Along the way there have been days that were inspiring and sometimes even quite emotional. There were days that were frustrating as our quests did not go as hoped. There were days dominated by traffic and/or bad directions. There have been days that were frenetic and others that were mellow. Some days seemed to have it all but there is only one word for yesterday June 3rd.......... FUN!
We left North Carolina and headed into Virginia. The rolling hills and rivers are quite idyllic and beautiful. There are endless small towns; all with more churches than people. Nothing in particular of the Oddasee ilk on our trek through some very narrow back roads. Our goal is an area that sounded like the complete antithesis to all this green and small village splendor. Natural Bridge, VA has been described as a "mini-mecca of roadside attractions". Our curious souls hoped for some "good silliness" not the over wrought and full on hard sell of the Florida panhandle. Frankly we are quite dis-enamored with most of that stuff but after all "Foamhenge" was one of our targets for the region.
Arriving in Natural Bridge proved to be quite different than any area we had yet to visit. The "town" is dominated by a very large hotel/resort/amusement center etc. Everything seems to fall under the domain of one organization. There's a cavern tour, a nature hike, wax museum, toy museum and somewhere there must be a "natural bridge". We decided to just drive around and see what's what before committing to any activity or package ticket. On that hunting expedition we came across something called "Haunted House and Dinosaur Kingdom" -- fun sign but alas, closed (and appeared not to be open for the season).... drat! There's also a very large petting zoo and "safari" where one drives through an area and feed large wild-ish animals that stick there heads into your car window and decide whether the Purina biscuits are better eatin' than the children. We began to think "Uh Oh! It's Redneck Riviera again."
We saw the "Foamhenge" sign and drove into the lot. Hmmm interesting, no fee. So we parked and climbed the hill to what can only be called an obvious roadside attraction of astounding proportion. Susan and I need not travel to the countryside outside of Amesbury in Wiltshire, England for we have seen Stonehenge..... yep this is a full size replica of the real thing. There is one thing special about this quirky venue, the signage is very funny and the author has a twisted sense of humor. Aside from the plague of biting flies, this not so little curiosity was wonderfully odd. (another creation of the artist below).
So off further down the road we traveled and came upon a sign announcing "The Enchanted Castle".
We drove into the yard/parking area. We were aimed to the large garage-like building. This is where we made first contact with Mark Cline -- artist, performer and roadside attraction creature builder extraordinaire. He said that our having ignored the no trespassing and 10 commandments signs means we passed the test and were now welcome. Mark is a very friendly guy and instantly felt like a friend. He told us his story and all about Enchanted Castle Studios; it is a long and fascinating story. The short version is that this guy has made creatures, monsters, animals, larger than life characters and props for and impressive list of roadside attractions, zoos, stores etc. He is super-energetic, ambitious and productive plus he gives a lot to the community.
Here's a snippet from an article on the Roadside America website. You will read about one incident that boggles the mind:
"We met Mark an hour earlier, a few miles north and west, at his workplace named Enchanted Castle Studios. Mark, a wiry man with arms like steel cables, has been building dinosaurs, giant Yogi Bears, Johnny Appleseeds, robots, pirates, bugs, leprechauns, monsters, and space aliens -- mostly for America’s roadside attractions -- since he was 18. "This is all I do," he tells us when we ask. "I just totally slam with it." The Enchanted Castle was his tourist attraction in the 1990s, acting as a gallery for his craziest work and a stage for his carnival barker sense of showmanship.
That ended in April 2001, when the Castle was gutted by a mysterious fire. Mark believes -- with some credible evidence to support him -- that it was arson, set by local Christian zealots who were spooked by his fiberglass gargoyles and demons and perhaps none-too-pleased by the "Holy Cow" statue out by the mailbox."
Mark told us more about the unbelievable nightmare of having his studio torched by some misguided so called Christian extremists. There was even a note left in the mailbox explaining their "in the name of God" rationalization for bringing "fire down upon his evil work." The local Keystone cops did little to find the culprits and blew lead after lead with no results but many in town likely know who was involved. In what seems to be his nature, he just moved on to bigger and better things. Mark remembers watching his attraction burn. "People couldn't understand how I couldn't be angry. But in my mind, I was already rebuilding. I just don't give up, dude." Keep in mind that this guy gives a lot to his community; including many local church events and causes. Most recently, he was the only non-veteran asked to speak at the Memorial Day services; his is widely respected and appreciated.
"We met Mark an hour earlier, a few miles north and west, at his workplace named Enchanted Castle Studios. Mark, a wiry man with arms like steel cables, has been building dinosaurs, giant Yogi Bears, Johnny Appleseeds, robots, pirates, bugs, leprechauns, monsters, and space aliens -- mostly for America’s roadside attractions -- since he was 18. "This is all I do," he tells us when we ask. "I just totally slam with it." The Enchanted Castle was his tourist attraction in the 1990s, acting as a gallery for his craziest work and a stage for his carnival barker sense of showmanship.
That ended in April 2001, when the Castle was gutted by a mysterious fire. Mark believes -- with some credible evidence to support him -- that it was arson, set by local Christian zealots who were spooked by his fiberglass gargoyles and demons and perhaps none-too-pleased by the "Holy Cow" statue out by the mailbox."
Mark told us more about the unbelievable nightmare of having his studio torched by some misguided so called Christian extremists. There was even a note left in the mailbox explaining their "in the name of God" rationalization for bringing "fire down upon his evil work." The local Keystone cops did little to find the culprits and blew lead after lead with no results but many in town likely know who was involved. In what seems to be his nature, he just moved on to bigger and better things. Mark remembers watching his attraction burn. "People couldn't understand how I couldn't be angry. But in my mind, I was already rebuilding. I just don't give up, dude." Keep in mind that this guy gives a lot to his community; including many local church events and causes. Most recently, he was the only non-veteran asked to speak at the Memorial Day services; his is widely respected and appreciated.
After the studio tour and tales of his artist path, he told us to go back down to "Haunted Museum" and "The Dinosaur Kingdom" and gave us permission of walk around the locked gate and just have a fun time after hours. Yippee!! a wacko roadside attraction amusement park all to ourselves. Now we could get into the actual old museum/building but had free rein throughout the rest of the joint. Again we can't really describe it accurately but each and everyone of you would have had a grand old time in this crazy world that came from the head and hands of Mark Cline. This guy has a phenomenally quirky sense of humor, i,e., you will see a couple of shots from the Dinosaur Kingdom's Civil War Union soldiers (and Abe Lincoln) meet the Tyrannosaurus Rex.... say what? Yes the storyline all comes from Mark's comic book. Yes it all so very Satanic and evil.... oh brother!
Yes we got to meet another man that is more amazing than fiction. Truth is, if we lived nearer by, I bet we would all be good friends and partners in art crimes of a fantastic and humorous sort.
WE HAD A BLAST! WISH YOU WERE!
Love and Monsters,
Rodney and Susan
No comments:
Post a Comment