Sigh...Still Daydreaming About Vacation. Anybody Ever Heard Of The Pink Motel? Status: More Vintage Motel Goodness.

We discovered this place quite by accident a few years ago. We were driving to the east coast without a destination in mind, taking random east bound two lane blacktop roads when we passed through Cherokee North Carolina. There are lots of little towns like this all through the Smoky Mountains so it was just pure luck that we found this place!

The Pink Motel must have one of the most appealing vintage neon signs anywhere. People who

have never been to Cherokee NC know about it. People drive through Cherokee just to stop by and

photograph it. We did one better. We've stayed here twice in our travels out east. The Smokies are

just so beautiful. And this is coming from a guy who's been to the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains,

Redwood forests of the north west, the Canyonlands and deserts of Utah, the beaches of Florida

and southern most Texas and even California. We've been on a few road trips.

There is a river right out side the back door of the rooms of the Pink Motel. There was even a family

or two of ducks hanging out back there! You can rent tubes and catch a ride upstream from the

motel and float back down to your room! How cool is that? Need to get your gamble on? Cherokee

is on Rez land and there is a giant casino in town. There's also all the fun small town things like go

carts, skeeball and putt putt golf. All around you you'll find hiking, mountain biking, and all manor of

outdoor activity.

We chose white water rafting! This is the Big Waterfall at the end of the trip we took. It wasn't this

crazy the whole trip but it was a great way to find out how much we REALLY liked white water

rafting! Sucks that the closest real rafting is about a six hour drive from St. Louis. At least it's not a

TEN hour drive! We'll be doing this again. We went out with a company called Rolling Thunder and

we liked them a lot. They were very professional and inspired confidence in us virgins, but they

were a lot of fun in that "summer camp" kinda way too. They had all kinds of inside jokes about each

other that they shared with us and sang songs on the bus ride up river. The guide we had was very

knowledgeable about the area, his job and the river in general. We all asked lots of questions

during the quieter parts of the river. We shut up and did what we were told on the more challenging

sections. The big guy up front next to me even fell out of the boat!

I was lucky enough to have a little rain in the evening that made for some great night time shots of

the sign. It was nice and cool the whole time we were there too. This was just before that oppressive

heat bubble expanded over to the east coast. We could have used a little of that heat in that cold

cold river!

The interior of the Pink Motel is pretty standard. You get two big beds that are comfortable enough

to sleep on, you get a little fridge and along with the grills out back you can really save some cash

on the food bill if you're a frugal traveler like us. You get a standard TV with cable (kept us occupied

for hours!). I can't remember if there is Wifi but I bet there is. Just your usual motel expectations.

Could have used a microwave.

But then there's this! A beeeuuutiful Pink Bathroom! Sweet! Check out how the tub is partially sunk

in to the floor. See, you don't have to go to estate sales to find Pink Bathrooms!

There are lots of kitschy shops and tourist traps right down the street from the Pink Motel too.

Check it out. Let's go Pan Fer Some Gold! How much fun must this be for all the kids? It looks like

something out of a theme park like Six Flags or Silver Dollar City! Then there's the "Other" Wigwam

motel. This is just about a block away from the Pink Motel. Don't get too excited though. There

aren't any Wigwams to sleep in here. It's just a building with regular rooms. They must have

re-purposed the sign when one of the other Wigwam Villages went out of business. At least the

sign was saved!