27 May - VA, Air Museum and Soda Fountain

27 May

<Sorry in advance for the following rant>

Was inevitable.  Sooner or later on this trip I was going to catch my annual spring cold.  We had nights in the 40’s and days in the 80’s.  After several days of hacking, nose-blowing and self-medicating with over-the-counter stuff and little relief, it has firmly moved down in my chest.  So what the heck, before the weekend comes we test the waters at the Wakefield VA Medical Clinic at Camp Atterbury.  Beautiful facility, just opened a few months ago and just out the gate from Camp Atterbury.  Polite and helpful staff, but they (the VA system) not have a clue who I was.  During our post-Iraq demobilization briefing they told us to make sure to fill out the VA’s 10-10EZ form that would get us “in the VA system”.  I completed the form in the spring of 2007 and I swear (literally) we received paperwork or at least a letter back saying we were in the system.  Yeah, well, not so much.  So I spent most of the morning there to basically be told there was no doctor available to see me.  I did get to see a nurse and she gave me some ideas on what to try. The good news is I sat right next to their admin person and watched as she got me entered in the “system”.  Thanks to my personal cloud, I had instant access to my DD Form 214, proof that I served on active duty.  Lesson learned:  Don’t go on the road again without a paper copy of my DD Form 214. <end of rant>

While I was gone, Doreen knocked out some more laundry and picked up around our RV.  After I returned, I needed to get some different over-the-counter medication so we headed back to Columbus IN.  While there, we visited the Atterbury - Bakalar Air Museum at the Columbus Airport.  What a hidden gem!  Absolutely beautiful facilitate, staffed by friendly and knowledgeable volunteers. 

 

Land was acquired and the airfield built in five months!  Would take four times that long just for the environmental impact survey today!

  

A typical barracks room at the Army Air Field

One of the primary missions was the CG4A Glider.  These were built by Ford Motor Company in Michigan

A view through the cockpit

Tuskegee Airmen were also trained here

The old control tower is still in use today

The Atterbury Army Air Field later became the Bakalar Air Force Base and was deactivated on December 14, 1969.

We then ventured back downtown, not far from the Cummin diesel museum we had visited a couple days ago.  Doreen had read about a very old soda fountain / ice cream shop, supposedly the oldest in the country, open since 1900.  So we had lunch at a local café and then went around the corner to Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor.  

Shelburne Soda Fountain.  Circa 1891

 

Marble and beautiful wood.  Amazing this has been preserved.

You can rent the area or the whole place for weddings, graduations, etc

Key Note Soda Fountain.  Circa 1902

 I have never seen so many soda machines in one place.  The wood work is amazing and the ice cream was just as authentic!!  The fountain sodas they sell are made from syrup and soda water just as they were back in the day.  Player piano was playing in the background.

I had an old fashion “chocolate malt” and Doreen had a chocolate sundae.  They served both with a healthy heaping of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.  Doreen’s also was served with caramel topping on the side.  I should have skipped lunch and went straight for the malt!! 

We then drove around and looked at some of the architecture.  Columbus is a beautiful city and they have done a great job preserving their old buildings.  The downtown area is impressive with shops and boutiques, and very well maintained.

After returning to the RV we relaxed watching the Cubs vs Phillies baseball game and later had a camp fire.  It is nice they provide free firewood at each camp site.

Saturday we will try to re-visit the Camp Atterbury museum (if it is open) that was closed a couple days ago when we visited.  There is also a campground “pitch-in” at 1:30 pm.  For us west of the Mississippi, a “pitch-in” is apparently a “potluck”.