Love Valley: Pt. 1: Miscellaneous Horses
2017; University of North Carolina Press; Volume: 23; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/scu.2017.0012
ISSN1534-1488
Autores Tópico(s)Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
ResumoLove ValleyPt. 1: Miscellaneous Horses Michaela O'Brien (bio) I think I'd been there five minutes when Larry pulled up alongside me in a golf cart, abruptly. My camera dangled from my neck as I approached him. "You know there's a fifty dollar fine for taking photos in Love Valley." "Oh, well … I didn't think …" I muttered. "I'm just kidding with you, girl!" he wheezed. "You ain't from around here, huh? What're you doin' in Love Valley, girl?" Good question. I liked Larry. "I just came to check it out." I first saw Love Valley on Visit North Carolina's tourism website under the "quirky" section of "Things To Do." It promised me that I would depart from the ordinary when arriving in this remote town nestled in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains. In its brief description the .2 square mile town was declared a "Cowboy Capital," the only place for cowboys east of the Mississippi. I hoped all ninety-eight residents would prove it to me. Another golf cart whizzed past. A man who looked like Larry drove one-handedly in a cowboy hat and sleeveless T-shirt, his wife watching the world pass from the back seat while stroking her pet Chihuahua. "You want a tour of Love Valley? I'll take you on a tour. Get in!" I hesitated but jumped in alongside Larry. "You want a beer?" he asked, as he cracked open a Bud Light from under the seat. To be honest, I couldn't hear much of anything he said to me over the cart's engine and his slurred speech. In the bar afterwards, Larry's friend Patch (for his patched eye) told me to be careful. Patch was on America's Most Wanted List. I checked later. Nobody in our nation's lineup quite resembled him, but, yes, I thought, I should be careful. While the signs encouraged me and other women to be a cowgirl and "party 'till he's cute," I calmly drank in the words of my new friends and the neon essence of the Busch Light, Miller Lite, Natural Light, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Michelob Ultra logos on the walls. On the way out I read another sign: "my next husband will be normal." Love Valley was established in 1954 by the late Andy Barker, a successful contractor from Charlotte, North Carolina, who at the age of thirty uprooted his wife and two children to this remote area of the Piedmont's rolling hills. He had one dream: to build an old Western town, a valley that would embody "a boy's dream and a man's reality." He had dreamt of this idyllic town while serving in the war, writing descriptive dream letters to his mama back in the US of A. [End Page 6] Click for larger view View full resolution Necktie, Michaela O'Brien, digital collage, 2016. [End Page 7] Click for larger view View full resolution Six Shooter, Michaela O'Brien, 2016. Dear Momma, Been in a fox hole all day—tonight I'm thinking and planning … my western town … best idea yet since I've gotten my new partner, the Lord. I'm bound to make it. I know that with Him, my purpose and complete faith, anything is possible. My part of the bargain is to build a town, a Christian Community with clean recreation and strive to help people know more about God and His outdoors. I know I'd never make a preacher, but can build a church and help out personally in many ways. We can keep young boys occupied and out of trouble by letting them help run the place.1 A recreation of pioneer days, only horses and foot traffic are allowed on the dirt Main Street. Flash-front stores and saloons bring to mind a John Wayne movie, but also conjure an eerie ghostliness at quieter times of day. I watched a young couple trot by, bouncing on their Confederate flag saddle blankets past the first structure Andy Barker built: the Love Valley Presbyterian Church, situated slightly aslant at the top of Mitchell Trail. The second building...
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