Abandoned NC motel with national following becomes Florida woman’s tattoo. Here’s why

Kitschy roadside attractions from the late 20th century can have an almost cult-like national following, and the Warrior Motel outside Bryson City, North Carolina, is among the best known in the Southeast.

The motel, which is no longer open, has multiple web pages devoted to it — some claiming it’s haunted and all featuring its iconic sign of a muscular Native American man waving a tomahawk.

However, one fan from Jacksonville, Florida, took things to the next level days ago, when she had the sign tattooed on her leg, 11 inches high and exact enough to include even the rust spots.

Don Layton of Donno’s Higher Ground Tattoo says it took nearly four hours to apply the sign on Amy Harden-Orlow’s calf.

“I drive past that place fairly often, and I LOVE that sign,” Layton told McClatchy News. “I’ve done a lot of unusual tattoos, but the Warrior Motel tattoo is unusual in a different way. If you’re not from the area or a big fan of old motel signs, you’re not going to recognize it. It’s definitely not something you’re likely to see tattooed on someone else when you’re walking around.”

The Warrior Motel has earned its following in part because it was“THE place to stay in the 1960’s when traveling through the Smoky Mountains,” according to Cantonmg.com. The Smokies are one of the nation’s “most visited” national parks, according to the National Park Service. The arrival of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in 1997 and larger national chain motels put the motel and other family-run lodges out of business in the area, Cantonmg.com reports.

Nostalgia — and a haunting appearance — have made the motel fodder for sites like Pintrist.com, Strange Carolinas, Breathless Adventurer and Abandoned Places.

“We felt like we were being watched the entire time,” noted the latter in a 2010 article. “I kept expecting zombies to come creeping out of the bushes.”

There’s irony in the idea that Harden-Orlow, a healthcare recruiter, is now sporting a Warrior Motel tattoo: She never stayed in the motel. (A thrift store now operates in the office, she says.)

Her motives go beyond just an interest in classic roadside attractions, however. The tattoo is a tribute to her stepfather, Skippy, who died this summer at his mountain home not far from the motel, she told McClatchy News.

“The Warrior Motel is always the sign I see when I know it’s time to make the left turn to get to their house. I have always loved that sign and every time I would visit, I would always take photos of it,” Harden-Orlow said.

“Around Father’s Day, Skippy’s health had taken a turn for the worse, so I packed up all of my work stuff and came up to the mountains to work remotely and help my mom take care of Skippy. I arrived on June 26 and he passed away at home with us by his side on August 19.”

The tattoo is symbolic, both as a memorial to him and “to signify that the mountains had become my home, too,” she said.

“I am completely blown away every time I look at it,” Harden-Orlow said. “It has definitely become my favorite tattoo and I have been getting tattooed for over 25 years.”

One thing she decided not to include is the part of the sign that promises “remote cable TV, electric heat & air, picnic area, flower & water garden.”

“We had actually talked about that,” Layton says. “I had suggested we could use the sign to put her stepfather’s name and dates, or maybe a ‘Rest In Peace’ or ‘In Memory Of’ type thing, but she just wanted to eliminate it. Commemorative tattoos don’t always need to spell out that they are commemorative. The wearer knows what the image means.”