The Red Apple Rest

Took a wrong turn and ran smack into my past: The Red Apple Rest, a way station for city travelers on their way to the Catskills, abandoned now for nearly 30 years. Had no idea she still existed.

The Red Apple Rest

Beautiful in her ghostly repose, she inspired this poem:

THE RED APPLE REST

Came upon her by accident

and as surprised as when

she loomed up at us

as we breached that far hill

in the Studebaker

The Red Apple Rest

that boyhood vision

ship-like

in all her sweeping glory

magic oasis for urban escapees

Snack bar windows yawning

for the idling Fords, Mercs and Greyhounds

engines hotter than Venus

dogs, malts, pastrami

loudspeakers and mothers’ calls

Free to roam and exult for a time

gape at the oddities

men with beards

girls with midriffs

until back in the oven car

stuffed with pillows and dishes

and dreams of an endless summer

 

Filed under: lifestyle, literature, media, New York City, photography, poetry, travel, Uncategorized, writing Tagged: allen shadow, Catskills, poetry, Red Apple Rest, rest stops, Route 17, Tuxedo NY, writing