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03-24-2006, 03:00 AM
© 2006 SONewMex.com - Reprint Permission Granted
Drury Inn Billboard Advertises 7 San Antonio Locations??
By: Greg Platt - Staff Reporter
Don't tell management at Drury Inns, but we suspect they may be looking for a new ad agency soon. So if you're a New Mexico agency you might want to apply for the job.
An alert Steppin' Out staffer was quite surprised recently when driving south on I-25 just north of Lemitar to notice two huge billboards advertising Drury Inns' seven locations in San Antonio.
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Drury_100_0856_75dpi.jpg
Huh? Run that by us again, please?
That's right... just south of mile-marker 160 on I-25 southbound 9 miles north of Socorro and nineteen north of the tiny New Mexico village of San Antonio, there are two large billboards. One advertises Drury Inns' seven San Antonio locations. The second says they'll soon be adding hotels in Las Cruces too.
Anyone who has ever been to San Antonio, New Mexico knows there are not seven Drury Inns there! In fact there isn't even a "Motel 6" in San Antonio. Local historians do say Conrad Hilton's dad once ran a Mercantile and Boarding House in old San Antonio. But that boarding house burned down over 100 years ago. Since then as far as we know, there have been NO hotels or motels in San Antonio. But there are at least two fine Bed and Breakfasts there.
Then again, maybe Drury Inns knows something we don't. Maybe they're secretly planning to build seven new hotels in and around San Antonio? Boy, that'd be a heck of a boost to San Antonio's economy, that's for sure!
One thing is certain, the folks at Drury Inns agency aren't the first Texicans to get confused about the fact that there are at least two San Antonios. There's a funny story at the beginning of Conrad Hilton's biography, "Be My Guest" that tells how the governor of Texas once got confused the same way.
I was not born in Texas.
This unalterable fact caused a brief moment of embarrassment for Beauford H. Jester, one-time Governor of the Lone Star State. Governor Jester had kindly offered to make me a "Texan of Distinction." I had accepted the honor. The press was alert, the guests bidden to the traditional banquet.
At the eleventh hour a specter rose over the feast. There were many men to swear personally that I had bought my first hotel in Cisco, Texas -- built my first hotel in Dallas, Texas. But would anyone swear that I was actually born in that state? This condition, unbeknownst to me, was the prime requisite for the pending honor. Texans, it would seem, whether distinct or otherwise, are born and not made.
I got a frantic phone call from the Governor at my California home. "Connie," he said, "you were born in San Antonio, weren't you?"
"I was," I replied proudly. "San Antonio, Socorro County, Territory of New Mexico."
There was a silence. Then Governor Jester bounced back. "You will," he said, "become the only honorary Texan of Distinction in the world." At the banquet, he added that, in Texas, they "recognized only one San Antonio."
I replied mildly, as I became an honorary Texan of Distinction, that where I was born we knew there were two!"
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Drury_100_0855_75dpi.jpg
We're not kidding about those signs. But you don't have to take our word for the presence of those billboards. The photos in this article plus the one attached below clearly show the billboards we described along I-25 southbound just north of Lemitar.
Or for that matter, you can look for them yourself the next time you're driving south on I-25 near Lemitar.
It'll at least give you a chance to laugh a bit about the foolishness of Texicans and their obvious ignorance about local geography. Heck, we'll bet they're still lookin' for these darned signs over in Texas! Or maybe they've got a secret plan to sneak into the state and steal I-25 when we're not lookin. Now wouldn't that be just like Texicans?
[Truth in Publishing Disclaimer: I once lived in Texas and was sort of proud back then to call myself a "Texican". Today, I poke fun at Texicans every chance I get. After a decade of bein' foreigners in Texas, we moved to the great state of "Muriland". (Trust me, natives of that state do NOT pronounce it "Maryland".) Five years ago, we finally made the move we'd been wanting to make for 27 years and I brought my child-bride back to her home-state of New Mexico. We darn sure ain't leavin. I intend to keep livin' in the Free State of Socorro until they carry my ashes across the state line in a Hefty trash bag and dispose of me in a Texas dumpster.
One more thing... Steppin' Out Reporter Ben Moffett was the one who dug up that tall tale about Conrad Hilton and the Governor of Texas. If it's a big fat lie, blame Ben for it. If it's the gospel truth, then I'll be happy to take the credit! Thanks for the help, Ben! ;)]
Drury Inn Billboard Advertises 7 San Antonio Locations??
