It is the provocative nature
of legend that inspires poetry, song, and a sense of having been “in the room”
or “witness to history in the making”. It is the creative nature of
entertaining an audience, even of one, that accommodates the gift of story-telling.
The Barbee Hotel on Barbee Lake
Legend has it that Clark Gable, Carol
Lombard, Rita Hayworth, Al Capone and other such notable folk have stayed at
the Barbee, and not only while they were living, but afterward as well.
A brief survey of Google searches will confirm
that these stories about ghosts, Prohibition day bad-boys and hide-away movie
stars are many and multi-perspectived.
Now, I don’t want to seem dismissive of
these stories which many folk claim with a sense of “local pride”. By golly, I
sincerely hope they are all true! But also, I know how the slightest suggestion
of fact invites that fact to attract hearsay evidence and present it as
“how-dare-you-contest-it” reputable.
My post here about the Barbee
and its famous history is surely not to confirm or debunk the truth. I leave
that to the haunts and their witnesses.
My intent is to celebrate the Barbee Hotel as the home
of legend and story, to whatever degree of truth it may host.
Sherry and I had dinner at the Barbee Hotel
Restaurant tonight. The food was great. Amy, our waitress, provided excellent
service!
Sherry and I had sensible meals, but, when
our waitress asked about desert, our spirits must have been inspired by the
haunting cinematic history of the place and we felt like Indulgent movie stars.
So, we shared a Black Raspberry Ombre Cake.
But the reason why I wanted to have dinner
there was to “be in the room” of the stuff of legend. Much like sailing a ship
through the Bermuda Triangle, the story, the sincerity of belief of the
tellers, means more to me than the factual qualities which may or may not be
substantiated. The sensationalism of folklore is much more appealing to me than
the dry fact of someone’s supposed signature on an ancient hotel register.
So what if Al Capone stayed
in room 301! So what if he did not!
I hope with all that I am
that after I depart there will be stories that Mike Settles stayed in some
notable hotel, drove some unique automobile or otherwise made wonderfully great
some otherwise good but common thing or place. I envy Rita Hayworth her
continuing role as a spirit at the Barbee. I hope that the ghost of Mike
Settles haunts some movie theater or restaurant thereby enriching its legendary
cultural identity.
I invite you to visit the
Barbee for dinner.
And tell them Mike sent you.
They will still insist that you pay.
You can find out more about
the Barbee Hotel at:
https://www.facebook.com/Barbee-Hotel-112898158721460/
