This is one of the main points of the trip that we had
planned from the beginning. Greenbrier
Resort is a fabulous facility. It makes
the major hotel in Nashville look like one of the small, cheap
competitors. The size is unbelievable
and the offerings are unreal. They have
tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, and bike rentals. They offer dance lessons, cooking
demonstrations, paint ball, and much more.
They have rooms, suites, and cottages.
The gardens are absolutely beautiful.
The interior is as breathtaking as the gardens;
however, this is not
the reason we came here. We came for the
Bunker tour. In 1950 President
Eisenhower approached the owner of the Greenbrier about building a secret
radiation fallout shelter for the entire congress. An agreement was reached between the owner,
President Eisenhower, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the
House of Representatives. It was decided
that this facility would be “hidden in plain view.” Since there was always construction at the
Greenbrier, no one really thought about the deep hole that was being built and the
major construction. Three different
major construction companies were used and they had no coordination so that
none knew what the other was doing. We
were first led into a huge room which was (and is) used for trade shows,
etc. This room was also the main meeting
room for the entire congress. The
ceilings were thick concrete with reinforced steel. There are 50 ton steel doors which were
concealed behind fake walls covered in the same wallpaper as the rest of the
walls. Once we went through that first
steel door, we entered hallways that went to various rooms. There was a room set up for the House of
Representatives to meet which was used by companies to have meetings. There was another room set up for the Senate also
used by companies. There were rooms with
bunk beds and a large kitchen/dining area.
The doors to these rooms had previously been marked “Danger – High
Voltage.” There are water tanks that
held enough water for 60 days, air tanks with 30 day supply for 500 people and
MREs for 30 days for the entire congress and their families. Prior to the expiration date of the MREs they
were pulled and sent to troop areas and replaced with new MREs. An area was built for the families as well as
the officials although they would not be together. This secret was kept for 35 years until an
unhappy government employee leaked the information to a newspaper. Once it became public, the facility no longer
had a use and the government moved all of their equipment out. Part of the area is now leased by a data
storage firm and the large room is still used for trade shows. Although the government paid for the facility,
they never owned it since a deed transfer would be public information. The Greenbrier paid the property taxes the
entire 35 years that it was used by the government. Pictures are not allowed on the tour because
the data company is concerned about data theft.
If you ever have a chance to go, this is a great tour. Leaving there we drove to Kingsport, TN for
the night.
Should be coming home
tomorrow!!
Good to be
home – Stacey needs us to pick up Ally Tuesday and Thursday and Ally’s birthday
party is Saturday. Brooks’ first
baseball game is Thursday. How did we
all get by without each other? 