By: Greg Platt - Staff Reporter
Don't tell management at Drury Inns, but we suspect they may be looking for a new ad agency soon. So if you're a New Mexico agency you might want to apply for the job.
An alert Steppin' Out staffer was quite surprised recently when driving south on I-25 just north of Lemitar to notice two huge billboards advertising Drury Inns' seven locations in San Antonio.
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Drury_100_0856_75dpi.jpg
Huh? Run that by us again, please?
That's right... just south of mile-marker 160 on I-25 southbound 9 miles north of Socorro and nineteen north of the tiny New Mexico village of San Antonio, there are two large billboards. One advertises Drury Inns' seven San Antonio locations. The second says they'll soon be adding hotels in Las Cruces too.
Anyone who has ever been to San Antonio, New Mexico knows there are not seven Drury Inns there! In fact there isn't even a "Motel 6" in San Antonio. Local historians do say Conrad Hilton's dad once ran a Mercantile and Boarding House in old San Antonio. But that boarding house burned down over 100 years ago. Since then as far as we know, there have been NO hotels or motels in San Antonio. But there are at least two fine Bed and Breakfasts there.
Then again, maybe Drury Inns knows something we don't. Maybe they're secretly planning to build seven new hotels in and around San Antonio? Boy, that'd be a heck of a boost to San Antonio's economy, that's for sure!
One thing is certain, the folks at Drury Inns agency aren't the first Texicans to get confused about the fact that there are at least two San Antonios. There's a funny story at the beginning of Conrad Hilton's biography, "Be My Guest" that tells how the governor of Texas once got confused the same way.
I was not born in Texas.
This unalterable fact caused a brief moment of embarrassment for Beauford H. Jester, one-time Governor of the Lone Star State. Governor Jester had kindly offered to make me a "Texan of Distinction." I had accepted the honor. The press was alert, the guests bidden to the traditional banquet.
At the eleventh hour a specter rose over the feast. There were many men to swear personally that I had bought my first hotel in Cisco, Texas -- built my first hotel in Dallas, Texas. But would anyone swear that I was actually born in that state? This condition, unbeknownst to me, was the prime requisite for the pending honor. Texans, it would seem, whether distinct or otherwise, are born and not made.
I got a frantic phone call from the Governor at my California home. "Connie," he said, "you were born in San Antonio, weren't you?"
"I was," I replied proudly. "San Antonio, Socorro County, Territory of New Mexico."
There was a silence. Then Governor Jester bounced back. "You will," he said, "become the only honorary Texan of Distinction in the world." At the banquet, he added that, in Texas, they "recognized only one San Antonio."
I replied mildly, as I became an honorary Texan of Distinction, that where I was born we knew there were two!"
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Drury_100_0855_75dpi.jpg
We're not kidding about those signs. But you don't have to take our word for the presence of those billboards. The photos in this article plus the one attached below clearly show the billboards we described along I-25 southbound just north of Lemitar.
Or for that matter, you can look for them yourself the next time you're driving south on I-25 near Lemitar.
It'll at least give you a chance to laugh a bit about the foolishness of Texicans and their obvious ignorance about local geography. Heck, we'll bet they're still lookin' for these darned signs over in Texas! Or maybe they've got a secret plan to sneak into the state and steal I-25 when we're not lookin. Now wouldn't that be just like Texicans?
[Truth in Publishing Disclaimer: I once lived in Texas and was sort of proud back then to call myself a "Texican". Today, I poke fun at Texicans every chance I get. After a decade of bein' foreigners in Texas, we moved to the great state of "Muriland". (Trust me, natives of that state do NOT pronounce it "Maryland".) Five years ago, we finally made the move we'd been wanting to make for 27 years and I brought my child-bride back to her home-state of New Mexico. We darn sure ain't leavin. I intend to keep livin' in the Free State of Socorro until they carry my ashes across the state line in a Hefty trash bag and dispose of me in a Texas dumpster.
One more thing... Steppin' Out Reporter Ben Moffett was the one who dug up that tall tale about Conrad Hilton and the Governor of Texas. If it's a big fat lie, blame Ben for it. If it's the gospel truth, then I'll be happy to take the credit! Thanks for the help, Ben! ;)]