Day 3,708—Summer Stories XI: Coral Court Motel—

Today, I ran where the Coral Court Motel used to be. It was once where this now-45-house subdivision sits. I have ran through the subdivision a bunch of times, and I have always found it odd how those houses are fitted together without much lawn. They’re all bigger and nicer houses than I have, but they don’t fit with the area.

         I also tried to find a tunnel that went under Watson (used to be Route 66) when the motel was still there. This tunnel/storm rain collector/spring goes for a while before it turns back into a stream. I don’t know where it ends up. I know there is a spot on the other side of Laclede that is part of it, but I am guessing it ends up somewhere before that.

Yesterday, I finished this book about St. Louis and talked about the Coral Court Motel, which was famous on Route 66. It was open from 1941 until 1993. I didn’t realize I was so close. It sat about .2 miles from where I live now. The Coral Court Motel was famous for a lot of things. It had 77 rooms at one time and boasted garages connected to the rooms.

         Famously in 1953, a criminal hid out there and ended up losing most of the $600,000 that was never recovered. People used to think that the money must be somewhere on the premises.

*Note on my stories from 20+ years ago

I fear that what started as a way for me to reflect on my high school experience after 20 years, has turned into me remembering things that people did to or around me that I don’t love thinking about. Now, I am remembering more examples of adults and police being awful to me for no reason. I cannot imagine that this is making for interesting reading, and I should probably reflect more on a balanced approach to my stories from 20 years ago. I have been sitting here for a minute trying to think of a positive story that would be appropriate here (it is not like they don’t exist), but I cannot think of them right now. Maybe I should open up my 20 years to all of high school and not just things that happened over the summer. It has been so hard to remember, specifically the summer. I went to Florida for a wrestling tournament one year. I also worked during the summer, but I don’t remember those jobs now either. So accept this interlude. I will attempt to get back on track tomorrow.