Day 15: Ford - the man, the machine, the legend, the village?

*Please note: where as we normally work independently on our daily post, today’s has been a work of collaboration; portion of texts have been credited to their authors*

The final stop on our whirlwind tour of the Northwest was none other than motor city, aka Motown, aka Detroit, MI. The mention of Detroit conjures images of murder, drugs, and vandalism, but there is a little bit of a sunny side. Scattered around Detroit in the suburbs of Warren, Lansing, and Dearborn lie the “Big Three”, Ford, GM, and Chrysler.

When I was in high school and decided I wanted to be an engineer, I dreamed of working for Ford, that is, until I found out I’d have to move to Detroit… That being said, Dahlgren is treating me well and I’m content to just visit, which brings us to today.

Henry Ford, in addition to being the creator of the modern assembly line and founder of one of the first major automotive corporations, was quite a visionary. In the late 1920’s he created the museum we now know as “The Henry Ford.” At first, it may seem as though Henry Ford just liked to collect a lot of random stuff and show it off, but the museum is really much more than that. It’s more of a tribute to American development and innovation since the country’s founding. It’s not really even a snapshot of Americana, it’s the encyclopedia of it.

Just outside of the museum lies Henry Ford’s “Greenfield Village.” Ford envisioned a place where people could visit for years to come, and be able to experience a glimpse of the past. The village contains bits and pieces from various trades, as well as things that are significant to Ford himself, and provides visitors with a walk through history. We arrived early in the morning, and decided to do both. We had also intended to take the tour of the Rouge assembly plant, but due to time constraints, and the fact that the plant has been idled due to low demand in the light truck market, we were advised by Lindy’s family who recently visited to skip it.

When you step into the foyer of the museum you are immediately caught by the ornate nature of the building. Long marble hallways, tall vaulted ceilings, golden chandeliers, etc. welcome you. Here is the entrance, gift shop, ticket, stand, and café, as well as event facilities available for official events and special occasions. We were warned that you needed two days to fully experience the museum and village, and as we entered the museum itself, it became blatantly obvious why.

The museum opens up into one enormous hall, and you immediately realize that you are not visiting just another car museum [Carl].

In fact, the Henry Ford calls itself “America’s Greatest History Attraction,” and although they do have an extensive part of the museum dedicated to the automobile, the museum also houses an expansive collection of other artifacts of the 20^th century and important historic figures. Imagine being able to have a seat on the same bus where Rosa Parks made her stand, or seeing the Kennedy Limo that he made his final ride through Dallas in.

Other crowned jewels of the collection include George Washington’s army cot and trunk, the chair Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in, a post WWII prototype home designed by Buckminster Fuller, and even the original Wienermobile. [Lindy]



Seeing some of these artifacts in person is enough to really take your breath away; standing next to the blood-stained rocker that President Lincoln was sitting in when John Wilkes Booth fired that famous shot was enough to give me goosebumps [Carl].

Some exhibits were a bit ecletic, including an entire display of wood/coal heating stoves from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, while others were very intricate and thought out such as the assembly line exhibit. Here, suspended from the ceiling was a real-life “exploded view” of a Model T Ford, each piece separated from the part it bolted to. Just down the hall from there you were greeted by two museum employees and a pile of Model T parts. In the morning they start out with a complete, running/driving Model T, disassemble it in about 40 minutes, and over the course of the day with the help of museum visitors reassemble it.

We had already been in the museum almost 2 hours when we realized we hadn’t even made it to the automobile and trains exhibits, and we were wondering if we’d ever get through it all in time. The Henry Ford’s auto collection was not just limited to Ford products. It may have contained important pieces of Ford automotive history such as the concept for the first Mustang, the first Ford Escort from 1980, and the Ford Taurus that put Ford back on the map when Motor Trend tested and awarded it Car of the Year. But the collection expanded to cars from almost every other make that were significant over the entire 20^th century. You wouldn’t really expect to see a Honda in a Ford museum would you? Well, there was, a 1983 Honda Accord, in mint condition, was the first Japanese car to be assembled in America, therefore it was worthy of The Henry Ford status.

Just around the corner were examples from other facets of the automotive world, including, camping, racing, and the transport industry. Bill Elliot’s 212.8mph record-breaking NASCAR Thunderbird made an appearance. Tucked back in behind a few other cars was a Model A Ford that made a tremendous journey from Chile, just to get to The Henry Ford museum. A father/son team drove 2 years to get there, and I’m sure the museum was happy to take it off their hands and offer them another form of transport home [Carl].

