as their meeting room, or for religious ceremonies.” But it could also have been used as a bathroom. “For washing,” Fernando says quickly emphasising that it’s not that kind of “throne”.

The throne room is part of the Sillón del Inca archeological site, the ruins of a town that was one of the most southerly parts of the Inca empire. No one is claiming that it’s the new Machu Picchu, but it is a significant – if virtually unknown – spot, recently recognised as a Unesco heritage site, and the cherry on the cake of a brand new, four-day, 48km trek. The high-altitude route has been put together by three local companies as Salta’s own “Inca trail”, a chance to explore this underrated, little-known region close to the borders of Chile and Bolivia.

Take a seat … the mysterious throne room at Sillón del Inca

After an acclimatisation day in Salta city, we start out from the roadside near Maury station in the Quebrada del Toro gorge. I can feel the thinness of the air as we start from 2,360 metres and climb for three hours up steep switchbacks, the dusty trail cutting through the arid hillside’s giant candelabra cacti. “This path was used by the Incas,” Fernando tells me. “Then, the Spanish, and now local people.” And now us.

A guanaco watches from the ridge above as we reach the 3,260m top of the trail and start our hike through a remote, silent valley. Dramatic hills the colour of sand and cement surround the valley, sculpted smooth by time and weather, striped with layers of red and yellow rock. Tall, two-pronged cacti look like they’re sticking two fingers up at the sky for not giving them more water.

“This valley is called the Quebrada da Incahuasi,” says Angel Vilte, who’s leading the mules carrying our gear. We descend into the abandoned Inca city, where waist-high walls mark out where houses and other buildings stood. “It’s actually a pre-Inca ruin,” Fernando tells me. “The Incas arrived here in the 1400s and before that, the houses were circular; the Incas brought the right angles.”

“At its most developed, the Inca empire ran from the south of Colombia and Peru to Mendoza in Argentina,” he continues. “The arrival of the Spanish in the 1530s stopped their expansion.”

Layers of coloured rock above Quebrada da Incahuasi

As ancient archaeological sites go, it’s pretty low key. We’re the only people here, though some locals have built homes inside the city walls. Cows lumber about. “This place would have supplied goods to passing caravans,” Fernando says. “It was a big city, an important military, residential and administration centre.”

We pause for a guessing game of thrones at the Inca’s seat, Fernando pointing to holes in walls that would have housed religious statues. There’s hope there could be more of interest below the ground, including artefacts, if the government or anyone else chooses to investigate.

With hot sun and a hard wind on our backs, and a fat round moon rising over the ridge ahead, we make slow progress up a hillside where sheep and guanaco are grazing. My lungs feel tight, my legs sapped of energy from hours of hiking at such a high altitude. The (small ranch) where we’re staying is a welcome sight as daylight starts to fade: it’s just a few mud-and-stone buildings around a courtyard where dogs and chickens wander. Tents are pitched, while Berta Vilte, Angel’s sister, calls the sheep in for the night. Smoke from the kitchen fire billows into the night as we pass around warming cups of tea. The stars and moon are so bright they light up the mountainside. Even if there were no ancient Inca site out here, you’d come for this feeling of absolute wilderness.

A rooster that clearly doesn’t understand the term lie-in starts us on our way early next morning. We hike through cow pastures, past frozen mountain streams and up to the highest point on the trek, Abra de la Cruz at 3,457m, marked by a cross. Below us is an ocean of cloud, the kind of view you usually only see from an aeroplane window.

“This really is like trekking to the clouds,” Fernando says, as we descend. It’s actually trekking inside the clouds, as we’re enveloped by a ghostly grey-white mist. We use GPS to keep us on track as Fernando sings “In the middle of the cloud”, a pastiche of the Billy Joel song.

A black dog greets us the next evening at Puesto Pascuala, a small ranch with a donkey’s skull hanging in the courtyard. Pascuala Cruz, who lives there, is slowly milking a pen full of goats as we set off in the morning, hiking down into a green valley towards the confluence of two rivers. Four condors circle high above us, soaring in and out of the cloud. A group of semi-wild horses roam freely on the hills.

Having dropped 1,000m, we reach the warm floor of the gorge and cross a rushing river. After a tough uphill stretch, the bleating of goats announces that we’ve arrived at Puesto Sarapura. In the yard, a gnarly tree trunk has been carved into a regal-looking throne by owner Vicente Burgos. This time, I’ve no doubt what it’s for: a nice sit down after a long hike.

We stop on our way out next morning to see a new lamb, born overnight, shakily clutching its mother’s side and struggling to find its legs. Up in these hills, he’s really going to need them.

Our final day takes us into Salta’s Yungas, an area of tropical rainforest. The thick greenery and fast-flowing streams feel a world away from the dry desert landscape we started from days before, as we make our way up to a vantage point high above sprawling Salta city.

After a long, knee-busting downhill, our peaceful wilderness hike ends in the busy Quebrada de San Lorenzo nature reserve, where couples are posing for selfies and children run about, the first city folks we’ve seen in days. Skrillex-style music blasts from a cafe’s stereo.

“Welcome back to civilisation,” Fernando grins. It feels like it’s been a while.

•

HomePage