Click thumbnails to see fullsize images

Heading to the southwestern corner of the Peach State, you can’t miss the Candlelight Motel reclining off highway 27 in the town of Columbus, home of Fort Benning and the Ranger Training School. Where else will you find a motel sign shaped like a giant candleholder? Shoot some photos but remember your personal safety. The Candlelight may have once provided a novel stop between monotonous hours of highway driving but its value as a family motel has declined with the economy in these parts. Throughout town, businesses proclaim their love for the troops with yellow ribbons and “welcome home” signs, but the town also invokes the less gallant side of the military economy with its plethora of pawn shops, payday loan stores and title “buy back” opportunities. For locals who have slipped off the last wrung, a national firm advertises on gaudy billboards, “We Buy Ugly Houses.”

Atlanta, GA, Motel Postcard (click for larger view)

All text copyright Andrew Wood. Photos copyright Jenny Wood and Andy Wood.