‘Perhaps best described as a novelty pod hotel, ‘The Backseat Bed and Breakfast’ has taken a motley fleet of vehicles otherwise destined for the junkyard and repurposed them as strange little rooms within rooms. Stripped of their engines, the cars and trucks sit in tight garages and on custom hydraulic frames. Though one might pay a premium for finer upholstery or wider cars, the core experience of ‘The BBB’ is that of hucking one’s belongings into the trunk and curling into the backseat while the proprietary hydraulics gently rock the car from below and a simple light show mimics the headlights of an occasional passing car or the overhead streetlights of a quiet suburban neighborhood. Engine noises can be toggled and custom ambience, based upon preferred locales, is available upon request. One is welcome to consider what other backseat experiences might be relived at ‘The BBB,’ though the owners insist it is strictly a family friendly establishment.
Breakfast includes burned coffee and copycat items from popular fast food menus that taste so alike their inspiring dishes one must assume ‘The BBB’ employs a fast driver rather than an ingenious chef.’
My family had a boxy old sedan of some sort- I’ve never been much for makes and models. Business is slow enough at ‘The BBB’ that I get a little tour of the available rooms and find something similar at the lowest price tier. It isn’t a nice car- I didn’t expect it to be.
Hector spends the night in the passenger seat, sniffing at all the cracks and crevices before settling into sleep. I do some reading and click the overhead light off around nine. By then I can hardly keep my eyes open. The backseat is as I remember- only just wide enough. The precipice threatens each time I shift against the belt buckle of the middle seat. The plastic door creaks each time I try to find the room to stretch. It isn’t comfortable but I sleep anyway, smelling cigarettes and coffee in the fabric under a rolled up hoodie ‘The BBB’ provided as a pillow.
The car lurches and tosses me to the floor at seven sharp: the wakeup call I asked for in the form of a simulated speedbump. Hector hops onto my body from the front and tries to settle in for sleep again before I push him off and extricate myself. We eat our egg sandwich and hit the road, feeling as though we never really stopped.
-traveler
