I was raised in many motel rooms from pretty much the age of 3 until I was 10. This was back in the mid 70s when motels were just about everywhere. My mother was single, a hippie on drugs whose boyfriend doubled as her pimp. We wound up down in Key Largo where I befriended a boy who lived on the beach with his parents. After a few days of going over there to hang out, he asked if I could spend the night. This required talking to my ‘parents’ but I knew it was not possible to do. So after that I avoided going there and I guess they wondered what happened and where I went. It was around a week later when on the news they saw a story about a man & lady who were arrested for shoplifting but then they discovered drugs as well plus having a kid with them. That kid was me. Off goes my mom to prison as well as her dumb ass boyfriend and I am now a ward of the state in a boys home up in Miami. The family come finds me and makes arrangements to foster me then later adopt. My father passed away in 2017 and my mother is now 83 years. My brother and I are best friends to this day.
Woah. I knew a family just like this in Daytona Beach. I skateboarded with the son. I went by the motel a few times, it was obvious something was going on but all of my friends and families situations were weird as well. He disappeared. I’m assuming they just had to move on. My friends and I really liked him, incredibly creative skateboarder. Did stuff I’ve never seen anyone else do. Dunno where that creativity came from. Wish he had been around longer. It’s funny, it’s like we just found the kid outside one day and hung out until he disappeared
Ok a new comment circled me back and I read this again and now I’m wondering what happened to your bio mom? Shoplifting and drug possession doesn’t carry a life sentence. I wonder if she was offered help? The 70s isn’t known exactly for its stellar mental health care and human trafficking was just “hookers”on dope. Did she even have a chance?
Well ,This is as close to a time -machine as us in the masses have for now , but there're a couple things that are out there , Tec ,I suppose that if they had it then it could be as if you were there and if you where there then you would have the best photographic memory ,or that will be another one of those things in which words have to be invented for it .
Im from ireland and this is absolutely fascinating to me. There is tons of rubbish on YT and then you come across cultural time capsule like this. Worth the trawling.
@@DevRSVR Hello from Texas partner ! Yes I love watching this old documentaries on a Sunday afternoon while I'm eating fried chicken. I wonder what the Irish eat for comfort food?
@@HenryHD88 pretty much anything my friend. Me personally I love a good curry! Hope all is well in Texas? Have always wanted to visit that part of America.
@@DevRSVRwhen I saw braveheart the movie with Mel Gibson who my wife things he is the best looking. Well anyways about the movie , I always wanted to visit Ireland. It looks very mystical , majestic... I know the movie is great , but it does not do it justice. You are lucky my friend !
There was this doc I watched was a guy in NY, NY in the 80s and all about the club scene and his life. The channel is called something like 58th street .. ru Paul was like 20 yr old . So sorry I can't describe it better but I'm sure if interested the clues will help 😊
When I was young, in the late 70s, early 80s my grandparents ran a motel in West Hollywood. My grandpa would walk to the bakery down the street at 5:30am to get the donuts for the hotel “breakfast”. Every morning, coffee and donuts for the guests. There was a swimming pool and it was awesome spending summers meeting guests from all over. Back then, there were racks with brochures for Disneyland, Magic Mountain and almost ANYTHING in Southern California. Miss those times❤❤
My grandpa died in a motel room. He had a stroke while listening to the Cuban missile crisis on the radio. He was on his way to start a chicken farm in Washington State. The motel owners were so impressed with how loyal his dog was, refusing to leave his side, that they adopted the dog.
in 1985 I ran away from home age 17, drove almost 3000 miles across the country from the north east to California. Stayed in Motels across the country. It was a different world back then, the world seemed bigger, with no cell phones, no internet, just a big open road and mystery ahead. You'd get in your car and go, and just disappear on the horizon, thats how I felt as I left my old life behind me. I am still here, going on 40 years later, enjoying life now as a middle-aged man in Santa Monica/Los Angeles
my fam and I ran a 29 dollar a night motel outside pittsburgh for 20 years ....we lived on site....met a lot of good and a lot of bad ppl...I always had rooms for parties as a teenager growing up LOL I had a blast meeting ppl from all around the country and the world from all walks of life..... as a kid growing up in the motel scene you have to have good stranger danger radar when you rent 20-50 rooms a night your bound 2 get some creepers!... however some of the cool monthlys were almost like a dysfunctional family LOL i could write a book....
Ive been working at a hotel for 17 years as a maintenance man. Ive seen it all. Some of the most beautiful experiences ive had have been making friendships with the guests and coworkers. The housekeepers are some of the hardest working people, please tip them. One housekeeper counted her tips like this "Bread, eggs,milk. Very touching.
My mother cleaned at the Westin Hotel for years, so I know housekeepers are not paid well. I always leave a few dollars for housekeeping, and I never trash my room.
I lived in hotels from 1981 - 2003 traveling with a magazine sale crew . Best time of my life. 1 week in each city. 52 cites a year. For 22 years. I still have the business cards of each motel we stayed at. I could write a book…what an experience
I traveled from Massachusetts to LA back & forth sometimes up to Sacramento and Reno. Many motels to save money the last year we did this we slept in the car at rest stops every other night. Our parents took us on summer a vacation from May to Oct .every year we stopped in museums and landmarks found in our school books. The trips were very educational & by age 14 I had been to every state +Mexico,Canada, Japan, Iceland Greenland, Europe .
@@blazefairchild465 Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.
@@jerrylohry2459 you must have lived on the opposite side of the river from us to have been able to afford even yellow onions during the war. All we could afford were radishes for our belts and so naturally all the other kids made fun of us. It was sad when they finally built the bridge and sunk the ferry for crawfish habitat. We had so much fun roller skating with our metal skates on that old rotten deck.
Yeah I found that fascinating. Although I guess the first one has changed its name now to like the mystic inn. I'm not surprised the one year the state prison in Arizona still around but I was a little surprised to still has the same name.
I lived in an old motel that was rented as apartments in Salina Utah. 300 bucks a month with no contract 😊. 1 small room, 1 small bathroom. Sometimes I kind of miss it.
"DON'T WORRY MY wife DOESN'T WATCH TV!?" Says the cop unashamedly flirting with the reporter and the home wrecker reporter flirting right back!! It's SOOO obvious these two have absolutely NO interest in the suicide victim but only jumping each other's bones later at the same motel which they HAVE! Been doing for some time!! Could you imagine the secrets that the Camara man is holding onto about those 2 adulterers!!!!
Watching this makes me sad. I remember this time as a kid. America was so different. We were a lot nicer to ine another. I rememeber as a kid just saying hi to anyone and they would chat me up. There wasnt any real traffic or road rage and everything was just like it was in cruise control. Spending a couple summers up in indiana at my grandma's house and playing in cornfields, exploring creeks, cutting grass for hours on ridig moowers because it was so much fun to do with my cousin. Everything was so different. You had to connect with real people around you. You built real friendships with those people they were family... Now... I dont want to be here at 45
In 1989 I had to drive across country for work-associated reasons. I stayed in Motel Six motels or a Motel 8 or a mom-and-pop motel, whichever one was available when I was ready to call it quits driving for the day. Never had a problem staying at motels. Then again, I kept out of trouble and didn't cause trouble. You play it safe and you'll be safe. At first I was terrified of the thought of driving across country alone. But in 1989 I was lucky. A married couple I knew planned to drive across country to California. They allowed me to follow them all the way to CA. Several hours after entering CA, they went north and I went west. When I discovered driving across country was no big deal and really a snap, all my fear left me. I was able to drive across country four more times on my own with full confidence.
@@JeffK. Absolutely, Jeff. I can attest that time flies by faster the older you get. Looking back on my life, I can recognize points where time started to move faster. It was slowest when I was in grade school. Time passed at a normal pace in high school and college. Then over the years and decades time started, slowly, almost imperceptibly, to speed up. Now a week goes by in my life just like it was only a few days.
The sequence with the Marta the ballerina dancing through the empty hotel rooms.....pure art....her expressiveness was poetic...when she looked at her reflection in the mirror....how lucky she was to live in such a magical, fantastical place......
I thought it was creepy and weird, perhaps borderline psychotic even.. There was nothing elegant or graceful about the way she was flopping around.. She looked like a chicken with its head cut off.. You can tell she takes herself way too seriously...
I spent my life working in and managing moteles, hoteles and resorts in Australia. Living on site has it's perks, but also it's drawbacks. As a single mom with 3 children in that environment, you never have any spare time or privacy, but I loved the life. Never a dull moment. Now living in Costa Rica, running my own boutique resort in the jungle.
