Death of the Lurae

[Robert]

Yes, the world is more fast paced. Traffic levels are higher than ever. In my area the population levels are booming due to all the people moving over from NY/NJ due to the cheaper housing. And people are more arrogant today, on the road they'll cut you off. Big corporations only care about one thing $$$$. Whenever I'm at my local Wawa, they're always busy. People want convenience today. They replaced most of their smaller stone front stores with the big gas stores. The bigger stores make more money and they are located at high traffic areas. And they demolished a bunch of old homes to build the super Wawa several years ago. If the location they want for their new store is prime property, they will acquire everyone's property and bulldoze it and build their super gas store. They built a Wawa where a restaurant was until 1998. My mom had her wedding reception at that restaurant in 1971. It looked doo-wop like. They served PA Dutch food. Here is a pic www.eastlehighearn.com/walp_s_restaurant.jpg Also, Home Depot built a superstore where a George Washington Motel was several years ago.

[FlyinGN]

well then darn it girl make NEW memories! Thats what life is all about!!!

nance said:

I agree, but still, alot of my memories are only that; memories.

[hulk007]

I'm shocked this post is still at the top. The Lurae was a great place(past tense) but its gone. Time to turn the page and move on.

[Crippled_Visions]

robert said:

They built a Wawa where a restaurant was until 1998. My mom had her wedding reception at that restaurant in 1971. It looked doo-wop like. They served PA Dutch food. Here is a pic www.eastlehighearn.com/walp_s_restaurant.jpg Also, Home Depot built a superstore where a George Washington Motel was several years ago.

Where was this resturant located Robert?

[Robert]

The restaurant was in East Allentown, PA. 50 years of history went down the drain when Wawa bought the property and the restaurant was razed and replaced with a copycat Super Wawa. The people who ate at Walp's are probably in their graves now and the kids of today and tomorrow will be eating snacks at Wawa with little or no knowledge of what was there before.. It's just like what's happening in WW with the motels and condos. The world is changing way too fast in a short amount of time. You never know when your favorite place will be history. And I never actully ate in this restaurant my entire life but my mom had her wedding reception there in August, 1971. I found a website where a lot of old places were torn down for something new. Here is one site rwarn17588.wordpress.com/2006/09/10/so-whats-happening-with-the-lewis-motel/ It's happening all over. Old motels don't work anymore in today's world. They are most commonly owned by old men, who get health problems and think about retiring after 50 years. Developers approach the owners and tempt them with millions of dollars. Today's savvy travelers want new hotels such as Hilton Garden's and Hamptons, not old fleabag holes in the walls. The trend is that anything old is subject to replacement by something new, such as a condo, convenience store, or even an auto dealership. I watch the news and there are fires all the time destroying old buildings and old buildings being torn down such as old outdated apartments. So what's happening in WW is simply a mirror of what's happening elsewhere, it just took a long time until it finally happened. In the 70's and 80's WW was like a time capsule because very little was changed or demolished except for the boardwalk fires. About old motels, I should tell you about the George Washington Motor Lodge near me that was razed several years ago for a HOME DEPOT.

[nance]

It's all over, Robert, in every state; no matter where you live. I believe it's called keeping up with the times? Don't even know my old neighborhood anymore. Thank goodness for photography!!

[thelastresort]

robert said:

Today's savvy travelers want new hotels such as Hilton Garden's and Hamptons, not old fleabag holes in the walls.

That just about sums it up. I assume you're not advocating "old fleabag holes in the walls". Who would want to stay in one in 2006? maybe in 1966.

I just think that in the old days, there was little, if any, competition, and every reasonably priced motel everywhere was like the ones you would find in WW. Now, even the budget hotels have reasonably spacious rooms and more conveniences. I recently was doing some local business travel and needed to crash for one night, so I stayed at a Marriott Courtyard in the burbs for $89 that was much better than any motel I ever stayed at in WW in the old days.

WW was insulated from all of this for decades, and now it's not. Motel owners can't just settle for mediocrity anymore, they either need to compete (ala Caribbean) or get out of the business.

Or, sadly, as some do, rely on roping in a new crop of suckers every season with BS websites, brochures, etc. that don't really reflect the true nature of their place.