The Eyes of Tammy Faye LbNA #40455 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | May 30, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Ft. Mill |
| County: | York |
| State: | South Carolina |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | The Fat Lady  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Not yet found! |
| Last found: | N/A |
| Status: | a |
| Last edited: | May 30, 2008 |
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
My first letterbox plant away from my home in Washington state.
Planted at Heritage U.S.A., the site of the former PTL club. (Apologies for the sloppy stamp, which was carved spur-of-the-moment, onsite.)
When Tammy Faye Bakker Messner died of cancer this past year, I was surprised by the strength of my own feelings about it; I wasn’t quite sure what my feelings WERE, but they seemed to be strong. During my 1970s childhood, Tammy Faye Bakker had been a celebrity about whom EVERYONE had had an opinion, even if that opinion had been based only on gruesome fascination with her makeup. I remember reading an interview in which she described, with no apparent shame, how she would apply long false eyelashes and then, to them, apply coats and coats of mascara. She even, she said, slept in full makeup, wanting not even her husband to see her without it. My little girlfriends and I talked about this, scandalized, for weeks. Years later, when RuPaul narrated a documentary called The Eyes of Tammy Faye, I kept meaning to watch it for more makeup gossip, but I never got around to it. ( http://www.eyesoftammyfaye.com )
The public downfall of Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker, in which they lost PTL (for “Praise the Lord”), their televangelism empire, was also something it seemed everyone in my generation took note of. Supporters and detractors, alike, absorbed news reports about the Bakker’s lavish lifestyle, about Tammy’s motorized rotating closet rods (think: drycleaner) and her dog’s air-conditioned kennel. Pictures of Heritage U.S.A., the PTL Club’s vast campus, complete with water park, amusement park, high-rise hotel, and so on, seemed to dominate the airwaves for a while.
So when a job took me to Charlotte, North Carolina for a week this spring, one of the things I wanted to do with my few off-hours was to go see what had become of those grounds, all that work-in-progress that had so suddenly been abandoned. I found a couple of helpful websites with photos (for example: http://illicitohio.com/SBNO/heritage/heritage01.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_USA ), and gathered that the place had become essentially a ghost town. When I got there, it appeared that the main buildings themselves are all but falling to bits, though here and there are signs that some of the smaller structures are in use.
One of the most striking features is a Cinderella-style castle, apparently intended as part of the amusement park, whose faded, flaking, but still-bright paint made me think of Tammy Faye herself, applying those cakey eyelashes right up to the end. This letterbox is planted within sight of the castle.
Getting there:
From Charlotte, NC, take the I-77 south to exit 90 (Carowinds Blvd.). At the light at the bottom of the ramp, go left onto Hwy. 21. Turn left at the 4th stoplight, onto Regent Parkway. In about 1.8 miles, you’ll cross a railroad track. Take the next right, onto Star Light Drive. Take the next left, Zenith Ave., and you’ll see the decrepit tower hotel, the Grand Ballroom building, and the castle. Continue on Zenith past the parking lots, for a bit over 1/10th of a mile. A low building with loading docks will appear on your left, and the castle will come into view again on your right, beyond some trees and overgrowth.
Park along here, and note the lamp post across the roadway from the first of the garage doors you come to. Stand at this lamp post, and view a large, leafy tree about 40 feet away at 230 degrees. The letterbox lies in the crotch of that tree.
Note that it was a windy day when I planted this, and I tried to cover the box with leaves and twigs. If they’ve blown away, I’d appreciate your replacing them when you re-hide. Thanks!
My first letterbox plant away from my home in Washington state.
Planted at Heritage U.S.A., the site of the former PTL club. (Apologies for the sloppy stamp, which was carved spur-of-the-moment, onsite.)
When Tammy Faye Bakker Messner died of cancer this past year, I was surprised by the strength of my own feelings about it; I wasn’t quite sure what my feelings WERE, but they seemed to be strong. During my 1970s childhood, Tammy Faye Bakker had been a celebrity about whom EVERYONE had had an opinion, even if that opinion had been based only on gruesome fascination with her makeup. I remember reading an interview in which she described, with no apparent shame, how she would apply long false eyelashes and then, to them, apply coats and coats of mascara. She even, she said, slept in full makeup, wanting not even her husband to see her without it. My little girlfriends and I talked about this, scandalized, for weeks. Years later, when RuPaul narrated a documentary called The Eyes of Tammy Faye, I kept meaning to watch it for more makeup gossip, but I never got around to it. ( http://www.eyesoftammyfaye.com )
The public downfall of Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker, in which they lost PTL (for “Praise the Lord”), their televangelism empire, was also something it seemed everyone in my generation took note of. Supporters and detractors, alike, absorbed news reports about the Bakker’s lavish lifestyle, about Tammy’s motorized rotating closet rods (think: drycleaner) and her dog’s air-conditioned kennel. Pictures of Heritage U.S.A., the PTL Club’s vast campus, complete with water park, amusement park, high-rise hotel, and so on, seemed to dominate the airwaves for a while.
So when a job took me to Charlotte, North Carolina for a week this spring, one of the things I wanted to do with my few off-hours was to go see what had become of those grounds, all that work-in-progress that had so suddenly been abandoned. I found a couple of helpful websites with photos (for example: http://illicitohio.com/SBNO/heritage/heritage01.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_USA ), and gathered that the place had become essentially a ghost town. When I got there, it appeared that the main buildings themselves are all but falling to bits, though here and there are signs that some of the smaller structures are in use.
One of the most striking features is a Cinderella-style castle, apparently intended as part of the amusement park, whose faded, flaking, but still-bright paint made me think of Tammy Faye herself, applying those cakey eyelashes right up to the end. This letterbox is planted within sight of the castle.
Getting there:
From Charlotte, NC, take the I-77 south to exit 90 (Carowinds Blvd.). At the light at the bottom of the ramp, go left onto Hwy. 21. Turn left at the 4th stoplight, onto Regent Parkway. In about 1.8 miles, you’ll cross a railroad track. Take the next right, onto Star Light Drive. Take the next left, Zenith Ave., and you’ll see the decrepit tower hotel, the Grand Ballroom building, and the castle. Continue on Zenith past the parking lots, for a bit over 1/10th of a mile. A low building with loading docks will appear on your left, and the castle will come into view again on your right, beyond some trees and overgrowth.
Park along here, and note the lamp post across the roadway from the first of the garage doors you come to. Stand at this lamp post, and view a large, leafy tree about 40 feet away at 230 degrees. The letterbox lies in the crotch of that tree.
Note that it was a windy day when I planted this, and I tried to cover the box with leaves and twigs. If they’ve blown away, I’d appreciate your replacing them when you re-hide. Thanks!