Roy's Motel and Cafe, building in California, United States
Roy's Motel and Cafe is a small roadside motel with an attached diner in Amboy, a near-ghost town in the Mojave Desert of California. The property consists of a low row of rooms and a separate diner building, sitting in open desert with flat, dry land all around.
The property opened in the 1930s when Route 66 was the main road connecting the Midwest to the West Coast, and Amboy was a busy stop for drivers and truckers. After interstate highways bypassed the town in the following decades, Amboy emptied out and Roy's became one of the few structures still standing.
Roy's sits along Route 66, the old road that once carried generations of Americans westward toward California. Photographers and road travelers stop here regularly because the setting captures a feeling that is hard to find on modern highways.
The site is deep in the desert, far from larger towns, so it is a good idea to arrive with a full tank of gas and enough water for the day. Summer heat in this part of California can be very intense, and visiting in the cooler months or early in the morning makes the experience more comfortable.
The Roy's sign, a tall neon structure dating from the 1950s, has appeared in so many films and music videos that it is one of the most photographed signs along the entire old road. The town of Amboy was once sold as a single property, changing hands in 2005 for around 425,000 dollars.
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