While looking about the automobiles, we began to notice the huge wooden bay doors along the back wall of the museum. Of course, how else would you get such an extensive train collection all under one roof but to bring each engine in on the built in tracks on the floor. Even with such designs, one mighty leviathan even tested the capabilities of the museums capacity; the 1601, second of the Allegheny class locomotives, was so massive that they had to remove the steel frame from the doors to squeeze it in. An impressive sight, it is the only one out of the original 15 to survive and was rescued from the scrap yard by the Henry Ford. Today it is allegedly the most photographed item in the collection.

Looking back through the vast hall, we realized that we had finally completed our journey through the museum. We celebrated with lunch in one of the cafes and then exited out into the bright sunlight of Greenfield village. Our first introduction to the grounds was a visit to the Firestone family farm. The structure was brought to the sight brick by brick and reassembled in a time frame of 3 years. Today it is once more a “working” farm. We stepped into the kitchen and were greeted by the smell of gingerbread and dinner being prepared. Stepping into the parlor we were able to have a seat, read a book, or even look through the viewfinder if we wished. Back out on the grounds, we looked around the barns, noticed the farm animals, and made our way into the downtown.





Our first introduction to the grounds was a visit to the Firestone family farm. The structure was brought to the sight brick by brick and reassembled in a time frame of 3 years. Today it is once more a “working” farm. We stepped into the kitchen and were greeted by the smell of gingerbread and dinner being prepared. Stepping into the parlor we were able to have a seat, read a book, or even look through the viewfinder if we wished. Back out on the grounds, we looked around the barns, noticed the farm animals, and made our way into the downtown.


The market area is filled with various venues with artisans at work. The print shop, pottery, etc. are all open to the public to view the artist. We greatly enjoyed watching the glassblowers. There is also a great deal of hands on activities, kids can shape their own blown glass flowers and turn their own brass candlesticks (for a price of course). The atmosphere is warm and inviting and extremely open. Adults can appreciate the history and artifacts, while kids learn by actually being able to live history through the events, games and hands on activities offered. There are very few restrictions in the park, just watch out for the model-T, keep away from the horse droppings, and avoid the one or two ropes which may block the upstairs of a building here or there. We were both greatly surprise just how much access guest were given.

Everything in the village is designed to make you live in an alternative time. Even the support vehicles are old Fords. The only distraction was that Carl did catch a glimpse of the test track just over the wall. Sadly, even with standing on a bench, he was unable to get any real shots of the test mules running laps.

After leaving the village, we did catch up to some test mules on the road outside the labs. Funny enough, just as Carl had just been describing to me how test vehicles are camouflaged to hide key shapes and features and have sensors placed on them for road testing, four pulled up at the light next to us. Grabbing the camera, Carl egged me on as I went into the paparazzi mode. Carl believes that what we saw will be the next generation of the Ford Fusion, or Taurus, and their Lincoln and Mercury counterparts.


Back on the highway, we headed towards the city. We figured it would have been a shame to have been just roughly ten miles outside of Detroit and not see a bit of it. We came through town on Woodward Ave. which is filled with various sculptures, fountains, and shops, and then crossed the bridge over to Belle Isle.

Belle Isle will be the site of the Detroit/Belle Isle Gran Prix next weekend. Turning onto the island we were actually able to see the preparations for the race and drive along some of the route. It took all that I had within me to keep Carl at a safe and courteous speed.

Yet again, we were reminded of just how close to Canada we were. In fact, we were just a drive through a tunnel away from the land of the red maple leaf; we could actually see it! This is the last time we go traveling and forget our passports at home!

Back safely at our campsite, we enjoyed dinner and took a bike ride around the lake. Although the weather showed all of Michigan seized by severe storms, all we got was a bit of rain and lightening right at bedtime [Lindy].

Day 14: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses….

We woke this morning and headed into the city. Our first stop of the day wasn’t exactly in Chicago, but a bit outside the city in the town of Oak Park which is just about 10 miles outside of the Chicago Loop. It is here that Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked for the first 20 years of his career. Visitors are able to tour the home and studio on the property.

