Everyone has heard of Fort Knox. That’s where they keep the gold! Near Fort Knox is the Patton Museum, that’s where they keep the tanks!
We stayed in Elizabethtown, KY (E-Town for short) at a nice Hampton Inn. I love Hampton Inns. Comfortable rooms, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and the indoor pool!
About an hour drive from where we stayed was the Patton Museum. It was a pleasant drive through part of E-Town and Radcliff. There were plenty of shopping centers and restaurants. The closer we got to Fort Knox the sparser the buildings became.
Under an overpass and there it was, Fort Knox. It’s a formidable building. No trees, bushes or shrubs around it. It doesn’t appear to be as big as I was expecting, but it was as daunting as I had expected. I don’t know if there is gold there or not, but I don’t expect that anyone would break in to find out. I would’ve liked to have taken a picture of the building and it was suggested that I just pull over to do it. To be honest, I was just a little concerned that I would be shot first and then asked what I was doing.
Once pass the Fort was the Patton Museum. Tanks are lined up along the front like large destructive lawn ornaments. It was exciting. The parking lot and the museum are separated by a fence with a strange turnstile like gate. My first thought on the gate was “concentration camp”. It was that eerie. On the inside was a sign that had the number for the military police if you were foolish enough to stay after hours. They will help you once they are done with any other duties. I think I would have stayed the night than to call them.
Along the walk to the museum’s building is the memorial garden with commemorative plaques for soldiers fallen in battle. It’s beautiful and very similar to the one in the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum in Dayton (but not as large). The building itself does not appear to be big enough to house tanks, but surprisingly there were a large number of the metal beasts inside.
Inside the building our first stop was the Patton room. This held a number of artifacts about General George Patton. His famous gun and holster. Another display showed his ever present helmet that he seemed to always wear or at least in all the photos I had seen of him. And of course, the infamous car that he was in when the accident that eventually took his life.
After the Patton room was the tank exhibits. Wow! And to be honest, WOW, doesn’t cover it. They are huge! The first room was devoted to more modern American tanks. The second exhibit was WWII tanks both American and German.
Besides tanks, they also had the first Harley Davidson, various other military vehicles and a horse. Yes, a horse in a tank musuem. The museum was formally known as the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor.
I was most impressed with the diorama of the WWII soldiers in the trench up against a very menacing tank. It was huge. I wasn’t able to capture the enourmasity of the thing on film. It was like a moving house. Allot of the pictures I took just didn’t convey the largeness of these moving monsters.
I was informed by a museum employee that the exhibits get rotated out every few weeks. I think just seeing how they move around the large monstrosities would be a sight to see. It may be worth another trip just to see what changes.
Of course, like all places, they had a gift shop. It was small, but contained some interesting items. You would think they would have difficulty finding items to sell at a museum with such a tight niche, but they pulled it off. Pins, key chains, books, posters and lots of models of, you guessed it, TANKS!
Outside the museum were even more tanks. Patrons are allowed to walk up and get a close view of them. They were all impressive. Each held a little bit of history inside their metallic bodies. I must have really looked like a tourist walking around awestruck with two cameras. I had my trusty DSLR Canon Rebel XTi and my surprisingly versatile Olympus. My Canon was for detailed pictures and my Olympus does panoramic photos. I guess I must have looked like I knew what I was doing because a nice young couple asked me to take a picture of them in front of one of the tanks (I love doing that).
If you like history and/or tanks, take a little drive to the Patton museum. It’s worth it! A little tip for anyone who may visit, bring lots of film and sun screen. I must be the only person who can go to a museum and get sunburned. I didn’t realize that some of the exhibits would be outdoors.
That’s all for this trip and Tanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, rant or anything you just feel like typing.
Filed under: Uncategorized on August 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
