Here is my Swamp Fox Inn story. Early 1980s. It was late at night and I was driving my Mom through South Carolina on I95 on our way to Florida. I was dead tired. I would ask as we passed billboards for various hotels and motels, "what about there?" "No." she said. Miles and miles and miles. We would pull up to a hotel and she or I would go in to check the rates. "$90.00, Mom, pleeeeease?" "$75.00" "No." "Oh.My.God." Back on the interstate.
That is, until we saw a dilapidated wooden sign that appeared out of the foggy night for "The Swamp Fox Inn" and an advertised rate of something in the ballpark of $19.99. "Mom, not that place." Vroom, off the highway we go. I will say my memory of the fog over "The Swamp Fox" sign and motel may be an invention of a mind corrupted by fear and trauma.
Here is what I remember, after years of trying to block it out. A dozen young hooligans sitting on cars, drinking, smoking and drunkenly yelling. Guests of the parking lot, not the motel. Absolutely nothing in the room worked, not the phone, the T.V. or the shower. Everything bolted down or chained to prevent the theft of things I could not imagine anyone ever wanting to steal. I remember being afraid. We were supposed to call my Dad to tell him where we were (pre-cell phone days). "No one knows where we are" and "we can't call the police" were my panicky thoughts. This.Is.It. This is the part if in a movie where you scream, "GET OUT NOW!!!!!" I could hear gunshots and yelling and bottles breaking. I eventually feel asleep on the creepiest bed linen in the Southern United States and dreamt of chalk outlines. In the morning (again, I recall fog) everything looked downtrodden, but the people of the parking lot were gone. I have never forgotten that night.
Here is where it gets really funny. When I googled the hotel, there was a review from "C.W." dated 1/2/14 on YELP that read, "When I was a kid in the late 90's, my father drove my sister and I from Connecticut to Florida to see Disney World. I'll never forget Swamp Fox Inn. We stopped here so my dad could get some rest after a long drive and checked us in for only 20 dollars a night for two twin beds. What I remember about the room. an old analog television chained to the table. The table bolted to the floor. Multiple holes in the wall. Water backing up into the bathtub when you flushed the toilet. Gunshots in the parking lot in the middle of the night. I was too young to fear for my life back then but old enough to have the memories of that room seared into my mind forever. Thanks South Carolina!"
I read the review to my Mom, Dad and son. My son looked afraid, like it could happen to him. My father shook his head. My Mom cracked up. Thank you CW for the laugh. read more