A typical room at the Continental Inn on New Circle Road in Lexington, taken April 25, 2002. Built for $2 million in 1965 at what was then the edge of Lexington proper and lined with wrought-iron Mediterranean style, the Continental Inn was always a bit over the top, hosting Elvis conventions, psychic fairs and square-dancing conventions. The Rotary Club met there for years, too, and in 1976, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan presented the group’s high school academic awards to Lexington students. After 40 years of business, the iconic 319-room hotel closed in 2005. Recently, the storied motel’s final piece, a conference center area, was demolished. To see a photo from our archives of the hotel’s indoor pool, click here. Photo by Charles Bertram