Definitely a cool documentary, I worked at a hotel for a few years as maintenance 19-20 yrs old. And man 😂 all I'll say you definitely get met, see and hear all types of things from people from all walks of life 😂. Made friends with a outta town iron worker one summer think he was from Canada he was actually staying at the hotel across street but they didn't have a pool lol so he'd walk over everyday and drink his beer sitting by the pool. I didn't care where he stayed he was cool as hell lol got him weed all that summer
As of this writing, the Blue Mist motel still exists. The Robert Moorman referenced in this documentary was executed several years ago for the crime of murdering his mother. Thank you for the upload. Sometimes we forget how endlessly fascinating "normal" people are, and how wise they can be. It's easy to overlook, and documentaries like this exist as reminders of that fact.
Marta performed until shortly before her death in 2017 and the Amargosa Horel is still standing and operating (as a non profit in her name), which I found absolutely amazing! It looks to have had lots of renovations done and rooms are for rent as well.
@@kevinbeck5912 you may have have the wrong Martha... Marta without a "H" passed away on january 30, 2017. Wikipedia and several others list that date.
My beloved husband took me to Amargosa Opera House for my birthday. We saw the legendary Marta Becket and Wilget perform. I had the privilege of speaking with them and they signed our programme. We stayed in the hotel and saw all Marta's astounding paintings. What an experience. I'll treasure the memories forever.
@@BruteStrength99 Marta passed away in 2017 but Oprah house still looks the same as in this video and it's open to visit. Marta few years before she died opened a non profit organization that is now taking care of the Opera house. I am not sure about what happened to Wilget.
You miss not having entire world's information under your fingertips, including UA-cam, which allowed you to watch this obscure documentary for free? Do you miss paying bills by mail? Shopping a limited store selection instead of Amazon? What? Any more stereotypical poser comments?
I cleaned hotel rooms during my first 2 years of college. It was quite an experience! I always leave a nice tip and pile up all the sheets and towels for them before I leave.
I used to be a motel maid in thr 70's&80's...made some good tips.. got a job at another motel..but only the boss could strip the rooms.. when I clued my my new co-workers in that was so she can keep all the tips they said "what tips ,? People leave tips !? " The boss fired me the next day, said I just wasn't what they were looking for in a maid... LoL
Tx for uploading this! One of the better documentaries I've seen in a while. Two other very good documentaries focusing on motels are Camp Hollywood (2004) and Sunshine Hotel (2001)
One person said it was like camping because the drapes didn't match the carpet. Apparently they have only been camping in an RV. My family was homeless. To this day I hate camping. Hotel 6 has been a blessing in my life. Im 58yrs old now and thankful for my home. My brother chooses to be homeless. Has been for 16yrs. He hates being trapped inside. I think living in a tent at such young ages (i was 5yrs old and he was 7yrs old) really made an impact on our lives.
Me and my pops helped out a homeless guy..gave him a room with tv,internet, food,shower ect.....he was with us 3 years but probably only stayed in the house a total of a month....he would rather sleep out side somewhere and finally just left....once that way of life gets into some one they always stay that way.
@@streamer_servicesSometimes, if they're alcoholic and sobered up, their looking at them with that look of, "You must be insane" after they did all the same stuff (and often worse, too), often gets them to see how completely insane it is.
This documentary is a real gem. I felt better after watching it. I would love to check out these places...and that last couple....such a wonderful story.
This is a gem of a documentary story on motels. It is however, a story about unique individuals with great stories of there to share. So glad I watched this.
That three women running the motel are just marvelous. I'll probably stay here a year there just to know them. Also glad to see again the USA I saw while being a kid, crossing Arizona to California in 1989 and 1991. We are French, my parents rented a Mustang cab at the first trip, a Chevrolet Corsica at the second one, and we wanted to see the deep real America. Edit: we slept every night on that kind of Motels. I remember the soda machines where you were being able to slip a dollar banknote in, first time drinking Gatorade and Dr Pepper, the multicolor Cheerios, those massive old TV's made like furnitures with formica, we had to use buttons to change the channels. Live local news, the Flintstones etc All the things we didn't have in Europe back then. And friendly people
I like the energy at motels. Its simultaneously genuine and comfortable while also being skeezy and seedy. They're really the perfect place to spend the night after a day in the road. The less 21st century the better.
All I can say is WOW! the grainy feel and texture of the way it is shot leaves you with the feeling of something uncomfortable and lonely and yet, beautiful all at the same time. There are lives out there that are not publicized or praised for their art form! What is said and not said between those of us who must exist in places we don't often speak about, there are stories that will never be told, the suicides, murders, or just as well, just being alone and there's nothing one can do about it at the moment as you stare out a window feeling the heat of the high desert knowing you've changed and life has put you in a place you were not ready for as you try to tell yourself you will be alright, "Love to lonely and those have been in places that forever changed them, and not for the better," The words of a veteran who's been there...
whats use means buys dat chit eyes nose who beez mi chilren std droner u feels mi no wat eyes mean here wats I beez sayin nosez wat I mean…the list goes on EBONICS one ⚫️ one
Ever since smartphones and, social media seems like our freedom and, overall life has gone more depressing and, dark. Watching these makes me wish technology didnt advanced the way it has. Miss simpler times.
Times are never simple they just seem that way when think back in a nostalgic way. All of the modern things in 2024 just amplify the positive and negative aspects of the human condition. You have to live in the moment today the past is gone abd the future you have no control over. You have to do things that make your life enjoyable this is true today it was true in 1872 and it will be true in 2154.
Back in the 70's i remember traveling with my dad and staying in a lot of those older motels. He was a independent owner operator then. Most of them and the small independent truck stops are all gone now.
I lived in a motel in Windsor,Ontario,Canada after my divorce from my wife of 15yrs & it was a very dark time in my life for about 2yrs & seen a lot of very dark & scary things & one was a confrontation between guys. A small part of the motel had two levels & one evening two guys got into a fight with one another which resulted in the one guy shoving/throwing the other guy over the railing on the 2nd level in which doesn't seem that high but high enough to where he landed on his head & the ambulance came & took him to the hospital where he ended up passing away from head injuries, after he fell he was knocked out cold & never woke up again 😞 I witnessed many drug overdoses which was a common occurance & a handful of them resulted in death where they were found by themselves in their room. I seen many drug deals with fairly big time drug dealers & high powered automatic guns etc. But on the positive side i met some very unique people who had wild & crazy lives but had big hearts & a lot of the long time residents there were like family to me where we watched over each other & created a strong bond with them as well as with the cleaning ladies who were so nice & positive & realized that a lot of us were not bad people but were going through tough times where with myself i lost my marriage due to my very serious car accident where i was hit by a "VIA Rail Train" here in Canada & it turned my life upside down but before that i was extremely lucky to have survived that horrific accident first & foremost but my left shoulder,lower back & left wrist were badly damaged where i had several fairly serious surgeries but as i said it could have been a heck of a lot worse. I ended up getting very addicted to oxycontin pain killers in which at the time back in the early 2000's my family Doctor prescribed oxycontin to me & she told me that there's this somewhat new pain killer drug called oxycontin that isn't addicting! Looking back i still cannot phathom that she said that because it's synthetic herion a.k.a. "hillbury herion" it was called on the streets & let me tell you, it's one of the highest & most addictin drug these days along with "Fentenol" now & i don't wish anybody that horrific addiction in which withdrawl symtoms are so intense & INSANE! If you've never experienced withdrawl symtoms from oxycontin or herion then all i can say is, is that it's so horrible that you literally cannot sleep a wink, hot and cold flashes,twitching,severe anxiety & depression,diarrea & so so many more bad withdrawl symtoms. Anyways sorry for my long rant but when i seen this video it sparked that dark time in my life but also a very humbling & good experience at the same time when i lived in a motel for about a year. Take care everyone & don't take a single day in your life for granted because you can be living the high life with your wife & family etc & the next moment you can be homeless.
Damn! What a story! Sadly, this is not an uncommon story here in Windsor. I've had friends die in those motels. Where were u? On Howard, Huron Church, near the airport? All those areas are terrible. I feel sorry you had to live in that environment. Hopefully you're doing better nowadays.
Thank you for sharing that story. I truly hope life will improve for you and you may live in comfort for the rest of your days. Be safe in your travels ✌🏿
You shouldn't be surprised that your doctor prescribed Oxy. Big pharma is always lying about the products they sell (check Ffizer's 3 billion dollar fine) and they also bribe doctors to use their products. Between the lying and the bribing they shift plenty of product until the truth is revealed then they just start a new scam with a new drug. Also the drugs they make are designed to create return customers (addicts), not to cure people...there's no money in that!
My best and worst memories come from two places in my life.. the 1980s and California. This documentary captures the beauty and the vastness of my life in both time and place. I moved around a lot and the feeling of impermanence and the moving of time of this piece feels very familiar to me. I remember when the world looked and felt like this. I wish it still did.. if I could go back there I would in a heartbeat. This made me feel for a fleeting moment like I was there again and as harsh and cruel as some of it was, I still prefer it to the world we are in now.
08:00 FYI to Americans thinking they are "buying" property in Mexico. You will NEVER actually own it. As the Dutch lady mentioned, the govt ALWAYS maintains property rights.
