The Henry Ford

Sunday, after going to church in our old church building (and finding out that a lot of people have moved out the last few years, so we only recognized a couple families), we headed over to the Henry Ford Museum for another day of history and vehicles.

We started with the trains because Bug is quite the train guy and was so excited to see their collection. While looking at the trains, I decided that someday I need a caboose. I'm fascinated by small, efficient houses and a caboose would make a great one. Plus, it's red.

Along with the full size trains, they had a couple model train exhibits, which were also fun. This one had one train with a camera on the front and screens set up so the kids could watch what the train was seeing. It was fun figuring out which train had the camera since there were several running.

Then there was the collection of cars. It's like a walk through the history of automobiles.

There were so many cool cars. My favorite part was seeing how much each car would have cost in months of wages. There were some very expensive cars!

Along with the general cars, there are also so many historical items-- the bus where Rosa Parks protested, the car JFK was in when he was assassinated,

the chair from Ford's theater where Lincoln was shot. It's kind of incredible to see all these bits of history (and sad at how much of history is people getting shot.)

And the hands-on stuff was so fun for the kids.

 

Listening to the War of the Worlds broadcast, the kids were totally confused. By the story, the fact that the huge wood box was a radio, and why people would think it was fun sitting around staring at each other every night while they listened to radio shows. Hahaha.

 

This was also the weekend of the Maker Faire-- part science fair, part county fair. Which meant there were lots of extra little things going on inside the museum, and even more outside. Bug was pretty excited to see the dozen storm troopers milling around, although he pointed out that they would be even more interesting if he had SEEN Star Wars. It's on our summer bucket list, but we haven't had any free time for a marathon.

Peanut, on the other hand, was not a fan of the storm troopers. In fact, the scream he let out when one looked at him and the speed at which he clawed his way into my arms was kind hysterical. He actually wasn't too impressed by most of the museum, but these Christmas lights totally caught his eye. It's the little things that impress this one.

After awhile, we headed outside to see what the Maker Faire was about, and found more transportation opportunities.

Like the 6 person bicycle (or would this be called a hexcycle?)

And the 8 wheeled version.

 

Daddy-o tried out the unicycle (but letting go of the wall proved to be impossible!)

Peanut, as always, got the best seat--the basket of one of those multi-person party bikes. We've seen these bikes doing the pub crawls in Savannah, GA and I've always been curious what it would be like to ride one, but I have to say that being on the side going backwards while someone else steers is nerve-wracking. I like to be in control of my bike.

Thank you, Henry Ford, for inspiring something so incredible and sharing it!

 

And to continue the fun, we headed down to Greektown in Detroit, where we got to watch a street performer play with fire.

 

Peanut enjoyed it, until the guy snapped the fire whip and terrified him.

 

 As well as the custard from Greenfield Village, we had also been looking forward to Pizzapapalis for years. 8 years ago, even though I had a dairy intolerant nursing baby, I did do a cheese trial on my birthday and got to sample this incredibly good deep dish pizza, so it was only right that this year, I celebrated my birthday in the same way. And the pizza was just as good as I remembered.

 

And a final shot from our time in Dearborn. How many hotels have their very own Mr. Mugley greeting guests in the lobby? This might go down as the weirdest hotel we've stayed in.

Flashback to the Past--Greenfield Village

The place that initiated this whole trip--Greenfield Village. We lived in Dearborn, MI for a summer way back when I first started this blog and used to go to Greenfield Village once or twice a week while we were there. There was so much to see and do, and during the week, it's not crowded at all, which made it a nice place for me and the kids to go for a walk. They don't remember anything (not surprising since Bean turned 3 that summer and Bug was only a baby), but Daddy-o and I talk about it a lot. It was and is one of our favorite "museum" type places.

Where else can you ride a steam engine train?

Or a restored Herschell-Spillman 1913 carousel frog, the only carousel animal to wear human clothes.

The whole day was spent revisiting things we loved and discovering new parts of the Village that we had never made it to.

