The REAL Old West Ghost Town of Love Valley NC - No Cars Allowed / Cowboy Capital & Woodstock South
Love Valley North Carolina
Transcript
0:03
today's adventure brings me to a very
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rainy overcast
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dreary
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north carolina morning
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corner of mountain view road and
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wilkesboro highway turning off of
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wilkesboro onto mountain view to a town
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that once i get a little closer to the
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downtown section
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does not allow motor vehicles only
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walking and or horses
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the town was established in 1954 and
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chartered in the early 60s
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the town
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of love valley
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cowboy capital
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here in north carolina
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i need to get my umbrella it's wet and
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as the recording of this it is thursday
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february 3rd
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2022
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and even though my windshield has
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dampened it will the rain will not
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dampen my mood for a little old west fun
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i'm pretty excited about this
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up here just a ways the paved road will
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end
1:02
the goodness will begin
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yeah i would imagine
1:06
that's right i'm talking to you cows
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over there i know you're trying to graze
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a little bit or at least
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feed on some hay but you must feel right
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at home
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adjacent to a cowboy town a real life
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cowboy town i see you down there
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i see you down there cow
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i'm going the right way correct
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am i going the right way
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just head this way keep going
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okay cows
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have a good day all right
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i'll talk to you talk to you later
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here's some birds
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some owls
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speed limit 25 that direction where i am
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heading
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is right over here with the sign
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says please leave our trails clean
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part of the love valley horsemen's
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association
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and there is a big heart right here
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i would imagine there will be a parking
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area up the way a bit before getting
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into the dirt trails
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andy barker
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was the man to thank for this little
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community
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he wanted to create a western town
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like those he had seen in the movies
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and on tv the old cereal western serials
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in fact this is andy's hardware
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he passed away 10 years ago
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but his creation his dream still lives
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on
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to this day
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about a quarter of a mile up that way is
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where i'm gonna be parking
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this is a pretty good place to do the
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intro
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and
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welcome everyone adam the woo here
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not really sure why i need these on but
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i'm inviting you
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to join me as i go into the old west
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shall you a list of rules
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the town rules or maybe it says
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love valley town rules
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i think it's supposed to mean love
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valley town rules
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50 fine for littering
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garbage to be discarded in the
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correct places no loose horses
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no mistreatment
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no running of horses within town limits
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i did not bring my horse
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main street is closed to motor vehicles
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this is a real life
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frontierland
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disneyland magic kingdom
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those places
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you can't ride a horse through there
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known as the cowboy capital
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look at this got an instrument this
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wrought iron
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is that a possum upside down playing the
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banjo this is the town hall right here
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with this grill in front of us that's
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all the sign right there town hall just
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going down this very small descent into
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the valley
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going over to the parking area
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hello there
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are you a resident
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i think that was a resident
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it's a local
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this is called blacksmith cove
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see the sign right down there
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blacksmith cove
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okay i found the parking area
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right here precipitation has begun to
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fall again i have
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i have this to shield me from the
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elements now right here this little mud
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patch the rain is creating quite a bit
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of mud
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is the parking area
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and no automobiles are allowed any
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further
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than this so i am going to tread through
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here
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my tennis shoes are probably going to
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get a little muddy
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it's all part of the experience
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miss kitties
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has some vacancy it's a bed and
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breakfast makes miss kitties
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just like the old western show gunsmoke
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you could stay in a old western town
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almost looks like a little bit of clay
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through here as well
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that red clay
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does not really seem to be a beehive of
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activity out here by any means room and
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board
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look at that that is so cool
