At the Old Greenbrier in the Hills of West Virginia
Bad news for steel magnates and railroad tycoons: The Greebrier, a famous spa and golf resort in West Virginia, has filed for Chapter 11. The Greenbrier was already ailing as its core audience started to, well, die and it has struggled to connect with a younger class of luxury resort goers. Then the entire industry got hit by a truck during the current recession – luxury hotels are down 20 percent from last year.
The article has a few cool facts that I did not know. The resort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and “guests have included Dwight Eisenhower and 25 other U.S. presidents, Monaco’s Prince Rainier and Princess Grace and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.” It is also the site of a once-secret Cold War bunker built to house Congress in case of a nuclear attack.
There are a few economic stories I can independently add color too and this is one of them. I was lucky enough to have gone to the Greenbrier several times during my childhood. The cold war bunker is just about as cool as you think it is. The media center in the bunker had four backdrops of the Capitol building – one for each season – so surviving members of Congress could do media interviews with their home districts and, regardless of the season, give the impression that the Capitol building was still standing. Also, last time I was there (either 2002 or 2003), the rumor running around the resort was that it was the “Undisclosed Location” that the Secret Service had brought Dick Cheney too.
Obviously, there are many people and entities suffering more than the Greenbrier and its 1,318 workers. In fact, a sale to Marriott seems like it will only improve the quality of the resort (I am dubious of the talk of a casino). It doesn’t make sense for a railroad company to own a hotel and the article implies that CSX was mismanaging the resort and using it as their own personal slush fund/playground (My grandparents say that all of the recent changes that were made in an attempt to “update” the resort were absolute garbage). However, it is still sad to see a place with such a rich history and that I have real affection for in such dire straights.
Finally, a personal request. There used to be a jazz combo that would play at “Old White,” the cocktail bar where the Gee family would congrigate for 30-40 minutes before dinner every night (Old Fashioneds for the adults, Shirley Temples for the kids). The band played “The Greenbrier Song” about life at the resort and it become one of my favorites. The title of this blog post is a hazily remembered lyric from the chorus of that song. I’ve been unable to find a copy of the song anywhere and it breaks my heart to think that a recording simply may not exist. Especially since “Old White” was closed in the last round of renovations to make room for an absurdly pretentious fusion restaurant (As I said, garbage). Any help finding lyrics or, god forbid, a recording would be greatly appreciated.