(This kid still won't try out an actual animal on the carousel, but he does like riding on the bench.)

They had a whole new playground area that is reminiscent of a 1920's construction site.

This interactive boiler fountain was a big hit.

The whole thing is really well done and has lots to explore.

And of course, there are all the living history exhibits. This is a working phonograph where the docent demonstrated how Edison recorded the first message--Mary Had a Little Lamb. It's pretty amazing to see the ancestor to CDs and MP3's at work

And speaking of Edison, he actually sat in this chair in 1929 during a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the light bulb. They haven't moved the chair since, including during a flooring restoration. It's so amazing to see a reconstruction (made with as much of the original material as they could collect) of the lab where so many inventions were created.

The kids loved the chance to try out some old fashioned games and puzzles. See that look of determination on Bug's face? He would not put the stilts down until he had figured them out, and shown us what he could do.

Peanut went for the wood puzzles and blocks. I love how there are people dressed in period clothing all over the village, whether they are teaching and demonstrating techniques,

 

or just helping to set the atmosphere.

It makes it so much fun to wander around.
 

They have quite a few short little shows, like this one done by "Laura Ingalls". She talked a little about the Little Town on the Prairie and meeting Almanzo. We also got to see the Wright brothers return from Kitty Hawk and tell their sister all about their first flights and a vaudeville show called Simply Gershwin.

And then there's the baseball games played by 1867 rules.

Mostly the same, with a few noticeable exceptions, but the equipment is different and the outfits, of course.

The visiting team's bat boy was too cute.

When the train goes by the field, they all stop and cheer to the passengers, who cheer back.

We watched for a couple innings and cheered on the home team, the Lah-De-Dahs.

Then, it was off to see more of the Porches and Parlor area.

 

This English cottage has a beautiful garden

And a small blacksmith building next door, although there is a larger one on the other side of the village with a blacksmith demonstrating the trade.

The Dagget Farmhouse has always been one of my favorites. There are often people portraying the family at work, spinning or cooking in the kitchen, preserving the foods from their garden, or working in the yard.

It's a dream of mine to get to work like this, using all the old techniques for everything.

 

They even raise, slaughter, and store pork just like they would have before refrigeration.

 

And here's the oldest windmill in America--from the mid-1600's.

On top of the working steam engine, they have a whole train section in the village--with a Railroad Turntable and Roundhouse and a train station.

The trains are so impressive.

But I think I'm even more in awe of the fact that they have a whole fleet of old Model T's and Model A's that you can actually take a ride in.

 

The idea of a car that may be over 100 years old still running is amazing. The one we rode in was from 1914! Our tally of vehicles ridden in for the day was one Model T, one steam engine, one horse drawn carriage, and one Model AA bus.

We didn't have nearly as much time as we would have liked in the Craftworks area, but we did get to watch the glass blower make a flower.

And we visited the tin shop as well, which was another of my favorites. I wish that the things from this shop that they sell in the gift shop weren't so expensive because I've always wanted one of the lanterns he makes.

Bean and Bug both got a turn at the printing press and brought home a souvenir printing.

 

We wandered through an old covered bridge,

and saw the houses and shops of some famous Americans, like Robert Frost (above), the Wright Brothers, and Noah Webster. There were still dozens of structures that we didn't make it inside, and demonstrations to see. The 80 or so acres are just full of places to explore. We really needed another day there.

 

Only other thing worth mentioning was the custard. Daddy-o dreams of the custard they sell here each summer (I had to go dairy free that summer, so I didn't really indulge in the custard other than to sneak a bite one day, so it didn't have quite the same hold over me.) And after dreaming, and talking, about it for so many years, I was scared that it wasn't going to live up to the hype, especially as I was paying the astronomical cost for 5 of us to have a bowl and it pretty much looks like soft serve ice cream. And then I took a bite. I didn't get a picture, which wouldn't have done it justice, and it was too hot of a day to let frozen desserts sit out for even a minute, but it was definitely a high point in our day full of amazing things.