A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 9 (Sunday)
The day started nice enough in Indianapolis, but as I traveled south I ran into some fairly heavy rain storms. I made a short sidetrack off I-65 to check out The Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum located adjacent to the Bakalar Air Force Base just outside Columbus, IN. Even though I could not see in the building, it was quite small and I’m sure the museum was made up of local memorabilia about the history of the Bakalar Air Force Base.
I drove on into Louisville, Kentucky where my first stop was visit the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory located just across the Ohio River in the West-Main District of downtown Louisville. A guided tour was included, as part of the admission price to the museum, and it was very interesting and well presented. They showed us how some of the wooden bats were made by hand in the late 1880s (30 hours). We also got to see how a Louisville Slugger wooden bat is made today, from start (billet) to finish, ready for a game (30 minutes). I was amazed to find out that the Louisville Slugger factory produces as many as 1.6 million wooden baseball bats per year. And if that’s not enough, they are only one of over 30 some wooden bat manufacturing companies in the United States and Canada. It you happen to be a baseball fan, checkout Wikipedia under “Facts about Louisville Slugger Wood Bats” for some amazing information about wood baseball bats.
This section of West Main Street, in the downtown area of Louisville, is called “Museum Row” and is a little rundown. It appears to have become an art enthusiast’s dream, with several art galleries and tea shops. I was not impressed with the “Artwork” some of the galleries choose to display on the sidewalks.
My next stop was at the Kentucky Railway Museum located in New Haven, Kentucky. This was one of those museums that sell short railroad rides similar to those I’ve seen in Florida and Colorado. The inside of the museum itself was very small and filled with local train memorabilia. They had a considerable amount of nicely restored rolling stock but I don’t believe it was accessible to the public.
Since the other railroad museum and the automobile Museum on my list in the area were both closed today, I headed for the motel in Radcliff, Kentucky. I was surprised to see on the map that the Fort Knox Gold Bullion Depository was only a few miles from Radcliffe, located within the Fort Knox Army Base. I asked the desk clerk at the motel if I could get a tour of the nation’s gold depository, and he informed me that security was very tight around the facility, and that they did not allow people to stop their cars on the highway in front of the building or even take pictures of the grounds.
I just had to drive by and take a look at this famous facility. I headed down East Bullion Boulevard, and as you might guess, the local gentry have used the local gold depository in advertising of all types, just like at home with the “Space Coast” title.
I passed several such signs for businesses, such as “Gold City Towing” and the “Gold Vault Inn.” Then when I drove past the treasury building itself, where most of the American public visualizes the housing of all that gold, it is really a very unimpressive structure. Wikipedia says that much of America’s gold is actually stored in a massive vault under the Depository building.
Then it was back to the motel to warm up my yummy dinner of Outback grilled Pork Chop, garlic mash potatoes and asparagus. It was every bit as delicious as it was the night before. The only thing missing was the restaurant music and the sports on the TV, which I can do without while I’m eating.
—–To Be Continued—–
Tagged: Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum, Fort Knox Gold Bullion Depository, Kentucky Railway Museum, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Travel, Travel Series, United States Mid West