This morning we drove just south of the campground to the Dobbins Air Reserve Base, also home to the Air National Guard. We've seen C-130 Hercules aircraft flying overhead and assumed they were from this base. Dobbins has a Family Campground, known as a FamCamp but my research lead me away from using it on this trip. I did not recall why, but there was something that made me say no. We found the campground and what we saw reinforced my decision. Most of the sites are very unlevel and the roadway in there is very tight with trees. Many of the campsites there would be no way we could get into with our RV. Nice little FamCamp but it is not for us.
We made a stop into the Exchange (formerly called the base exchange or BX) and bought a few things. The plan was if they had a commissary (grocery store) we would shop there also and then go back to the campground, but no commissary here so after driving through the Air Guard base we headed for downtown Marietta.
First stop in Marietta was the post office to mail a package of Smoky Mountain info to our daughter Michelle as they will be camping down here this summer. Then we drove a couple blocks to the Marietta Fire Station #1 where the Marietta Fire Museum is located.
Have served 25 years with the Norwalk Fire Department myself, and having maintained close ties with Air Guard fire departments at both the 132d in Des Moines and 185th in Sioux City, you never get it out of your blood. Wow, this was a little hidden gem! For this size of community they have a really nice fire museum! It is two levels with many pieces of very well restored and maintained apparatus, a lot of firefighting equipment, personal protective equipment, radio equipment, etc - even fire toys!
Marietta Fire Department was established in 1854 so they have a very long and proud history. Here are some pictures from the museum.
A fire department during the civil war. Interesting store of their bell
The old alarm methods and equipment
A long history - a very old fire department
A beautiful 1879 Silsby steamer
1921 American LaFrance Pumper
The open cab 1949 Pirsch aerial ladder truck. Notice the Motorola Motrac radio!
1929 Seagrave pumper
Ford Falcon - Car 3 chief's car
1952 Chevrolet panel rescue truck
In addition to apparatus and tools, they have a very nice memorial area paying tribute to their fallen firefighters and a memorial to the 9-11 disaster and those who lost their lives.
An I-beam from the 9-11 towers
On the lighter side, they have quite the collection of fire-related toys and even a children's riding display
Thank you to everyone involved with creating and maintaining this great tribute to the Marietta Fire Department.
We then drove through downtown Marietta, around the square and to a side street where we parked the bil ol' brown truck. A couple blocks away we found the Marietta Museum of History
Located in the Kennesaw House, an old cotton warehouse, the Marietta Museum of History contains several history "galleries" to include general, home life, military, and some special exhibits to include quilting.
Here are some pictures that highlight the displays:
A 1940's kitchen
Beautifully handcrafted quilts
A display from the courthouse
The military displays were awesome. From the civil war through the World War's, Korea and Vietnam, there was a wide variety to include communications equipment, weapons, uniforms and other artifacts.
I also own an M1 Carbine like the one second from the left
I have also submitted paperwork for a lottery for a M1911 pistol in the left lower corner
Part of a private pistol collection on loan to the museum
I own the Remington shotgun on the left in this picture!
Women in the military
I always enjoy seeing old telecom equipment!
Boy Scouts of America and Girls Scouts of America
A linotype printing press setup
A tribute to civilian women and their contributions towards the war effort - Rosey the Riveter
After we left the museum we fought traffic heading back towards the campground on Friday afternoon, but we made a stop at a car wash and gave the big ol' brown truck a badly needed bath.
Tomorrow we will head to the Gone With The Wind museum and then head out to the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park. There is also an aviation museum with outdoor displays we passed today we might check out.
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