Page 148 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023 LISBON EDITION

Marta Becket's "folly"

One doesn't usually head to Death Valley, or more ex-
actly, Death Valley Junction, to attend opera or ballet per-
formances.
Yet, just outside Death Valley National Park, on the cor-
ner of SR 127 and CA 190, the two-block "town" named
Amargosa (Bitter), complete with opera house and haunted
motel, offers all of the above, and more.
You may drive right past the derelict structures so for-
lorn looking is the "town". But the cluster of decrepit build-
ings, throwbacks to a bygone era, for many modern visitors
holds almost as much appeal as the nearby casinos do for
gamblers.
A friend and I had just spent a few days in Death Valley,
arriving via HI 395 at the western entrance. On a whim, we
decided to return home on the Nevada side. As we rounded
the corner onto HI127, we came to a halt in a dusty parking
lot fronting an arched colonnade. Whitewashed walls in
need of a paint job, and windows hidden behind delicate
lace curtains, gave the impression of a dusty Mexican town
at "siesta" time. The site appeared uninhabited. Intrigued
even more, we parked in front of a headstone: this was not
a death notice but a stone marking Marta's 90th birthday.
Two ceramic swans and a plastic bottle filled with water
served as offerings.

Photographs by Kitty Morse and Patricia McArdle.

148 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023