Aiken Wins Best Southern Small Town Award

Late in the afternoon, I looked at my map to see where I may stay for the night. Aiken was the closest small town just off I-20. On taking the exit, I noted the roadside hotel and hoped to find something better in town. The two lane road wound through woods and farmland. As I was nearing the town, I saw a billboard for the Hotel Aiken located 2 miles ahead. The moment I drove into the town, I was drawn in like no other town I had passed through on my month long travels. The Hotel Aiken was a classic old hotel with big white pillars and a balcony at the entrance. The lobby was inviting with a vaulted ceiling and antique furnishings. I took one of the rooms located in a separate building on the lower level for $65 which included a parking space for my motorcycle right in front of my room, a king sized bed, free high speed internet, two free drinks at the bar, and a hot complimentary breakfast.

The outdoor Tiki Bar for the hotel was located right across the parking lot from my room. After unloading the bike and changing into my street clothes, I limped over to the bar and ordered a Cabernet. After serving me a healthy glass of wine, the bar tender brought out a chicken curry dish for the woman standing at the bar next to me. It looked delicious with two pompadons, chicken curry over a bed of rice, pan pieces cut into the shape of tortilla chips, and a condiment dish of mango chutney. I ordered the same. Two TVs were above the bar and tuned to two separate basketball games. Elevated propane heaters on stands warmed my back. While sipping my second glass of wine, a woman from one of the heated tables behind me came up to the bar to order a beer. She said, "Hey aren't you the woman that rode that motorcycle to the hotel earlier." She invited me to join her at the table with her boyfriend. Sandy was having a rare night out from her duties of caring for her three children.


The next morning, I entered the dining room for the complimentary hotel breakfast right after the two women wearing Equestrian riding gear-- tall black Aristocrat field boots and cotton/lycra khaki breeches. After I sat down at a table with my scrambled eggs and bacon bits, a man walked into the dining room wearing a white shirt with a red bow tie and black slacks. He sat down at the table next to mine. Another man walked in wearing a dark gray suit and whistling in a harsh tone. He joined the man with the red bow tie and said, "You've got to talk to that man. He's talking too much. The listeners are no longer listening."
"I've talked to him already," Mr. Bowtie said.
As the conversation continued between the two men, it was clear that they were attorneys in a divorce case.
Intrigued by the women in their Equestrian wear, I went back to my hotel room and Googled Aiken horses and found several stables nearby. I plotted my course through horse country. As I rode my motorcycle alongside well groomed horse farms, I smiled knowing that Mr. Bowtie and Mr. Whistler were sitting in a court room waiting for the man that talks too much to stop talking.