You Can Never Go Back

"You can never go back," I heard them say.

At first I didn't believe those words.

"Of course, you can," I thought.

But over the years, I've proven myself wrong again and again. Several times, I've gone back to my childhood neighborhood in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Those yards and streets that once were filled with my young friends, most of whom were the children of professors at then Mary Washington College, were different from almost the moment we left. The city grew and sprawled out into malls and suburbia that overtook the farmland. My uncle's horse stable is gone, replaced by highways and businesses I never imagined would one day exist there.

"Hotel Del Cornado" ©Mary Montague Sikes

Even the places I've only visited change ever so quickly. A couple of years ago, I returned to the Hotel Del Coronado, a favorite destination from my book, Hotels to Remember. To my surprise and disappointment, the beaches looked different there. The sands were far more crowded than I remembered. But the sturdy old building was the same in many ways. For that, I was thankful.

Many of the hotels from my book are different now. Some changed their outside appearances before the ink was dry. One of my favorites, the Adams Mark St. Louis, was soon gone. I enjoyed looking from my hotel window, down on the outdoor art gallery below, so I was especially sad. Hilltop House in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia has been closed for several years, but a movement is underway to reopen it.

The children are gone; the landscape, changed; the hotels, different.

"You can never go back," they said.

"You can never go back," I agree.

Hotels Book - Only a "Snapshot in Time"

Earlier this century, when I wrote my classic hotels book, Hotels to Remember, I never once realized how quickly the old edifices transform. Not only are the buildings renovated, expanded, and redecorated, they also change ownership.

When I read today about the sale by DuPont of their 130-year-old theater located with the 12-story Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, I was especially saddened. I included a side segment about that theater in my book which devotes a large section to the beautiful old hotel that is filled with numerous art treasures.

Almost before my book was off the presses, one of the hotels had added a new section that transformed its size and guest perception. I hadn't anticipated a change so quickly. I also had not expected sales to new ownerships that gave different faces and names to the structures. One of the hotels I selected because I found its relationship with the community so special was closed several years ago with the anticipation of renovation and reopening. That project for Hilltop House in Harper's Ferry WV was put on hold in 2010. The St. Louis hotels I included have been renamed or are gone. Only the ancient and truly historic places like the Hotel Del Coronado in California, the El Tovar on the edge of the Grand Canyon, and the Homestead in Hot Springs VA have remained the same. And these special destinations have undergone a few renovations.

Someone mentioned to me several years ago that a book like mine is truly a "Snapshot in Time." I understand that now. In fact, my publisher has taken out sections from my book, and we have created little "Snapshot in Time" books.

While I was writing my coffee table book, I wish I had understood how quickly things can change. Even so, I would still be distressed by the sale of the DuPont Theater that will be renamed The Playhouse on Rodney Square. Sadly, hotel books can only be "A Snapshot in Time."