| The
goal is to serve the hospitality needs of travelers with hotel and
restaurant descriptions focusing on Howard Johnson's. |
| It's
Dunn Gone |
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| Dunn,
NC --
Photo April 22, 2008: Robby Delius |
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Upon
its demolition in the first quarter of 2008, the Dunn
Motor Lodge had become one of the last most intact examples
of its type. The complex had been a fixture along the
west side of I-95 at exit 72 since 1961. Only its considerably
altered Restaurant remains.
Special
thanks to Robby Delius who has monitored and documented
Dunn's de-construction... |
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| Photo
March 2008: Robby Delius |
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December 2006: Kummerlowe Archive |
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| The
goal is to serve the hospitality needs of travelers with hotel and
restaurant descriptions focusing on Howard Johnson's. |
| Re-launch
to a Space Coast HoJo's |
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| Titusville,
FL --
Photos April 16, 2008: Kummerlowe Archive |
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Thanks
to a neighbor's free pass to the Cape
Kennedy Space Center ,
I was able to swing by and briefly check on Titusville!
Alas the other two Howard Johnson's in the area, Cocoa
and Cocoa
Beach, have both been razed. The Titusville HoJo's
was sited across Indian River from Cape Kennedy which
afforded its guests spectacular views of launches. The
property retains much of its integrity, but suffers
from age and neglect (recent
aerial view ).
Above:
By 2008 the former Motor Lodge continued to operate
as the Riverside
Inn --unfortunately
its Gate Lodge's once gleaming orange roof had been
painted a muted pinkish color with portions of orange
bleeding through.
Below:
Seen from an observation platform at the Kennedy Space
Center, Launch Complex 39A has been used for Apollo
and Space Shuttle launches.
Lower:
The former Howard Johnson's Restaurant was operating
as La
Bamba II ,
a Mexican themed eatery. Note that its porcelain enamel
roof tiles seen as recently as 2005 had been replaced
by asphalt shingles by 2008. |
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| The
goal is to serve the hospitality needs of travelers with hotel and
restaurant descriptions focusing on Howard Johnson's. |
| Google
Bans ORANGEROOF
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Are
you tired of seeing so many online Advertisements...
This site had set up an agreement with Google's adsense division
to provide relevant content ads for viewers to click. You
see, Google charges advertisers and then offers webmasters
a small cut if they allow the advertisements to be displayed
on their sites. The set up pretends to be a way for the little
guy to make a few pennies in order to offset the costs associated
with providing websites like this one. But the whole scheme
is simply too good to be true, and after a couple of months
Google abruptly canceled this site's account seizing the $38
which had accrued. Meanwhile Google reported excellent financials
for the first quarter of 2008 with its stock price soaring
on the news (BTW, Google's two founders celebrated a one hour
increase in their wealth to the tune of $2.2 billion
each as a result). Hmm. So Google gets little guys to display
ads, cancels them, takes the money, and then posts a big profit.
How long before somebody catches on--I wonder? Below is a
copy of the short email Google sent:
While
going through our records recently, we found that your
AdSense account has posed a significant risk to our
AdWords advertisers. Since keeping your account in our
publisher network may financially damage our advertisers
in the future, we've decided to disable your account.
Please
understand that we consider this a necessary step to
protect the interests of both our advertisers and our
other AdSense publishers. We realize the inconvenience
this may cause you, and we thank you in advance for
your understanding and cooperation.
Sincerely,
The
Google AdSense Team |
You
can Cancel Google... Well not really, but
there are a couple of things that you can do. First change
to another search engine like Yahoo! or MSN. Second and better,
switch to Firefox
and BLOCK Google's ads with AdBlock
Plus or
some other add-on
that might be available. This site was NEVER any kind of risk
or threat to Google or its advertisers and made every effort
to follow Google's rules. Nonetheless, even without the small
amount of revenue that was anticipated from Google to financially
support this site, it will remain online in one form or another.
Thanks for everyone's comments and encouragement! Rich
Firefox
AdBlock
Plus |
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| Bangor
at the End of its Road |
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| Bangor,
ME --
Photo 2001: Courtesy of Dan Donahue |
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Last
Complete Complex ...
Opened in 1966, the Bangor complex was the northernmost
outlet of the Orange Roofed chain along Interstate 95,
and was one of dozens which were built to serve the
motoring public during the heyday of HoJo's expansion
in the middle 1960s. The facility at Bangor was like
so many other Howard Johnson's of the era--it was a
complete package offering guests standardized high quality
accommodations and food which far surpassed the experience
and service offered by the nearest of HoJo's would be
competitors.
Even
as Bangor was like so many other Howard Johnson's complexes,
it became the last to exist of the 500 plus that were
built. Incredibly the complex clung to its once famous
brand for more than 40 years. However by the middle
2000s Bangor's owner had stripped both the Gate Lodge
and Restaurant of their signature Orange Roofs. The
entire complex became drab and gray--vitality stripped
away and with no more real Howard Johnson's ice cream
to be had in this universe or the next, news of the
Restaurant's likely demise was inevitable... |
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| Hard
to Believe but |
| ONLY
Three Howard Johnson's Restaurants Remain: |
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At
the onset of my endeavor/adventure to document Howard
Johnson's in 1998, I never could have imagined that
I was witness to the end of an era. It is difficult
to believe that an institution so ingrained in our culture
could vanish almost without a trace. For it would seem
that with each passing day another HoJo's is closed
and demolished. Not that long ago Howard Johnson's was
the largest hospitality chain in the world. But now
this once ubiquitous roadside landmark fades from America's
rear-view mirror, and as we speed off into the uncharted
future fewer and fewer orange roofed Restaurants and
Motor Lodges remain to serve the hungry and sleepy motoring
public.
This
site commemorates the Roadside Empire created by Howard
D. Johnson, and chronicles with photographs and commentary
the story of a once vast organization and its legacy
to the American roadscape, and to the hospitality industry.
Please browse and enjoy the photographs, and I hope
that they rekindle many memories. |
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"Howard
Johnson's -- An American way of life -- convenience, comfort
and hospitality for the entire family, at home and away from
home." |
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