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there's ted williams
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promoting his root beer
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hello partner
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i even got the porch swings over here
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that's nice it's a nice vibe with the
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words across there draping down love
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valley
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the old west this is about as old west
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modern day
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as you can get
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again stated
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no horses on boardwalk over here no
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motorized vehicles on main street i love
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this is called main street and no open
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containers
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i feel like
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i feel like that's just part of the vibe
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of how it would have been
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unpaved roads there's that dog again
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dog has moved up here
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to the main street corridor
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supposedly there are about 100 150
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residents total
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okay this has a little info
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a cowboy and a cowgirl dream come true
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created by andy and eleanor barker
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him and his wife
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is this a showdown on main street dog
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okay you've turned away
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i thought it was going to be one of
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those old western movie moments where
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i'm standing here all the town folk are
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watching us
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we're gonna draw okay keep looking away
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it'll kill me from eye contact
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draw
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draw dog
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like a friendly friendly pooch
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look at this place for real look
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what am i standing in right now
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this is like a movie set it's like an
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old west movie set
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incredible
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behind this fence line
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is a small waterfall beautiful waterfall
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back in here in a rock garden
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kind of shifting back the other way
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where i just walked from
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this is looking back at the entry point
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where no vehicles are allowed
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those cars over there are not in the
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public parking that is a private
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residence
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where there's either a store front or
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maybe even apartments up there
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and once again one of the one of the
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locals
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saying hello
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i am the only one out here that i see
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it's me and this dog
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nothing is open here
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hello
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they do have an atm
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oh how's it going
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all right i found another
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another human
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and i did not bring my horse but they do
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have a horse here for 50 cents
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that you can ride this horse is making
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quite the
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quite the face
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i'm gonna get out of this rain i'm gonna
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get out of i have my umbrella but
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i'm gonna get out of the out of the
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elements
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some weeping fans
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right there
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okay now there is an automobile probably
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one of the other residents that's tucked
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away back behind there
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does it appear like this place is open
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for business not a lot of tourism now i
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know it is raining and that could have a
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lot to do with it
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there is molly's leather right there
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but other than that i don't really see a
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lot of stores through here
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and i've got to find a saloon if there's
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an old saloon
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so next to the leather shop
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this place
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does not look like a business maybe a
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and these do not have any signage saying
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it's a business
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all of these on this side though that
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church pew there
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but through here
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this could have been or possibly still
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is just not open today
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henry martin trail
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nothing's open through here nothing
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though this says differently the general
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store says open
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it's not open also a cafe the general
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store and cafe
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getting quite the feelings right now
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this is kind of unusual i gotta be
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honest
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a little unusual
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it's like i've stumbled into
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a desolate abandoned town
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but it's a real community where people
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live
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sure the rain
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and dreariness does not help at
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all this is called the silver spur
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saloon and restaurant they have fine
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food casual dining and live country
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music on occasions
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today is not that day the interesting
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thing down at the very end by the not
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this red door but the other one down at
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the end of the the little platform here
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there is some music playing i tried
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opening the door it was completely
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completely locked so now i'm going to
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pass by the dance hall signage and that
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fan
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and go past this other red door to the
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chicken
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coop
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back here this says
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bad water drink
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drink at the bar back around here is the
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coop are there any chickens in here
