I was enjoying a local brew with my wife a couple of summers ago at the Oasis lounge in the Bar Harbor Inn, on Mount Desert Island, Maine. We struck up a causal conversation with an older gentleman from Texas; what can we do in Acadia National Park, is there a good book store in town, where could the best ice cream be found, the normal chit chat vacationers would exchange.

The Texan asked what brought us to the Bar Harbor Inn, I sheepishly explained we enjoyed hotels with some history. Places with a story to tell, especially the rare places which can take you back in time. At this, the blue eyes under a full head of white hair lite up. We began exchanging notes. The gentleman spoke with vigor about the Menger Hotel, in San Antonio, Texas. “This is the place Teddy Roosevelt formed his Rough Riders,” he said. I told him Teddy is one of favorite presidents and has a small connection to my family history. “You have to stay at the Menger,” he said. “You’ll love it! You have to go to the bar where Teddy set up his recruiting table, and find the bullet hole.”

Bullet hole, this was starting to sound interesting.

     I began thinking, maybe I’m not the only one who loves finding these unique hotels, alive with stories. Half the battle is knowing these places exist and the idea for this blog was born.

     Short background, we are not hotel snobs. Like most couples starting out; we had student and car loans to pay, a mortgage to feed every month, and two children to raise. In the fullness of time, however, the loans were paid, the house became ours, and the children grew into adults we are proud of; our time to travel had come and anything worth doing, is worth doing well.

Notes from a Prairie Dog is a journal of two wanderers. Our goal is to present a unique perspective of the places which fired our imagination. If you decide to give some of these places a chance, we hope you’ll find them as fun as we did.