Last Sunday, for Mother's Day, we took Mom to Windy Hollow for brunch. Typically, when we go, we sit in the main dining room. But this time, for the first time, we were in one of the back dining areas.

We'd never sat there and so I'd never noticed the small vault off that dining area that has been converted into part of the museum. It's mainly dedicated to Hal Miller's World War II memorabilia.

While we were there, Hal's daughter, Evelyn Miller, who owns it, told me that Windy Hollow Restaurant has been going strong for 55 years now.

Sensational!

After taking a look around that vault, I can understand why the American Pickers wanted to "pick" the restaurant. And I can understand why Evelyn wanted to release nothing from the restaurant.

Among the many fascinating pieces in this vault was this framed dog tag:

Dave Spencer
Dave Spencer
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That is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. Tom, by the way, was Hal's brother and I'd imagine the emotions felt by the Miller family when this dog tag was returned after 64 years were indescribable.

What an incredible story. And what an incredible museum. It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful items survived the fire at the old restaurant up by the lake.

We're all very fortunate they did.

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