It's a scam. Why doesn't the U.S. State Department and Congress demand RECIPROCAL property rights for Americans abroad? Over a million communist Chinese have a U.S. green card and bought up MILLIONS of homes in California. An American expat in Asia is PROHIBITED by national law from buying a house.
They don’t do fee-simple real estate in most of the world. Yes, in the US you pay property taxes, but your interest in the real property is forever and inheritable (as long as you pay taxes).
It was fun to Google Earth these motels. They're all still there. The Blue Mist and Silver Saddle don't look too bad. The Armagosa is still there and according to Google still in operation as a 2 star motel but it looks as scary as hell. I feel like she did live forever and is probably still dancing around there. A lot less trees now and what makes it even spookier is there is no town there. Quite a few small communities near by by the motel is just there in the desert all by itself. Anyhow thanks for sharing. I would love to know where the three ladies in Sante Fe are. They were some heavy smokers I hope they all quit when the rest of us did. I was in Sante Fe last year if I'd watched this I may have at least went by there.
The inmate they keep referring to, who killed and dismembered his mother at the blue mist motel while out on furlough from the Arizona prison was inmate Robert Moormann. He was eventually captured and was executed back in 2016 for that crime.
Within 10 minutes of watching this, I knew it was going to be brilliant. The music is great too. I love the whole People-Are-People aspect of it all. Thank you, content generator.
Yeah, the music by Alwin Nikolais beginning at about 3:13. Been looking all over for it but it might have been made specifically for this documentary. UA-cam just has a bunch of his electronica.
In the early 90s I lived in a roadside motel in Wilson, NC for several months. It was owned by a married couple from India who were very nice and the place was spotless! It had a pool that I swam in every day. I hated leaving there but I moved back to my home state of West Virginia.
I'll always be grateful for the Motel 6 with their policy on pets. It was so nice knowing we had a reservation and that we were welcome the time I moved back to California from Minnesota for the 5th time in 1986. We stayed at the one off Route 66 in Tucumcari New Mexico. Just a plain simple room with just the essentials.
I live in a motel its so small. Its been here since the 60s. Quite a few people died here. We call it bates motel. It's definitely haunted. Theres 11 rooms and it's creepy as hell. The stories are chilling. No laundry machines and no vending machines. We've been here for 2 years. It's like hotel California you can check in anytime you like but you can never leave.
Maybe you should leave Or refurbish it and not make it creepy .Level it ,have a preacher bless the land and put the souls to rest and build brand new .Many insensitive programs out there ,look for them .Do most of the work yourself if you can .Get proper permits and get a contractor with a good work record Vet them out You have to If you have a nice place on a Mai way ,you will make money from repeat visitors .Not first timers .And no one hour in and outs It’s not a brothel .
What a cool documentary. When I was younger I was a night manager at a seedy motel. Only 3 months. I still have bad dreams about that place. We found ,Drugs , guns and all sorts of stuff. Also a body every 8 days for the time I worked there. 🤢 Hands down the worst job I’ve had. I have to say though, I met some of the kindest and most giving and caring people that were just down at the time.. The ONLY cool part!
I can believe this. I had to live in a seedy motel once. It was in a big city, rent was outrageous, but this motel was reasonably priced. Lots of drugs. Gun shots almost every night. A couple of "offed themselves" I lived there for 2 years. I had become friends with the owner, housekeepers and laundry people. The other live in tenants. It was scary at times yes, but we was all poor and helped each other. Some of my favorite memories and most frightening came from that motel.✊️
@@camerondailey2627 😂 hell yeah it was. (At the time) I just didn’t care for the stinkin bodies really. Now that I think about it everything else was pretty cool 😂
I knew that kid at the Silver Saddle. His name is Fred. We hung around a bit back in 1986-1987, I can’t remember if we both went to Santa Fe high or I knew him from the crowd that hung around the Plaza downtown. This is so random seeing this on UA-cam.
@@ImNotHere222 I couldn't begin to tell you, it would be interesting to find out. I met the lady with the eye patch one night looking for Fred and she came to the door and said he was gone camping that weekend. The last time I spoke to him was around 1987 I think, and he was showing me his convertible MG he had rolled over in an accident and had it sitting under a tarp behind the office, and I was surprised he wasn't horribly injured or killed in that. We were only friends for like a year or so and I went to rehab at 16 yo and after that had a whole different group of friends before moving to Denver and then New Orleans. My Father still lives in Santa Fe and told me they fixed the place up. I mentioned this video and he said he remembers Fred which is surprising since he never remembers stuff.
@@spiralminus What a small world that you happened upon this video and saw him, even though his appearance was brief. That must be such a nostalgic feeling. Thank you for sharing, hearing details like that really brings home the fact that these are all people who lived entire lives since this documentary was made. Trying to gauge the age of everyone in the video, there's a good chance someone has passed away by now. Regardless, I hope they all had fulfilling lives. The 80's feel like 10 years ago. Hard to fathom that we're roughly 40 years out of that decade.
Tremendous and fascinating. Has a truly genuine feel and a certain lack of self consciousness and contrived, over edited 'vlogger' style of many modern docs. Love it ❤
FANTASTIC. If you’re reading the comments to see whether this is worth a watch, I’ll tell you now that YUP, I’d recommend it. It’s not a film about what it takes to run a motel, or about independent business practices- it’s MUCH MORE. There’s a bit of that but it’s more about the relationships and lives of owners, guests, and not in a glib or overwhelming way. Not TOO deep, but not shallow. This really must have taken some special hearts and minds to make. This is going to stay with me, and I hope I never forget it. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve encountered.
@@sadhu7191: That doesn't mean EVERYONE was like that scumbag back then. That guy CLEARLY had mommy issues. Besides, there are sickos worse than that guy committing atrocious crimes even TODAY.
My parents and I drove from Sacramento to Mississippi in 1979 stayed in quite a few Motels it was a blast,all of them were different. It was a different time Back then .
This movie brings back a lot of memories for me. On January 1st, 1960 my mother passed away. After that it was me, my brother, and my dad. My dad took a job as a traveling salesman. There were many times we slept in our Red 1962 Peugeot living out of motels, eating out of restaurants and listening to the song "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini while watching the sun rise in the sky and wondering where it came from. One time I asked my dad "where did the sun come from" and he said "it came from Houston Texas". Of all the places that he could have chosen, he chose Houston Texas. I remember telling one of my teachers what he said and she gave me the strangest look I've ever seen a teacher give me. Of course she informed me that the Sun DID NOT come from Houston. But as far as I was concerned when I was a kid what he said was the gospel truth. I'll sum all this up by saying "those were the days".
I used to think that no one could possibly be that desperate to date/marry/communicate with a jailbird. Wow. My parents always said that "it takes all kinds to make a world".
IDK, I think that its just an insecurity, you always know where your dude is , I guess, the only one he can cheat on you with is Bubba. The thing that these ladies don't get is that most of these guys are grifting off multiple women at the same time. My ex's best friend was one of these insecure chicks who was in love with one of these grifters. She would send money to the dirtb@g even though her and her kids went without. Some 20 years later she was convinced that they were going to get married as soon as he was released. Sure enough, the dirtb@g moved in with another chick from day one. My ex's best friend made excuses for the dirb@g for a solid three months about why she couldn't see the looser after he was free, and she was still sending him money by the way. She only got the message when she went to "surprise him", and found out that the girl that he was staying with wasn't his sister, lol! So ya , these ladies are delusional if they think that they're not getting played buy most of these 💩in prison.
I stayed at that hotel in Death Valley. The opera house had long since been shut down as had the cafe. It feels like a ghost town with a motel. The place has an interesting history
Yo she sent shivers down my spine when she said "he wouldn't be eligible for parole until September of twenty-oh one" Hearing someone from the 80s say 2001 as that is freaky!
I'm OBSESSED with motels. Have been for over 35 years. I've stayed in 165 different motels (not Hotels) in the state of Alabama alone. I love the smaller independents (or as my Mom called the "Drive up & screw motel".
Is this a drive-in motel where you can watch drive-in movies in your motel room instead of your car? Oh my gosh that is fantastic I wish you spent more time on that. This is actually a very modern type documentary for the time really good at the scenic views and first person conversation. Ty
I'd stay there right now🍿 when my nephew and family were staying in motel 6, we had a front row view that year for the fireworks as they were on the last row facing the college grounds where the fireworks display happens🎆
My cousins had a motel in New York state. When I used to visit there when I was a kid they used to tell me not to go up past a certain part of the rooms alone because of possible creeps.
Harry Chapin's 1974 song, "Vacancy", would make a good companion piece to this film. It's a story song about a guy who runs a motel and the people that he meets in his work. It can be easily searched for right here on UA-cam. If you liked this film than please give it a listen. Thanks. (Let me know what you think too.)
