My friend and I usually try to do one new exciting thing when she visits. This time, we decided to go to a place I recently read about, The Castle.
Set off in the country of Greenback, Tennessee is this hidden gem. There are no signs from the main road and I couldn't even find directions on the Internet! (How bout that for hidden and special?!) After asking some people and going in the right direction we made a few turns and then saw this sign. We went up the dirt road, passed a couple mini ponies, a trailer or two, and then spotted it. It really does look like a castle, go figure...
I immediately felt that giddy excitement when I know there is going to be a lot to photograph and had to talk myself down. As my friend and I approached the castle the neighbor across the way said, "Be careful in there. There's spirits all over that place!" and kept on walking. This whole area was fighting grounds during the Civil War and Mr. Banks is still finding arrowheads and even found a cannonball once.
What we knew before we went: 1) A man, Floyd Banks Jr. started building a castle 17 years ago. 2)Floyd Banks says that God told him to build this castle 3)Banks says that those loved ones from his past and other figures have since appeared on the walls.
More on him later, first things first. I'll take you on the same journey we went on. When we entered the castle I'll admit, we felt a little nervous. We didn't know if there would be anyone living there, sleeping there, or being naughty. There are all sorts of sculptural details using found objects, engravings, collections of themed items, interesting architectural details... It was a very thoughtful place.
There were two tiny rooms on either side of the entrance. No ceiling so but individual rooms. I suppose it was kind of like a facade...a stage. The structure was built perfectly though-strong, stable, and artfully created. As you continue through a short hallway you go under an archway and see the whole back of the facade.
To the right was a very sweet pet cemetery with tombstones that read things like "Gray Wolf, Specks, and Ranger".
The first room was a throne room with three seats. It was so well done-small details in the steps, stone crosses, little figurines of angels, even the floor had special details.
The room that came after this throne room was cool...it had a cement chess table with a fixed chess board and two seats. The walls were decorated with more crosses and jeweled accents. There was also the first quotation carving. This is when we started to notice that each room had its own theme of knick knacks - one room had all small angels, another part of the castle had all Native American art and sculptures, another had stuffed animals...each was separated.
So as not too make this post too long (too late?) I will briefly describe the next part of our journey - after the chess room was the dungeon. It was spooky and I didn't investigate too much in this part. But it did have the first staircase which I thought was quite pretty. Right outside of this area were Egyptian type hieroglyphics.
After that was a hallway with all sorts of neat details - outdoor fireplaces, walls with toys built into the cement, a trophy section, typical castle items, more engravings and quotations...very cool area.
Then you enter the part of the castle with a roof. This area was built to keep at least one area dry. Everything that needed to be out of the elements was kept in this room. The downstairs had a fireplace, and a stand with a bible open, working electricity, and a second story with a sitting window, rocking chair, and many Native American artifacts and artwork.
When I first thought about how to write this post I knew that I wanted to talk less about Mr. Banks and more about this place. But really, the two go hand-in-hand. Just like with the folk artist, Howard Finster, all the little touches that make that place what it is would not be so without FBanks. When my friend and I arrived we wondered if we would meet FB. We were able to explore a little more than half the castle before we heard footsteps outside...that was when we met him. It was nice having him as a tour guide...like someone telling us about his family and home...I guess it wasn't like that is
was exactly that. He mentioned why he started building, why he continues, he discussed his health, the events that "prove that all these events can't just be coincidence". He showed us the faces he saw appear on the sides of the castle, now outlined with black paint so that one can see them more clearly.
I am not one to judge other people for different belief systems or to claim that someone is sane or insane, right or wrong. I like characters of all kinds. I love eccentric people. We are all a little whacky
If you ever find yourself in Greenback, TN. you should visit this place. Go with an open mind, lots of film or memory for you camera, and enjoy. Tell Mister Banks that the two girls from Knoxville and NY say hi and that he made our day.
The prompt at Sunday Creative is "Indulge". I really did indulge with this story...the blog post is so long!
Check out some great photo stories at the site below!
Then using the Picture Show app I enhanced the color a bit and added another exposure.
I also tried it without color. I like this but had something else in mind...perhaps I will use this later for another project.
