Called Jim and Susan Roe (old friends from our time in Ft Benning - where Jim was an armoured branch officer with the Tactics Team I was on) early this morning but found we couldn't get through on the number we had so we ended up sending him a Text, an email and a Facebook message in an attempt to make contact.
Jim got the text and responded. We met at their house in E'town and headed out to Fort Knox to see the Patton Museum. Drawing up to the main entrance at Ft Knox we passed the Gold House on the left. This is where the US gold reserves are allegedly held and the outside perimeter looked to be proof even against a master spy like Jimmy Bond. No one locally really knows what is held inside or how much, but it does seem well protected. Jim R said that in his time at the post, there was always a tank platoon on standby to deploy into the outside perimeter and then wait for developments.
As we were foreigners wanting entrance onto the post, Marg and I were required to prove who we were, via our passports. That should have been easy but it wasn't ! We all went inside the guardhouse where there were around six civilian Dept of the Army guards, none of whom seemed to be able to manage the fax machine, through which they sent our details to some place on post who would give approval for our entry. We waited and waited, till in the end we gave up our attempt to get on post. Jim left his phone # with them, while we opted for an alternate plan of driving into Louisville for lunch. Jim and Susan took us to a Cuban restaurant, where we tried a variety of different dishes, all of which were new to us but extra tasty. We spent a good hour here and then drove downtown to have a look at Fraziers Weapons Museum www.fraziermuseum.org/
The Museum housed a temporary exhibit from the Tower of London armoury, which focussed on the 16th to 19th century of arms and armour. The Museum was well laid out and highly informative, though it was a pity the displays seem to date no later than the end of the 19th century.
Returning home, we took a drive around the local area and observed the regional Amish in their habitat. Apparently there is a confrontation brewing between the Amish and the local authorities. For obvious safety reasons, the local police want the Amish to mount a reflective triangle on the rear of their carriages, but the Amish regard these symbols as adornments and they are totally opposed to the idea. The Amish mentality is not easy to fathom - the idea is to protect them and the local drivers who might encounter these carriages unexpectedly. It's a stand off at the moment, but of the two or three carriages we saw during the drive, none bore the detested triangle (spawn of the devil).
By the time we returned to Jim and Susan's house the day was gone, but it was a special day and we both thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with these good friends after a 20 year gap.