Mrs.Smith and Mr.Jones Come to pass the night They pulled off of the highway when they saw my light Its a vacancy I offer them, what they offer me Is fullness for a lifetime that is bare as can be There is a vacancy, wont you come to me And fill my empty spaces I'm a hotel man in a promised land That's filled with empty faces Wont you bring your sorrow or bring your dreams I'ts a place for you to be There's no more tomarrow or thats how it seems So wont you come to me Ive got a vacancy Another name, another key another pass of glory Another night, another sight Another bedtime story Another stage, another chance For gentleness or violance Another birth, another dance Another dance in silence Theres a vacancy Wont you come to me And fill my empty spaces Im a motel man, in a promised land Thats filled with empty faces Wont you bring your sorrow or bring your dreams Its place for you to be Theres no more tomarow or thats how it seems Wont you come to me Ive got a vacancy Mr.John is coming on, with his liaison Mr.Soft is coming off and soon he'll be gone Mr. Hard has come apart and ill bet she's alone Mr.Jive has come alive but nobody's home Morning comes checkout time With my pale and broom I find what they left behind And every tell the tale room The sheets show their struggles There glasses, their fears The ashtrays, the hours passed The towels, their tears Theres a vacancy Wont you come to me And fill my empty spaces Im a motel man, in a promised land Thats filled with empty faces Wont you bring your sorrow or bring your dreams Its place for you to be Theres no more tomorrow or thats how it seems Wont you come to me Ive got a vacancy
I grew up in Sherman Oaks. While I was in high school in the 80s, I met a guy Troy Farmer who lived in the Park Motel on Ventura Blvd. with his father. We became really close friends. He had a compassionate heart and kind soul. Always had my back. I never connected the dots as to why they lived in that motel. Didn’t even question it. He confided in me that his dad was Red Fox’s manger and that he was fired because he was doing cocaine and stealing money. 😮 That explained it. The last year in high school he started hanging out with some losers who were ditching school and robbing houses. When I came over once, he and these dudes were going through the back of his dad’s station wagon that was full of stolen goods from someone’s house. I couldn’t believe he was actually OK with it. Like father like son. I stopped hanging out with him after that. Years later while I was home from college I bumped into him at Sav On drugs and he invited me back to his apartment to hang out. When I got there he got into a psychotic state and said someone was trying to steal his weed. He pulled out a gun and said he was going out to investigate and that I should stay there. When he left the room, I skidaddled outta there and never saw him again. I think about him sometimes and wonder if he ever turned his life around. He really did have a good soul. Drugs can really destroy a person and especially the family dynamic. That poor guy deserved better as a kid.
I was raised in many motel rooms from pretty much the age of 3 until I was 10. This was back in the mid 70s when motels were just about everywhere. My mother was single, a hippie on drugs whose boyfriend doubled as her pimp. We wound up down in Key Largo where I befriended a boy who lived on the beach with his parents. After a few days of going over there to hang out, he asked if I could spend the night. This required talking to my ‘parents’ but I knew it was not possible to do. So after that I avoided going there and I guess they wondered what happened and where I went. It was around a week later when on the news they saw a story about a man & lady who were arrested for shoplifting but then they discovered drugs as well plus having a kid with them. That kid was me. Off goes my mom to prison as well as her dumb ass boyfriend and I am now a ward of the state in a boys home up in Miami. The family come finds me and makes arrangements to foster me then later adopt. My father passed away in 2017 and my mother is now 83 years. My brother and I are best friends to this day.
Woah. I knew a family just like this in Daytona Beach. I skateboarded with the son. I went by the motel a few times, it was obvious something was going on but all of my friends and families situations were weird as well. He disappeared. I’m assuming they just had to move on. My friends and I really liked him, incredibly creative skateboarder. Did stuff I’ve never seen anyone else do. Dunno where that creativity came from. Wish he had been around longer. It’s funny, it’s like we just found the kid outside one day and hung out until he disappeared
Cool story. God moves in mysterious ways. God bless you and your family.
What a bitter sweet story 😢❤
@@GenX1969life be like that at times
Ok a new comment circled me back and I read this again and now I’m wondering what happened to your bio mom? Shoplifting and drug possession doesn’t carry a life sentence. I wonder if she was offered help? The 70s isn’t known exactly for its stellar mental health care and human trafficking was just “hookers”on dope. Did she even have a chance?
I love these old documentaries, itslike a glimse in a now gone forever world.
That's exactly what it is
you still live in the wake of this world. nothing is as long ago as it seems.
Well ,This is as close to a time -machine as us in the masses have for now , but there're a couple things that are out there , Tec ,I suppose that if they had it then it could be as if you were there and if you where there then you would have the best photographic memory ,or that will be another one of those things in which words have to be invented for it .
Theres still tons of motels out there
Idiotic statement from a sad attention seeker. Motels and cops are still here. What's gone forever are the remnants of your brain cells.
This is why i watch UA-cam for documentary gems like this .
me too
Im from ireland and this is absolutely fascinating to me. There is tons of rubbish on YT and then you come across cultural time capsule like this. Worth the trawling.
@@DevRSVR Hello from Texas partner ! Yes I love watching this old documentaries on a Sunday afternoon while I'm eating fried chicken. I wonder what the Irish eat for comfort food?
@@HenryHD88 pretty much anything my friend. Me personally I love a good curry! Hope all is well in Texas? Have always wanted to visit that part of America.
@@DevRSVRwhen I saw braveheart the movie with Mel Gibson who my wife things he is the best looking. Well anyways about the movie , I always wanted to visit Ireland. It looks very mystical , majestic... I know the movie is great , but it does not do it justice. You are lucky my friend !
An hour and a half long video about motels ??
Me alone in a dark room at 4am :"OH HELL YEAH"
I know, I’m engrossed
I literally CANNOT WAIT to watch this! Lol
It's 3:00 a.m. for me in a dark room......Hell yeah! Peace and love!
For everyone liking old real docs….
“First Call”is a gem.
One of my favorites
That popped up along with this movie, can’t wait to see it…Dark Days is another great old doc…
Very good one. I watched it a couple of years ago.
THANKS! I'll check it out!
There was this doc I watched was a guy in NY, NY in the 80s and all about the club scene and his life. The channel is called something like 58th street .. ru Paul was like 20 yr old . So sorry I can't describe it better but I'm sure if interested the clues will help 😊
When I was young, in the late 70s, early 80s my grandparents ran a motel in West Hollywood. My grandpa would walk to the bakery down the street at 5:30am to get the donuts for the hotel “breakfast”. Every morning, coffee and donuts for the guests. There was a swimming pool and it was awesome spending summers meeting guests from all over. Back then, there were racks with brochures for Disneyland, Magic Mountain and almost ANYTHING in Southern California. Miss those times❤❤
Where in West Hollywood was the motel? Do you remember what it was called?
My grandpa died in a motel room. He had a stroke while listening to the Cuban missile crisis on the radio. He was on his way to start a chicken farm in Washington State. The motel owners were so impressed with how loyal his dog was, refusing to leave his side, that they adopted the dog.
Wow, that was life indeed
I'm guessing the dog eventually left.
@@lenhudson8194 captain of the obvious much?
@@teledoink well then, it didn't refuse shit.
@@lenhudson8194 you have bigger problems than I am qualified to help with. Bye bye
One of those "i need something good to watch that i havent seen a million times " great finds. So captivating and intriguing.
you might like my movie playlist
in 1985 I ran away from home age 17, drove almost 3000 miles across the country from the north east to California. Stayed in Motels across the country. It was a different world back then, the world seemed bigger, with no cell phones, no internet, just a big open road and mystery ahead. You'd get in your car and go, and just disappear on the horizon, thats how I felt as I left my old life behind me. I am still here, going on 40 years later, enjoying life now as a middle-aged man in Santa Monica/Los Angeles
my fam and I ran a 29 dollar a night motel outside pittsburgh for 20 years ....we lived on site....met a lot of good and a lot of bad ppl...I always had rooms for parties as a teenager growing up LOL I had a blast meeting ppl from all around the country and the world from all walks of life..... as a kid growing up in the motel scene you have to have good stranger danger radar when you rent 20-50 rooms a night your bound 2 get some creepers!... however some of the cool monthlys were almost like a dysfunctional family LOL i could write a book....
That sounds awesome
Tell the craziest story you've experienced.
You should!
u go out to ur truck & pick thru the ashtray, smoke the long ones & bring the rest back to tear apart & roll in a page torn from the Gideon bible ...
Please tell me it was the Oak Leaf Motel or the Avalon Motel
Ive been working at a hotel for 17 years as a maintenance man. Ive seen it all. Some of the most beautiful experiences ive had have been making friendships with the guests and coworkers. The housekeepers are some of the hardest working people, please tip them. One housekeeper counted her tips like this "Bread, eggs,milk. Very touching.
I was 12...😮
By 89 I'd been working in the hotel business for 16 years almost 17..😮
I prank call motels
Who cares
My mother cleaned at the Westin Hotel for years, so I know housekeepers are not paid well.