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chickens
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okay this says open
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even though it's not illuminated
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it does spell out the word open
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obviously the chickens
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are something you do not want to mess
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with because this is stated in the
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chicken coop
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huh
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i'm not seeing any chickens maybe it's
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just a nickname
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of what the chickens are back here is
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something called beth's trail okay i'm
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back out of the elements again
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put this up
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best trail
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now the valley
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is just at the end
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of main street
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down here you can see how
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up on like a little berm a little area
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now somewhere around here probably down
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there in the valley was north carolina's
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version of woodstock
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back in the day
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happened in that valley
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thousands of people showed up and
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congregated down there
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just past the western town
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to listen to some music
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you go down this little clay pathway
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here this red clay
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behind the chicken coop
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this also says
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captain chaos was
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captain chaos's stick figure that was
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drawn
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on the side of that window
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faintly can hear the music
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going from the silver spur
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bar very faintly but the doors are
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locked and the only human i've seen was
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the gentleman that let his dog inside
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this is the carolina
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thread trail
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that way
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and that is
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the entire distance of the main street
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town
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that i can see that as far as i can tell
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that's the extent of it
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this old west town where people live
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and not many businesses open
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at least as of this moment here is a
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photo of that music festival
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that a lot of referred to as north
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carolina's woodstock
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three days back in july
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of 1970
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many musical acts including the allman
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brothers and it was said by the pinnacle
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of the attendants 200 000
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folks were down there
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in the valley itself
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right down in this section
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stretching all through there
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now at that point i would imagine this
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what i would consider now a ghost town
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was full of life
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full of energy
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and from what i was reading online that
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was not the only time
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this place on occasions has quite a few
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people
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enjoying its history
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horseback riding
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vendors will be out here it's just this
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right now during winter time and rainy
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time
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probably not the best
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as far as tourism goes
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but i was in the area from my hotels
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about an hour
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hour and 15 minute drive i had to check
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this out
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this place is so cool at the end is the
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jet barker memorial garden
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the barkers of course are
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responsible for creating this town this
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appears to have been a windmill and the
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top of the windmill there you can see it
15:47
through the foliage and the trees
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the top of the windmill has been removed
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now the thread trail if i'm reading this
15:55
correctly is a regional network of
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greenways
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and trails linking
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15 counties in north carolina and south
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carolina
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you can go ride your horses you don't
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probably want to drive a car through
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here because you'd probably get stuck
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is very muddy
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with that red clay there
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okay i'm going to try to traverse over
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to this side now
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that's going to be maybe i'll go over
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there and then kind of cut across that's
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what i'm going to do so reminiscent of
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the back lot at universal studios
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hollywood six points texas set or maybe
16:27
even the old demolished laramie streets
16:30
at warner brothers in burbank but this
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is still here and a real
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town an active town
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one would sigh they've a lot of a lot of
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mud
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trudging through this mud
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just really trying to get
16:48
find all the little nooks and crannies
16:50
of this area
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now this does not appear to be a
16:54
personal residence people have wrote
16:56
their names on the side of this window
16:59
and it's locked up
17:01
right over here
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and inside the window
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yeah it doesn't seem to be
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does it seem to be lived in
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such a cool experience being in here i
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don't know i just love this kind of
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stuff obviously
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you got the big barn right over there
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the american flag on it
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waiting for marshall dylan to walk down
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walk right down the center of this
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i think that was his name marshall dylan
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this appears to be a saddle shop
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written right there on the side of that
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wood
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the saddle shop
