Taking My Girl to a Bar in Valentine, Texas
We read about it somewhere. This old bar that states it is “Open When Open” and we just had to go. One of the reasons we were camping near Marfa, TX was to visit this Valentine Texas Bar. We couldn’t be sure it was open as the web remarks we found firmly stated the owner wasn’t always in town and he opened it when he opened it. The owner’s name is Jeff Wilson but he goes by the handle of Professor Dumpster. That is a story in itself and worth checking out by clicking the two links above.
We planned on driving to the bar whether it was open or not. We just had to see it. The town of Valentine has a population of 73, but the United States Postal Service has a post office there that gets inundated with mail for Valentine’s Day.
While visiting Marfa we were informed by our nice barista at the coffee shop Bitter Sugar that the Valentine Texas Bar was currently open this week from Thursday through Sunday. So we made a beeline for Valentine, which was about 35 miles northwest of Marfa. The barista’s name is Lindsay I think, but I don’t know the correct spelling.
Matty is the bartender at the Valentine Texas Bar. When we walked in a lone female was sitting at the bar. It was early in the afternoon and before we left for home a group of four more ambled in. Then came a grizzled old cowboy and his dog, along with Matty’s dog Dusty, and then a Marfa native who was the driver for some important people the celebrity Martha Stewart was purportedly entertaining back in Marfa.
Problem was, when we left, Beverly had forgotten to take her purse with her. Upon returning an hour home to our campsite in Fort Davis she realized her purse was missing. Then twenty-four hours of hell and a sleepless night worrying about where it was, who had it, and if her credit card was being used.
After our restless night we retraced our steps that we had made back in Fort Davis the day before, looking for the purse, and inquiring about it everywhere. We also drove back the twenty-two miles to Marfa and did the same. Even went to the local Marfa police station and also the Sheriff’s Department to no avail. And because Matty the Valentine bartender had reported no luck in finding the purse after Beverly had contacted him on Instagram we decided to head back home and let it go. But surprisingly, when I checked, nobody was using her credit cards yet. I then decided the purse must be wherever she left it and might just have to stay there. I figured if an honest person found it she would mail it back to her in Florida. Then later that evening and out of the blue Matty direct-messaged back to Beverly that he found it! So the next day we headed back to the Valentine Texas Bar about an hour away to be there when Matty opened at 1PM. And the saga now has an ending we can live with.
But there’s more! Our second trip to the bar afforded me the pleasure of playing my guitar which I secretly wanted to do the first time I entered that place. Of course, being in Texas, I opened with a Merle Haggard tune “Sing Me Back Home” which I flubbed in a surprise panic attack right from the get go cuz I was so nervous playing in front of strangers. But I got it together fast and played about ten songs or so. Matty videoed the first verse, chorus, and refrain which I’ll share here. What a place! You gotta go.
Glad the purse was found. Nice story.
No flubs detected...you got Merle here's another version of Merle's Workin' Man Blues from MerleFest (*the other Merle) by Presley Barker with no fear of going for it. Traphill, North Carolina, native, from my neck of the woods more or less.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6d7Zx-OkIJ/?igsh=NmRtZzc0OW8ya3do
Great story and looking forward to reading more about Marfa and the rest of Texas. Did some time there myself and writing about it. Valentine's Bar breaking out the guitar... being cool about the semi-lost handbag and making it a feel-good story. You're a good guy for sure. Vanishing Postcards is a very nicely produced podcast you should check out all about lost Texas. Made my day!
Steve "Lost in Austin" Gabe