I always leave a few dollars for housekeeping, and I never trash my room.
I lost my apartment a month ago and been staying in motels. The prices are astronomical now!
Sorry to hear that Ryan
Sorry to hear that. Hope things pick up for you soon 🙏 🤞👍
When I did that, I worked three jobs until I could move out of it.
With the price of staying in motels, you could rent a room in a house for less.
@LONESTAR1045 That basically applies to all of us, including you.
This documentary was like a weird fever dream. Loved it.
OMG. You nailed it! Those dreams are better than a David Lynch movie.
Ditto
I loved every second of it.
This is what I was thinking
Excellent description!
I lived in hotels from 1981 - 2003 traveling with a magazine sale crew . Best time of my life. 1 week in each city. 52 cites a year. For 22 years. I still have the business cards of each motel we stayed at. I could write a book…what an experience
that's definitely a book! sounds amazing.
Wow!! Cool story!! Coolest job!! Thnx for sharing that.
Write the book - the memories will come back
That’s a movie with the Shila la buff dude
Oh man bet you have some stories… I lived in seedy motels for about a year on a traveling bridge construction crew, it was…uh…enlightening!
In the 70s I stayed at places like those. Hey, did you know that Motel 6 was named for 6 dollar rooms? Super 8 was an upgraded version at 8 bucks.
Yes and a cup of coffee at Sambo's for 10 cents.
I traveled from Massachusetts to LA back & forth sometimes up to Sacramento and Reno. Many motels to save money the last year we did this we slept in the car at rest stops every other night. Our parents took us on summer a vacation from May to Oct .every year we stopped in museums and landmarks found in our school books. The trips were very educational & by age 14 I had been to every state +Mexico,Canada, Japan, Iceland Greenland, Europe .
@@blazefairchild465 Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.
@@jerrylohry2459 Most bizarre style I ever heard of! An onion? YUCK!
@@jerrylohry2459 you must have lived on the opposite side of the river from us to have been able to afford even yellow onions during the war. All we could afford were radishes for our belts and so naturally all the other kids made fun of us. It was sad when they finally built the bridge and sunk the ferry for crawfish habitat. We had so much fun roller skating with our metal skates on that old rotten deck.
All of the Motels featured still exist in 2023. Very interesting documentary.
Yeah I found that fascinating. Although I guess the first one has changed its name now to like the mystic inn. I'm not surprised the one year the state prison in Arizona still around but I was a little surprised to still has the same name.
The reenactment of the robbery was hilarious 😂😂
My friends and I were drunk once, back when video recorders were rare. So when someone had one, we tried creating some skits. The alcohol was evident.
Life has gotten so uptight
Marta's ballet through the run down hotel was exquisite and beautifully done.
Absolutely. She still has it.
I can listen to these women talk all day. They’re so fascinating. I feel like I’m transported to a different time through watching this.
I lived in an old motel that was rented as apartments in Salina Utah.
300 bucks a month with no contract 😊. 1 small room, 1 small bathroom.
Sometimes I kind of miss it.
A million thank you's to whoever uploaded this!
Couldn't agree more!!!
"DON'T WORRY MY wife DOESN'T WATCH TV!?" Says the cop unashamedly flirting with the reporter and the home wrecker reporter flirting right back!! It's SOOO obvious these two have absolutely NO interest in the suicide victim but only jumping each other's bones later at the same motel which they HAVE! Been doing for some time!! Could you imagine the secrets that the Camara man is holding onto about those 2 adulterers!!!!
She's not the homewrecker.
HE is!!!
He's the one with a wife!
That b just wanted a story and he probably lost his wife and didnt get any tail anyways
I lived in motels/ hotels in texas , Louisiana and New Mexico for 3 years back in the early nineties. I was a truck driver. I don't really miss it.
Watching this makes me sad. I remember this time as a kid. America was so different. We were a lot nicer to ine another. I rememeber as a kid just saying hi to anyone and they would chat me up. There wasnt any real traffic or road rage and everything was just like it was in cruise control. Spending a couple summers up in indiana at my grandma's house and playing in cornfields, exploring creeks, cutting grass for hours on ridig moowers because it was so much fun to do with my cousin.
Everything was so different. You had to connect with real people around you. You built real friendships with those people they were family... Now... I dont want to be here at 45
Holy sh!t. 1989 really has been nearly 35 years ago.
I got married then I was 20. I’m getting old
Damn, that one hit home.
I'm in my 60's. As my old man once said, "The older you get, the faster time goes." Truth.
I’m 40 😔
In 1989 I had to drive across country for work-associated reasons. I stayed in Motel Six motels or a Motel 8 or a mom-and-pop motel, whichever one was available when I was ready to call it quits driving for the day. Never had a problem staying at motels. Then again, I kept out of trouble and didn't cause trouble. You play it safe and you'll be safe.
At first I was terrified of the thought of driving across country alone. But in 1989 I was lucky. A married couple I knew planned to drive across country to California. They allowed me to follow them all the way to CA. Several hours after entering CA, they went north and I went west. When I discovered driving across country was no big deal and really a snap, all my fear left me. I was able to drive across country four more times on my own with full confidence.
@@JeffK. Absolutely, Jeff. I can attest that time flies by faster the older you get. Looking back on my life, I can recognize points where time started to move faster. It was slowest when I was in grade school. Time passed at a normal pace in high school and college. Then over the years and decades time started, slowly, almost imperceptibly, to speed up. Now a week goes by in my life just like it was only a few days.
The sequence with the Marta the ballerina dancing through the empty hotel rooms.....pure art....her expressiveness was poetic...when she looked at her reflection in the mirror....how lucky she was to live in such a magical, fantastical place......
*Surreal...to say the least...*
She was also a great painter . That artwork should be more famous .
@@TheYah00netstarwithouta doubt. Let's go..
I thought it was creepy and weird, perhaps borderline psychotic even.. There was nothing elegant or graceful about the way she was flopping around.. She looked like a chicken with its head cut off.. You can tell she takes herself way too seriously...
She was really lovely. She still had the technique and timing.
I spent my life working in and managing moteles, hoteles and resorts in Australia.
Living on site has it's perks, but also it's drawbacks.
As a single mom with 3 children in that environment, you never have any spare time or privacy, but I loved the life.
Never a dull moment.
Now living in Costa Rica, running my own boutique resort in the jungle.
No fair, I wanna visit
You earned it.
@@jumpingship3001 thank you.
Cool. What’s the boutique called?
No sir.
What a interesting and fascinating idea for a documentary! One the best documentaries I’ve seen in awhile. Thank you for posting here.
I agree.
The world is full of people living unusual lives , who have some interesting stories to tell , for anyone willing to listen .....👌🇬🇧🆓
Definitely a cool documentary, I worked at a hotel for a few years as maintenance 19-20 yrs old. And man 😂 all I'll say you definitely get met, see and hear all types of things from people from all walks of life 😂. Made friends with a outta town iron worker one summer think he was from Canada he was actually staying at the hotel across street but they didn't have a pool lol so he'd walk over everyday and drink his beer sitting by the pool. I didn't care where he stayed he was cool as hell lol got him weed all that summer
As of this writing, the Blue Mist motel still exists. The Robert Moorman referenced in this documentary was executed several years ago for the crime of murdering his mother. Thank you for the upload. Sometimes we forget how endlessly fascinating "normal" people are, and how wise they can be. It's easy to overlook, and documentaries like this exist as reminders of that fact.
Marta performed until shortly before her death in 2017 and the Amargosa Horel is still standing and operating (as a non profit in her name), which I found absolutely amazing!
It looks to have had lots of renovations done and rooms are for rent as well.
Thanks a ton for sharing, that's honestly very wholesome to know. RIP Marta, a true artistic talent.
Martha Becket Passed away 2016 August I saw that on Facebook correct date
@@kevinbeck5912 you may have have the wrong Martha...
Marta without a "H" passed away on january 30, 2017.
Wikipedia and several others list that date.
And the man, what happened him anyone know
@@sir243_simr Tom Willet performed with her until his death in 2005
My beloved husband took me to Amargosa Opera House for my birthday. We saw the legendary Marta Becket and Wilget perform. I had the privilege of speaking with them and they signed our programme. We stayed in the hotel and saw all Marta's astounding paintings. What an experience. I'll treasure the memories forever.
How old are they now?
She died and he has probably died also. Marta was 65 in 1989 when this documentary was made.
@@BajaBlack45 wow. Thanks for the info
@@BruteStrength99
Marta passed away in 2017 but Oprah house still looks the same as in this video and it's open to visit. Marta few years before she died opened a non profit organization that is now taking care of the Opera house. I am not sure about what happened to Wilget.
@@AviationNut thank you for the info. I love history. I hope the city has it declared a historical site.
