Quirky Sleeps by Bruce and Susan Armstrong

It’s Not Always the Destination

Quirky Sleeps by Bruce and Susan Armstrong is a travel book that lists unusual hotels across the United States.  If you’re ready to ditch plain old ordinary motels and make your sleeping quarters part of your vacation adventure, you may want to check out this book.  Organized by state, you will find information on unique hotels including contact information, price range indication, and a description of the room as well as the Armstrongs’ personal experience at the facility.  You can also look up quirky sleeps by genre.  Whether you’re looking to spend the night in a boat, railroad car, wigwam, or even a jail, you’ll find it in this book. 

While all this information may be available on the Internet, it is not compiled and organized in this easy-to-use, easy-to-get-excited-about handy reference.  The only small complaint I have about this book is that the black and white photos are not on the corresponding pages with the descriptions—they’re randomly scattered throughout the book, which makes it difficult to get a quick peek of the “hotel” unless you flip through each page or log on your computer.  This, however, was not detrimental enough to lose any value of the book.  In fact, I was so excited about this book that I have already purchased a few more as gifts. 

My husband and I planned our vacation after we purchased this book.  And while our vacation isn’t until July, we’ve made reservations and are looking forward to staying in a tree house, a railroad car, and a tug boat (which wasn’t in the book but inspired by it). I’ll let you know how it goes. 

In the meantime, we’ve already been to an anniversary getaway in the Dog Bark Park B&B in Cottonwood, Idaho!  This was a dream-come true for me. I actually saw this bed and breakfast on a road trip years ago and always wanted to stay there.  When we received Quirky Sleeps in the mail and saw a picture of the Dog Bark Park B&B right on the front cover, I finally booked a reservation. I'm so glad we did.  It was doggone awesome! 

We loved it!  The owners Frances and Dennis were very warm and welcoming. The room was stocked with books on dogs, unusual hotels, and interesting travel guides.  There were games and there was also a section in the head and nose of the dog dedicated to kids. The bed was soft and cozy with a headboard made up of carved wooden dogs created by Dennis who is also an artist.  

Breakfast was ready for us in the fridge and consisted of fruit, yogurts, homemade (and very yummy) granola, muffins, coffee cake, along with cheeses and hard boiled eggs. It was quite a spread, which we enjoyed by a window with a nice view of rolling hills. We had a great time! How many people can say they've spent the night in the belly of a dog? Well, now we can.  :) 

So, if traveling for you is not always about the destination, but about the journey, check out Quirky Sleeps.

Obviously, this book met one of my 2015 Book Challenges: Read a travel book.

Happy Reading, Happy Travels

Annette