Columbus Georgia

We were only a half hour out of Columbus Georgia, home of Ft. Benning, one of the biggest infantry training centers in the United States. It is also home of the National Infantry Museum, which I did not have all that much interest in but Davey thought it might be entertaining. A friend of mine once told me that sometimes the things that you think might not be of any interest whatsoever, sometimes turns into the bestest thing ever. So, off we went.

It is an impressive building and it was packed with people. Evidently there was a graduation (from Ft. Benning?) going on. You have to go through a security check and then you enter a huge rotunda. I have to say this about military people – I have never seen better posture in my life. I guess that is where the term ramrod straight comes from. But, I digress.

You enter what is called Last 100 Yards Ramp. It was almost like Disneyland. There were life size replicas of a few major battle throughout the history of our infantry from the Revolutionary War to the Iraq War. These replicas came complete with sound effects of battle – bombs, guns, a parachute dropping from the ceiling, a helicopter from the Vietnam era – there was a lot of sensory overload going on. Each of the more current battles also had video playing as the same time as the bombs, etc.

After you finish being totally overwhelmed by battles, there was a section on the training that goes on at Ft. Benning which I found interesting because they talked about what a recruit goes through depending on what his chosen MOS is.

Downstairs there was an exhibit on all of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients – the earliest ones I found were from the Civil War era. Many exhibits, much information – most of it was well done but I found my attention wandering.

 

I couldn't get far enough back to fit this whole building in one shot - It was huge

Infantry guy in rotunda

 

On the other end of the spectrum, we also hit the Lunch Box Museum which was located in the back of a rather tacky Flea Market. The exhibit was impressive in it's scope – according to the curator, this is the largest Lunch Box Museum in the United States. Makes you wonder how there could be another one someplace in the world that was even bigger.

Of course, as all good museums go, they funnel you out through the “gift shop?” Evidently there is quite the market in lunch boxes. I saw a few where they were asking $175. The cheapest one I saw was $45. Don't y'all regret not hanging onto your old lunch boxes?

 

 

 

I liked the old fashioned ones

 

 

Art Hearse - notice the Male Dog on the roof

More Art Hearse

I am currently in a Recreational Area a little bit west of Macon. Macon is a very hilly place and it took me forever to get level. As it is the weekend, almost all of the sites are filled so it was sort of slim pickings. Although my site was unlevel, Lou and Davey lucked out having the people next to them build their 24 hour campfire pretty much right under their bedroom slide so they were dealing with smoke coming in through their slides and windows. They are not happy campers.