I wish I could go back in time to this era. I miss the simplicity and my loved ones who have passed ❤
You miss not having entire world's information under your fingertips, including UA-cam, which allowed you to watch this obscure documentary for free? Do you miss paying bills by mail? Shopping a limited store selection instead of Amazon? What? Any more stereotypical poser comments?
Gimme a break. I'm old af. I do miss the word poser though.
In 89 we said the same thing about the 70s
I cleaned hotel rooms during my first 2 years of college. It was quite an experience! I always leave a nice tip and pile up all the sheets and towels for them before I leave.
It was quite an exclamation?
I used to be a motel maid in thr 70's&80's...made some good tips.. got a job at another motel..but only the boss could strip the rooms.. when I clued my my new co-workers in that was so she can keep all the tips they said "what tips ,? People leave tips !? " The boss fired me the next day, said I just wasn't what they were looking for in a maid... LoL
@@debbiebasche5337That kinda pisses me off. I'm going to start handing my tip to the maid.
Tx for uploading this! One of the better documentaries I've seen in a while. Two other very good documentaries focusing on motels are Camp Hollywood (2004) and Sunshine Hotel (2001)
Sunshine Hotel is such a beautiful film✨
Onde eu posso assistir esses dois documentários??
@@rightweaponry908onde posso ver esse documentário?
@@peucellipiu5216 www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B008J0DQJ0/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
@@peucellipiu5216not on UA-cam, google them
One person said it was like camping because the drapes didn't match the carpet. Apparently they have only been camping in an RV. My family was homeless. To this day I hate camping. Hotel 6 has been a blessing in my life. Im 58yrs old now and thankful for my home. My brother chooses to be homeless. Has been for 16yrs. He hates being trapped inside. I think living in a tent at such young ages (i was 5yrs old and he was 7yrs old) really made an impact on our lives.
Me and my pops helped out a homeless guy..gave him a room with tv,internet, food,shower ect.....he was with us 3 years but probably only stayed in the house a total of a month....he would rather sleep out side somewhere and finally just left....once that way of life gets into some one they always stay that way.
@@streamer_servicesSometimes, if they're alcoholic and sobered up, their looking at them with that look of, "You must be insane" after they did all the same stuff (and often worse, too), often gets them to see how completely insane it is.
This documentary is a real gem. I felt better after watching it. I would love to check out these places...and that last couple....such a wonderful story.
@@jjr1728 🤨
Beautiful film.
Christian Blackwood evokes the placid, reassuring tones of Werner Herzog.
Such a shame that he died shortly after this film was made.
But he did make Stroszek.
Damn the lady calmly telling the story of the son who DISMEMBERED his mother in the room she is sitting in….😮
These men in prison get a stupid woman to take care of them on the outside. As soon as they are free they start moving on to others.
This is a gem of a documentary story on motels. It is however, a story about unique individuals with great stories of there to share. So glad I watched this.
I was a teenager in the 80s and remember road trips, staying at motels just like this . Bringing back great memories of a simpler time
What a beautiful and engaging film. I am so glad to have come across it here. Thank you.
That three women running the motel are just marvelous. I'll probably stay here a year there just to know them. Also glad to see again the USA I saw while being a kid, crossing Arizona to California in 1989 and 1991. We are French, my parents rented a Mustang cab at the first trip, a Chevrolet Corsica at the second one, and we wanted to see the deep real America. Edit: we slept every night on that kind of Motels. I remember the soda machines where you were being able to slip a dollar banknote in, first time drinking Gatorade and Dr Pepper, the multicolor Cheerios, those massive old TV's made like furnitures with formica, we had to use buttons to change the channels. Live local news, the Flintstones etc All the things we didn't have in Europe back then. And friendly people
Its nice to have those good memories!
As an Arizona id have to say you really missed out by not staying at KOA's every chance possible
@@williemasterofdestruction5339 Well, I was 9 and then 11, so probably not able to say a word about the motel choice😁
@@williemasterofdestruction5339Also from Arizona, camping is a terrible idea if it’s summer lol and not up north or somewhere cooler
Your parents sound great
I remember seeing this on CBC in the early 90s. Great piece of work by Christian Blackwood.
I like the energy at motels. Its simultaneously genuine and comfortable while also being skeezy and seedy. They're really the perfect place to spend the night after a day in the road. The less 21st century the better.
All I can say is WOW! the grainy feel and texture of the way it is shot leaves you with the feeling of something uncomfortable and lonely and yet, beautiful all at the same time. There are lives out there that are not publicized or praised for their art form! What is said and not said between those of us who must exist in places we don't often speak about, there are stories that will never be told, the suicides, murders, or just as well, just being alone and there's nothing one can do about it at the moment as you stare out a window feeling the heat of the high desert knowing you've changed and life has put you in a place you were not ready for as you try to tell yourself you will be alright, "Love to lonely and those have been in places that forever changed them, and not for the better," The words of a veteran who's been there...
FATHER GOD❤
It is refreshing listening to humans formulate articulate sentences.
This is what English is suppose to be. Its not even articulate but yeah I feel you, today people sound like garbage.
You should start consuming better media and talking to smarter people. They’re out there. Intelligent people aren’t extinct lol
whats use means buys dat chit eyes nose who beez mi chilren std droner
u feels mi
no wat eyes mean
here wats I beez sayin
nosez wat I mean…the list goes on
EBONICS one ⚫️ one
Its alot better than hearing " bruh no cap goated with the sauce" bullshit
Indeed, it is. 😊
This is the closest thing we have to a time machine. 😢
Ever since smartphones and, social media seems like our freedom and, overall life has gone more depressing and, dark. Watching these makes me wish technology didnt advanced the way it has. Miss simpler times.
Times are never simple they just seem that way when think back in a nostalgic way. All of the modern things in 2024 just amplify the positive and negative aspects of the human condition. You have to live in the moment today the past is gone abd the future you have no control over. You have to do things that make your life enjoyable this is true today it was true in 1872 and it will be true in 2154.
Back in the 70's i remember traveling with my dad and staying in a lot of those older motels. He was a independent owner operator then. Most of them and the small independent truck stops are all gone now.
I lived in a motel in Windsor,Ontario,Canada after my divorce from my wife of 15yrs & it was a very dark time in my life for about 2yrs & seen a lot of very dark & scary things & one was a confrontation between guys. A small part of the motel had two levels & one evening two guys got into a fight with one another which resulted in the one guy shoving/throwing the other guy over the railing on the 2nd level in which doesn't seem that high but high enough to where he landed on his head & the ambulance came & took him to the hospital where he ended up passing away from head injuries, after he fell he was knocked out cold & never woke up again 😞 I witnessed many drug overdoses which was a common occurance & a handful of them resulted in death where they were found by themselves in their room. I seen many drug deals with fairly big time drug dealers & high powered automatic guns etc. But on the positive side i met some very unique people who had wild & crazy lives but had big hearts & a lot of the long time residents there were like family to me where we watched over each other & created a strong bond with them as well as with the cleaning ladies who were so nice & positive & realized that a lot of us were not bad people but were going through tough times where with myself i lost my marriage due to my very serious car accident where i was hit by a "VIA Rail Train" here in Canada & it turned my life upside down but before that i was extremely lucky to have survived that horrific accident first & foremost but my left shoulder,lower back & left wrist were badly damaged where i had several fairly serious surgeries but as i said it could have been a heck of a lot worse. I ended up getting very addicted to oxycontin pain killers in which at the time back in the early 2000's my family Doctor prescribed oxycontin to me & she told me that there's this somewhat new pain killer drug called oxycontin that isn't addicting! Looking back i still cannot phathom that she said that because it's synthetic herion a.k.a. "hillbury herion" it was called on the streets & let me tell you, it's one of the highest & most addictin drug these days along with "Fentenol" now & i don't wish anybody that horrific addiction in which withdrawl symtoms are so intense & INSANE! If you've never experienced withdrawl symtoms from oxycontin or herion then all i can say is, is that it's so horrible that you literally cannot sleep a wink, hot and cold flashes,twitching,severe anxiety & depression,diarrea & so so many more bad withdrawl symtoms. Anyways sorry for my long rant but when i seen this video it sparked that dark time in my life but also a very humbling & good experience at the same time when i lived in a motel for about a year. Take care everyone & don't take a single day in your life for granted because you can be living the high life with your wife & family etc & the next moment you can be homeless.
Still in windsor
Damn! What a story! Sadly, this is not an uncommon story here in Windsor. I've had friends die in those motels. Where were u? On Howard, Huron Church, near the airport? All those areas are terrible. I feel sorry you had to live in that environment. Hopefully you're doing better nowadays.
Thank you for sharing that story. I truly hope life will improve for you and you may live in comfort for the rest of your days. Be safe in your travels ✌🏿
You shouldn't be surprised that your doctor prescribed Oxy. Big pharma is always lying about the products they sell (check Ffizer's 3 billion dollar fine) and they also bribe doctors to use their products. Between the lying and the bribing they shift plenty of product until the truth is revealed then they just start a new scam with a new drug. Also the drugs they make are designed to create return customers (addicts), not to cure people...there's no money in that!