It is an interesting estate to walk through, primarily because the home served as Wright’s own laboratory as he experimented with ideas of space, aesthetics, material, etc. Take for example, the family room. Wright wanted to have the grand piano, but not sacrifice the space it would consume, so he cut a hole in the wall, shoved the piano through and only the keyboard is visible protruding from the wall. The rest of the piano is suspended by a metal hook over the stairs and the sound returns to the living room through a series of strategic vents.

The home also reveals Wright’s desire for grandeur. The entrance to his studio is exquisitely decorated with a stork and tree of knowledge motif and the porch is flanked with two sculptures portraying wisdom drawing from earth what is good.

The neighborhoods of Oak Park are also known for their architectural features, including at least 56 homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Studio. Carl and I began a walking tour of the area, but were soon chased back to our car by a summer thunderstorm.

Our next destination was supposed to be the Chicago Institute of Art; however, the trailer proved to be extremely unfit for the city. Sadly we could not steal Cameron’s Dad’s Ferrari like they did in “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off,” so we had to compromise. With no parking options, Carl was sweet enough to drop me off in front of the museum and circle the block a few times. This, of course, didn’t give me enough time to view the galleries, but I was at least able to snap some shots of the lions out front, walk in, visit the gift shop, and stroll through the sculpture garden and part of Millennium Park.

When Carl caught up with me, we drove a bit deeper into the city, passed historic Wrigley field (and there was even a game going on while we were there!) and fight evening traffic out of the city.

The one good thing about driving around the city looking for parking was that we were able to get a good view of Lake Michigan and the parks, beaches, boats and lighthouses that can be found along its shore.

I have to admit, when Carl and I think about Chicago, we tend to think about the Blues Brothers. However, we soon learned that there is NO WAY that Jake and Elwood could have gotten anywhere in Chicago as fast as the movie makes it appear. First off… traffic was pretty bad, and people obviously make up the traffic rules and parking spaces as they go. Second, Chicago has got to be the toll capital of the U.S. we were broke by the time we got out of the city. Back to the highway we made tracks for our final destination, Detroit. One city to another… we’ll see how this goes!

Day 13 - Miller Time

Although today was planned as mainly a driving day, we were going straight by Milwaukee city, and a stop was definitely in order. When you think Milwaukee, two things come to mind, Harley Davidson, and breweries, specifically the Miller Brewing Company. Though my love for all things motorized extends to motorcycles, Lindy and I have both done a tour of Harley plants in the past, albeit in different states. So we decided to hit the Miller brewery tour instead.

Now, there are in fact several other breweries in Milwaukee. There were even more before prohibition. Miller though, is by far the largest in the area, and one of the few to survive the great depression serving sodas and malts.

The tour is free, another bonus. It isn’t, in my mind at least, the most organized tour. Rather than starting at the beginning of the process and working your way through, you start at the most convenient building, and hop around haphazardly until you make your way into the tasting area.

The first building the tour enters is a dark, not well lit, building where the bottles and cans are boxed in cases and prepared for shipping, umm, cool? I guess? From there you move on to the pre-shipping storage/depot. THIS was impressive. The building contained approximately 500,000 cases of the different Miller brands, all of which would be shipped by the end of the day, impressive. What’s even more impressive is that Chicago alone consumes 40% of the beer that is shipped from this brewery.

Moving on you enter what is one of the most impressive, and hottest, portions of the tour, the brew house. Here the process begins of mixing, stirring, filtering, and fermenting in 6 enormous tuns and kettles. The brewhouse, however is optional on the tour, due to 56 stairs to the upper floor and over 100* heat, apparently the kettles don’t need A/C, and neither do the workers.

They do have a plan for cooling you down, though. After exiting the brewhouse the tour goes deep into the hillside surrounding the brewery into hand-dug caves, which extend about 600ft into the hills. This is where Frederick Miller originally stored his beverages, in barrels, with ice lining the walls of the cave to maintain the temperature. Unfortunately, the poor lighting and number of people made it hard to get a good photo of this underground oasis.

Finally, and most importantly, the tour exits into the “Beer Garden” where you’re invited to sample some of Miller’s various brands. I’m sure Lindy was happy, but it sure wasn’t Bud Light…..

After that, it was hammer down to get to the windy city of Chicago, where we quickly setup camp, enjoyed dinner, and had our night cut short by a brief rainstorm.