Reborn motel a reminder of pre-I-5 San Clemente

Long before there was a freeway in San Clemente, there was a motel, the Brisa del Mar, on Highway 101 at the south end of town.

In 1957, that motel was in the way of the freeway. It had to go.

Today – relocated to 711 S. El Camino Real, near the center of town – it is the Patriots' Motel.

On Friday, a onetime co-owner who had moved the motel in 1957 joined the new owners in a celebration of the reborn 64-year-old inn – oh, and its small role in bringing the I-5 Freeway to San Clemente.

Its role was that it, and a few other buildings, got out of the way.

Pete Limon, a longtime South County resident, acquired and renovated the motel with partner Rae Lunetta this year, renaming it the Patriots' Motel with a patriotic twist: Limon, 86 and a Pearl Harbor survivor, offers a $5 discount to everyone who rents. The guest can pocket it or place it in an envelope to the Wounded Warrior Fund.

Limon said he has raised about $900. Half the people pocket the discount. Half donate it. "Then you get the other type of guys that put $25 in the envelope," Limon said. "One woman, she says it's about time somebody does something for the wounded warriors."

Bertha Henry Taylor, 98, who owned the motel from 1957-60 with Realtor Steve Michalec, could relate to Limon's gesture. While running the Brisa del Mar, she assumed the role of house mom to Camp Pendleton Marines who would come into town on weekends with nothing to do.

"They needed a place to hang out," Taylor said. "They would be at the beach all day. They were too young to go to the bars. They would end up at my motel. Maybe a couple of them would rent, but there would be a dozen. Then they'd stick around here on Sunday ... and they'd want to help me clean rooms."

Taylor asked help from the Chamber of Commerce and others to start a Hospitality Center for Marines. A group formed, and a center ran for a decade in donated space at 414-416 S. El Camino Real until an Interfaith Servicemen's Center was set up at another site.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce made Taylor its first woman president.

Why revisit the 14-room motel now? "When I read about Pete buying this and what he's doing for the veterans, I thought, you know, Pete and I have the same mindset," Taylor said. "I took care of the kids. He took care of the wounded. I thought gee, I'd just like to be a part of that."

MEMORIES OF I-5

"San Clemente was struggling before the freeway," Taylor said, "but a lot of people didn't want to see this freeway go in. They didn't want to ruin our nice little town. There were only 7,200 people here when I came in 1957. I was all for it. Steve Michalec was all for it. He did a lot to bring that freeway here. I was president of the Apartment Hotel Motel Association at that time, and November, 1960, is when they cut the ribbon. My car was the first car across the ribbon."

Taylor said the freeway has been a boon for San Clemente. "People came through on the freeway that hated San Clemente before because it was a bottleneck," she said. "You couldn't cross the street on the weekends. The fact that they could look over and see this little Spanish village, it was amazing how many people came down and bought in San Clemente."

Contact the writer: fswegles@ocregister.com or 949-492-5127