Always wondered how people lived in motels. Did you have to pay every night? It did you cut a weekly deal with the owner?
My best and worst memories come from two places in my life.. the 1980s and California. This documentary captures the beauty and the vastness of my life in both time and place. I moved around a lot and the feeling of impermanence and the moving of time of this piece feels very familiar to me. I remember when the world looked and felt like this. I wish it still did.. if I could go back there I would in a heartbeat. This made me feel for a fleeting moment like I was there again and as harsh and cruel as some of it was, I still prefer it to the world we are in now.
It's really hard to describe how much fun it was to those who don't remember it...but I do- and it was! 🥳
what did you love about it so much
@@nicoleo6422 I hope you are joking about why the 80's were so much better than today's world. If you don't know, you never will.
Things were different, but I was also unaware of the world around me. So hard to known it was “better”?
me too
You have to be pretty crazy to marry an inmate of any kind, never mind a murderer! So nuts ! ! !
Well that's how some women articulate their emotions with bad boys.
08:00 FYI to Americans thinking they are "buying" property in Mexico. You will NEVER actually own it. As the Dutch lady mentioned, the govt ALWAYS maintains property rights.
It's a scam. Why doesn't the U.S. State Department and Congress demand RECIPROCAL property rights for Americans abroad? Over a million communist Chinese have a U.S. green card and bought up MILLIONS of homes in California. An American expat in Asia is PROHIBITED by national law from buying a house.
Add in Costa Rica, Hawaii, etc
No different than in the United States. If you disagree, don't pay your property taxes and see what eventually happens.
They don’t do fee-simple real estate in most of the world. Yes, in the US you pay property taxes, but your interest in the real property is forever and inheritable (as long as you pay taxes).
Noted
It was fun to Google Earth these motels. They're all still there. The Blue Mist and Silver Saddle don't look too bad. The Armagosa is still there and according to Google still in operation as a 2 star motel but it looks as scary as hell. I feel like she did live forever and is probably still dancing around there. A lot less trees now and what makes it even spookier is there is no town there. Quite a few small communities near by by the motel is just there in the desert all by itself. Anyhow thanks for sharing. I would love to know where the three ladies in Sante Fe are. They were some heavy smokers I hope they all quit when the rest of us did. I was in Sante Fe last year if I'd watched this I may have at least went by there.
I do that too lol
If you watched "My name is Earl," that dumpy motel wasn't a SET. It's a real place! Scary, as I heard it.
I look at them on maps too!
The inmate they keep referring to, who killed and dismembered his mother at the blue mist motel while out on furlough from the Arizona prison was inmate Robert Moormann. He was eventually captured and was executed back in 2016 for that crime.
Within 10 minutes of watching this, I knew it was going to be brilliant. The music is great too. I love the whole People-Are-People aspect of it all. Thank you, content generator.
Yeah, the music by Alwin Nikolais beginning at about 3:13. Been looking all over for it but it might have been made specifically for this documentary. UA-cam just has a bunch of his electronica.
One of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
This definitely going on my _Top 267 amateur films_ list
In the early 90s I lived in a roadside motel in Wilson, NC for several months. It was owned by a married couple from India who were very nice and the place was spotless! It had a pool that I swam in every day. I hated leaving there but I moved back to my home state of West Virginia.
I'll always be grateful for the Motel 6 with their policy on pets. It was so nice knowing we had a reservation and that we were welcome the time I moved back to California from Minnesota for the 5th time in 1986. We stayed at the one off Route 66 in Tucumcari New Mexico. Just a plain simple room with just the essentials.
Oh, so you're the reason why every Motel 6 is dirty and disgusting.
@@kingbullyrock8739 bringing their filthy mutts around
@@kingbullyrock8739No, that’s Motel 6 keeping housekeeping expenses low because it’s a budget hotel
@@phillipbanes5484 None of which happen if the owner is responsible. Stop being dramatic.
@@strnglhld No pet owners are responsible adults. Just look at them. They stink. Low-class filth, everywhere they go.
How come most everything that was created in the 80’s and 90”s has so much more meat on the bones?
Awesome content! Thanks 🎉
Because they were the greatest eras of our country
No CGI, things were more 'REAL' and to the point and more thought out, I would guess?
@@glenturney4750 So true!
Mass media , however great…. Messed us up 🆙
2 or 3 decades of "Peak Empire" before this point.
Because they wanted to dumb ppl down. And they did it too. N' they weren't much bright to begin with.
I live in a motel its so small. Its been here since the 60s. Quite a few people died here. We call it bates motel. It's definitely haunted. Theres 11 rooms and it's creepy as hell. The stories are chilling. No laundry machines and no vending machines. We've been here for 2 years. It's like hotel California you can check in anytime you like but you can never leave.
Hey
Alot of ppl do....pretty much a common thing now
Maybe you should leave Or refurbish it and not make it creepy .Level it ,have a preacher bless the land and put the souls to rest and build brand new .Many insensitive programs out there ,look for them .Do most of the work yourself if you can .Get proper permits and get a contractor with a good work record Vet them out You have to If you have a nice place on a Mai way ,you will make money from repeat visitors .Not first timers .And no one hour in and outs It’s not a brothel .
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Barstow?
Very hypnotic documentary. Great work from the late Christian Blackwood !
Thanks for the video. Makes me nostalgic for a people and time I never knew. Fun strong women.
Great documentary. Really glad I stumbled across it. Thanks a lot for posting it.
Ive stayed at the Amargosa Motel in Death Valley Junction a few times. Its run down, very quiet and has no services but has a lot of character
What a cool documentary.
When I was younger I was a night manager at a seedy motel. Only 3 months. I still have bad dreams about that place. We found ,Drugs , guns and all sorts of stuff. Also a body every 8 days for the time I worked there. 🤢 Hands down the worst job I’ve had. I have to say though, I met some of the kindest and most giving and caring people that were just down at the time.. The ONLY cool part!
I can believe this. I had to live in a seedy motel once. It was in a big city, rent was outrageous, but this motel was reasonably priced. Lots of drugs. Gun shots almost every night. A couple of "offed themselves" I lived there for 2 years. I had become friends with the owner, housekeepers and laundry people. The other live in tenants. It was scary at times yes, but we was all poor and helped each other. Some of my favorite memories and most frightening came from that motel.✊️
Living the dream man free drugs free guns. And it's like LiveLeak irl
@@camerondailey2627 😂 hell yeah it was. (At the time) I just didn’t care for the stinkin bodies really. Now that I think about it everything else was pretty cool 😂
I knew that kid at the Silver Saddle. His name is Fred. We hung around a bit back in 1986-1987, I can’t remember if we both went to Santa Fe high or I knew him from the crowd that hung around the Plaza downtown. This is so random seeing this on UA-cam.
What became of the three women running the place? I can't seem to find any info, aside from the Silver Saddle recently being turned into The Mystic.
@@ImNotHere222 I couldn't begin to tell you, it would be interesting to find out. I met the lady with the eye patch one night looking for Fred and she came to the door and said he was gone camping that weekend. The last time I spoke to him was around 1987 I think, and he was showing me his convertible MG he had rolled over in an accident and had it sitting under a tarp behind the office, and I was surprised he wasn't horribly injured or killed in that. We were only friends for like a year or so and I went to rehab at 16 yo and after that had a whole different group of friends before moving to Denver and then New Orleans. My Father still lives in Santa Fe and told me they fixed the place up. I mentioned this video and he said he remembers Fred which is surprising since he never remembers stuff.
@@spiralminus What a small world that you happened upon this video and saw him, even though his appearance was brief. That must be such a nostalgic feeling. Thank you for sharing, hearing details like that really brings home the fact that these are all people who lived entire lives since this documentary was made. Trying to gauge the age of everyone in the video, there's a good chance someone has passed away by now. Regardless, I hope they all had fulfilling lives. The 80's feel like 10 years ago. Hard to fathom that we're roughly 40 years out of that decade.
The electronic music is fantastic.
Pure 80s vibe!
Tremendous and fascinating. Has a truly genuine feel and a certain lack of self consciousness and contrived, over edited 'vlogger' style of many modern docs. Love it ❤
FANTASTIC. If you’re reading the comments to see whether this is worth a watch, I’ll tell you now that YUP, I’d recommend it. It’s not a film about what it takes to run a motel, or about independent business practices- it’s MUCH MORE. There’s a bit of that but it’s more about the relationships and lives of owners, guests, and not in a glib or overwhelming way. Not TOO deep, but not shallow. This really must have taken some special hearts and minds to make. This is going to stay with me, and I hope I never forget it. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve encountered.
What a simpler time. I miss the 80s. Great video.