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once again i
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probably am here at the wrong time of
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the year that's why there are locks on
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the doors and no tourists but it is open
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anyone can walk around through here it
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is an active town
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technically
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not a tourist attraction even though a
18:13
lot of tourists come here there is no
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admission fee
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it is free to just wander around
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oh i like this old seat here
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it's kind of like a little house on the
18:40
prairie
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can you just picture michael landon
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wandering through here i can
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or hoss cartwright
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i love it oh i'm just noticing the
19:02
second level of the general store
19:05
appears to not be
19:08
maybe they might not let anybody up
19:09
there
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it's kind of crooked i don't know if
19:12
it's structurally sound it might be but
19:14
it appears to be that there is a
19:16
homestead
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up top there let me
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hold on to this and zoom in
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just a little bit
19:23
and you can see
19:25
how
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yeah it's kind of slanted that top up
19:28
there so maybe no one is maybe that's
19:30
why the general store is not open
19:32
at the moment possibly also i see some
19:34
hummingbird feeders
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up top
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locks on pretty much every door
19:40
this is a nice seat too with the wagon
19:41
wheels on it
19:43
and the horseshoe here upside down
19:46
though there is a significance with an
19:47
upside down or right side up horseshoe
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one for good luck one for bad luck let's
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just hope that is for good luck
19:56
that one there
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i have to wonder how much it would cost
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to live here
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i have to wonder that
20:07
just to have a
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in love valley
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isn't this given the best vibe
20:16
just this rain adding to it
20:34
this store says ice cream printed on the
20:34
side of the wood there
20:36
and a nice little porch up top there
20:38
this is another
20:40
general store
20:42
as well oh here we go they have
20:44
moonshine in here they did have
20:46
moonshine
20:47
in here carved out on that wood
20:49
there's a ladder there
20:53
as well
20:54
and this says come on in but the doors
20:56
are all locked in fact the door knob
21:00
has been taken off so
21:03
that would be very difficult to follow
21:05
those
21:12
follow those protocols going on in there
21:12
there's a little decor over there of a
21:14
spider web
21:15
fake spider web but
21:17
well this looks like a barrel used for
21:18
barrel racing with horses and i could
21:20
just picture it you know use your
21:22
imagination
21:23
like i'm doing you just picture
21:25
some barrel racing going through here a
21:27
little showdown on main street kind of
21:30
like that dog and i had earlier before
21:31
the owner let him in
21:33
to his store shelby's place right over
21:36
that's a pretty good size
21:38
homestead though that whole top floor
21:46
all right that's it that's love that's
21:46
the extent
21:50
interesting a little peek at one of
21:52
these stores windows at some of the
21:53
products that are there
21:57
a subtle hint at my name over here on
22:00
this red wagon
22:02
atw right there
22:13
oh right here is where you tie the
22:13
horses up no you can't have the horses
22:15
on the
22:16
i was thinking maybe you tie the horses
22:17
up onto this if you can't have the
22:18
horses on the boardwalk the horses
22:21
will be put there
22:23
where was the saloon okay the saloon was
22:25
at the end
22:30
didn't see any of those western swinging
22:30
doors
22:32
i also have the
22:34
the flags up there not waving in the
22:36
breeze not a
22:37
not a lot of wind going through here
22:38
with the north carolina and u.s flag
22:42
up top there
22:47
i got to be honest this is a lot more
22:47
desolate than i was expecting i was
22:49
thinking that there would be some
22:50
tourism at least a few more locals would
22:54
be wandering the streets
22:56
and some stores would be open to maybe
22:58
buy a souvenir a magnet
23:01
postcard something like that a t-shirt
23:04
that was not the case
23:06
that was not the case today
23:09
here in lubb valley
23:11
north carolina
23:21
this would be a great fictional set for
23:22
a tv show modern day
23:24
about the western times
23:26
or a movie
23:28
i'm sure it has been used in some sort
23:30
of production if it hasn't
23:32
it needs to be
23:40
look at this just look at look at what
23:40
i'm witnessing right now with my own
23:42
eyes
23:43
this is a real western town
23:46
in the valley of love
23:48
in north carolina
23:51
i'm back in my car now with the window
23:53
rolled down
23:57
because it feels good outside but i just
23:57
want to get out of the elements still in
23:59
the parking lot i think another car is
24:00
pulling in or truck pulling in right now
24:04
not a horse
24:05
but a vehicle they're gonna park and
24:07
then probably walk out could be a
24:08
resident nonetheless take a look at the
24:10
souvenir program
24:12
from the love valley rock festival back
24:14
in 1970
24:16
25 cents
24:19
that is amazing look at that here's some
24:21
more photographs showing there were just
24:23
a few people down main street
24:26
with those old buildings there look at
24:28
that congregation
24:31
oh folks there's the
24:33
there's the western town right there
24:36
considerably more people there on that
24:38
day in 1970
24:40
than today i was the only one besides
24:42
the one homeowner and and his dog and
24:45
here's another one not from the concert
24:47
but from one from back in the day the
24:50
cowboys walking around their horses and
24:52
cowboy hats
24:54
pretty dang cool
24:56
partner there's also a little side turn
24:59
off road here torrey pass that goes down
25:01
an incline before getting into the
25:03
the western town
25:05
so i'm going to take a left here and go
25:06
down the hill
25:07
also should reiterate
25:09
that this is the off season and i looked
25:11
up online it appears as if they did an
25:13
event here in november and december
25:15
but right now it's winter so that's why
25:17
no one's here
25:22
just a heads up wanted to wanted to
25:22
confirm that
25:23
certain times of the year there's
25:24
definitely a lot more
25:26
a lot more happening here just so
25:28
happens
25:30
i pulled through here today
25:32
okay gotta go down this hill
25:34
into the valley itself
25:41
oh that's a big bump oh that's sorry big
25:41
the foot sorry about that
25:43
a little bit of a pothole there
25:45
oh oh it's just never mind it's a speed
25:47
bump or a speed hump
25:50
one of the one of those two
25:51
speed thanks just another
25:54
one we traversed it well think the foot
25:57
now as best i can tell i'm standing kind
26:00
of in the spot where the stage was
26:02
granted this is 1970
26:04
but notice this little berm up there
26:06
the old western town right over here
26:08
there through the clearing
26:11
and i'm going to show so you look up
26:12
here at this little ledge this little
26:14
cliff ledge
26:16
200 000 people
26:17
right here back in 1970
26:20
this is the best angle i can find
26:27
the exhaust from my car
26:27
giving a little steam it's currently 43
26:29
degrees not freezing but
26:31
kind of cold but right about here
26:34
you can see
26:35
was that angle from that photograph
26:38
pretty neat to think about
26:40
the woodstock of the south
26:43
some called it here in north carolina
26:53
i can even faintly see a staircase
26:53
going down the side
27:00
that's pretty steep
27:00
but that entire hill is covered with
27:03
enjoying some music here in north
27:10
these horses are so cute with their
27:10
little horse blankets on
27:12
i used to work at a feed store you know
27:14
10 11 years ago one of the last jobs i
27:16
ever had
27:18
i was selling horse hay and feed and
27:21
cow feed and we sold horse planks people
27:24
come in and buy horse blankets because
27:25
horses get cold too in the elements
27:28
they see horses
27:33
those horses are standing right here on
27:33
music history
27:34
and old western town history at the top
27:36
of that hill
27:37
top of the valley
27:39
love valley
27:48
i'm sure they probably know that they
27:48
probably know they live here
27:59
and now back up the hill
27:59
and gonna head out
28:01
of love valley north carolina
28:04
it's been fun love valley maybe i'll
28:06
return one day
28:08
when things are a little more happening
28:09
in the on season
28:12
possibly even stay at miss kitties
28:34
such a cool place and as i'm departing
28:34
over here is a gentleman on a metal
28:36
horse well he's made of metal as well
28:39
the hitch in rail
28:41
customer parking only no one parked
28:43
there at the moment
28:51
under a little bit of construction this
28:51
is right on the outskirts of that area
28:54
you can drive here this is pit this is
28:56
well i don't want to say it's paved but
28:58
this is drivable
28:59
see some cars
29:02
so you can have an automobile through
29:04
here on the corner of ponder lane
29:08
yeah look at that that's the name that's
29:09
the real name of it
29:16
i have been known to do some pondering
29:16
in my day
29:19
i think we all have
29:38
another love valley wooden sign right
30:48
and that's gonna do it for today
30:48
from love valley
30:56
back to where i started on the current
30:58
corner of wilkesboro and mountain view
31:06
a town established in 1954.
31:06
the vlog
31:07
is over