Simple time??? Bro cut his mom up after molesting her
@@sadhu7191. Such madness has been happening since the beginning of time…But the 80s was an awesome decade, psychotic killers aside😎😂
@@sadhu7191: That doesn't mean EVERYONE was like that scumbag back then. That guy CLEARLY had mommy issues. Besides, there are sickos worse than that guy committing atrocious crimes even TODAY.
The music/movies all turned to shit by 1980 and nothing ever recovered, except for UA-cam, to watch and listen to the 60/70s (and before)
Thank you for posting. This was just beautiful.
Man my family would stay in very cheap motels while i was very young. Most were very old, each place was very unique and some were very creepy.
My parents and I drove from Sacramento to Mississippi in 1979 stayed in quite a few Motels it was a blast,all of them were different. It was a different time Back then .
Very cool docu, thanks for the upload! Watching this from Finland.
This movie brings back a lot of memories for me. On January 1st, 1960 my mother passed away. After that it was me, my brother, and my dad. My dad took a job as a traveling salesman. There were many times we slept in our Red 1962 Peugeot living out of motels, eating out of restaurants and listening to the song "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini while watching the sun rise in the sky and wondering where it came from. One time I asked my dad "where did the sun come from" and he said "it came from Houston Texas". Of all the places that he could have chosen, he chose Houston Texas. I remember telling one of my teachers what he said and she gave me the strangest look I've ever seen a teacher give me. Of course she informed me that the Sun DID NOT come from Houston. But as far as I was concerned when I was a kid what he said was the gospel truth. I'll sum all this up by saying "those were the days".
I used to think that no one could possibly be that desperate to date/marry/communicate with a jailbird. Wow. My parents always said that "it takes all kinds to make a world".
*Some spiritualists will say that Earth is a penal colony...for karmic cycles of debt.*
Some people like living on the edge I guess.
Were ur parents Republicans?
that 🍆 is known to change minds though.
IDK, I think that its just an insecurity, you always know where your dude is , I guess, the only one he can cheat on you with is Bubba.
The thing that these ladies don't get is that most of these guys are grifting off multiple women at the same time.
My ex's best friend was one of these insecure chicks who was in love with one of these grifters.
She would send money to the dirtb@g even though her and her kids went without.
Some 20 years later she was convinced that they were going to get married as soon as he was released.
Sure enough, the dirtb@g moved in with another chick from day one. My ex's best friend made excuses for the dirb@g for a solid three months about why she couldn't see the looser after he was free, and she was still sending him money by the way.
She only got the message when she went to "surprise him", and found out that the girl that he was staying with wasn't his sister, lol!
So ya , these ladies are delusional if they think that they're not getting played buy most of these 💩in prison.
I stayed at that hotel in Death Valley. The opera house had long since been shut down as had the cafe. It feels like a ghost town with a motel. The place has an interesting history
Fantastic documentary. Really enjoyed this 🎉❤
I work on the "road" maybe 200 nights a year in motels. My goal in life is too never stay in a motel again.
I know what you mean. I've stayed and lived in so many motels and feel the same as you.
Y'all know that cop and news lady ended up hooking up at some point. The energy was palpable lol
Yeah. I felt that.
Bonk
Probably hooking up before that. Some snatch for a news story.
That's how amd women talked back in day
@@sadhu7191 Were you around there back then?
Strange I was 7 years old In 1989 and today it feels like it never existence nor I was there......Age and Time my friends..the great walk of life
I remember the 80s in vivid detail, as those were my teen years. It's all in the context I suppose. What about the 90s into the 2000s for you?
I was born in 88 and remember 1991-on in extreme detail. I’m thankful for those memories.
Carpet doesn’t match the drapes 😭 skepticism will always be a shared human emotion. I love it lol 😂
Extraordinary documentary and people…..really enjoyed it, great upload! 😊😎
I think these ladies are _"more than friends"_
Well this was an engrossing piece of work! Very interesting & entertaining👍🏼
1:00:01 is the most David Lynch thing not made by David Lynch that I have ever seen.
This
this was absolutely our aesthetic (as a YA at the time)
My favorite part of this doc is the soundtrack. It sounds like an acid induced nightmare.
Yo she sent shivers down my spine when she said "he wouldn't be eligible for parole until September of twenty-oh one"
Hearing someone from the 80s say 2001 as that is freaky!
What a creepy release date. Ugh.
So sorry for your troubled life but you must go from now and find what it is you want to do and do it
what a memorable month for those two
It’s just a year. Anyone who can count can name years. I fail to see the reason for your dramatic comment
He got out September 11, 2001 😂
I'm OBSESSED with motels. Have been for over 35 years. I've stayed in 165 different motels (not Hotels) in the state of Alabama alone. I love the smaller independents (or as my Mom called the "Drive up & screw motel".
Amaizing....thank you so much... those murals blew my mind .
Amazing documentary, thanks for posting
Is this a drive-in motel where you can watch drive-in movies in your motel room instead of your car?
Oh my gosh that is fantastic I wish you spent more time on that.
This is actually a very modern type documentary for the time really good at the scenic views and first person conversation. Ty
Used to b in Fairlee, VT. A motel/drive in. It was for sale about 20 years ago. I should have bought it. 😊
@@janlundberg5924how does one even make enough money to save for that kind of purchase? That’s wild 😊
I'd stay there right now🍿 when my nephew and family were staying in motel 6, we had a front row view that year for the fireworks as they were on the last row facing the college grounds where the fireworks display happens🎆
@@janlundberg5924 So cool! Maybe build a new one?
@@BrooklynBaby-1 it is probably someone not looking to make a profit. It would be fun to own something so unique!
My cousins had a motel in New York state. When I used to visit there when I was a kid they used to tell me not to go up past a certain part of the rooms alone because of possible creeps.
Harry Chapin's 1974 song, "Vacancy", would make a good companion piece to this film. It's a story song about a guy who runs a motel and the people that he meets in his work. It can be easily searched for right here on UA-cam. If you liked this film than please give it a listen. Thanks. (Let me know what you think too.)
Mrs.Smith and Mr.Jones
Come to pass the night
They pulled off of the highway when they saw my light
Its a vacancy I offer them, what they offer me
Is fullness for a lifetime that is bare as can be
There is a vacancy, wont you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
I'm a hotel man in a promised land
That's filled with empty faces
Wont you bring your sorrow or bring your dreams
I'ts a place for you to be
There's no more tomarrow or thats how it seems
So wont you come to me
Ive got a vacancy
Another name, another key another pass of glory
Another night, another sight
Another bedtime story
Another stage, another chance
For gentleness or violance
Another birth, another dance
Another dance in silence
Theres a vacancy
Wont you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
Im a motel man, in a promised land
Thats filled with empty faces
Wont you bring your sorrow or bring your dreams
Its place for you to be
Theres no more tomarow or thats how it seems
Wont you come to me
Ive got a vacancy
Mr.John is coming on, with his liaison
Mr.Soft is coming off and soon he'll be gone
Mr. Hard has come apart and ill bet she's alone
Mr.Jive has come alive but nobody's home
Morning comes checkout time
With my pale and broom
I find what they left behind
And every tell the tale room
The sheets show their struggles
There glasses, their fears
The ashtrays, the hours passed
The towels, their tears
Theres a vacancy
Wont you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
Im a motel man, in a promised land
Thats filled with empty faces
Wont you bring your sorrow or bring your dreams
Its place for you to be
Theres no more tomorrow or thats how it seems
Wont you come to me
Ive got a vacancy
@@truthlifefishing1730 He was a genius with lyrics!
Very interesting song thank you great recommendation for this documentary
I grew up in Sherman Oaks. While I was in high school in the 80s, I met a guy Troy Farmer who lived in the Park Motel on Ventura Blvd. with his father. We became really close friends. He had a compassionate heart and kind soul. Always had my back. I never connected the dots as to why they lived in that motel. Didn’t even question it. He confided in me that his dad was Red Fox’s manger and that he was fired because he was doing cocaine and stealing money. 😮 That explained it. The last year in high school he started hanging out with some losers who were ditching school and robbing houses. When I came over once, he and these dudes were going through the back of his dad’s station wagon that was full of stolen goods from someone’s house. I couldn’t believe he was actually OK with it. Like father like son. I stopped hanging out with him after that. Years later while I was home from college I bumped into him at Sav On drugs and he invited me back to his apartment to hang out. When I got there he got into a psychotic state and said someone was trying to steal his weed. He pulled out a gun and said he was going out to investigate and that I should stay there. When he left the room, I skidaddled outta there and never saw him again. I think about him sometimes and wonder if he ever turned his life around. He really did have a good soul. Drugs can really destroy a person and especially the family dynamic. That poor guy deserved better as a kid.
A big slice of low key 1987ish-89 life off the turnpike, with a sweet soundtrack as dusty and compressed as the continental breakfast.
It would be so nice to have updates on all these people. GREAT DOCUMENTARY LOVE TO HAVE 100000 MORE OF THESES