Drive My Car

Dearborn, Michigan, is the birthplace of Henry Ford and is still very much Ford country. It seems that every other building sports the Ford logo and the city is home to The Henry Ford, an institution including the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, among other attractions. This was our destination for today… another gorgeous sunny day with bright blue skies above.

We began at Greenfield Village, established by Henry Ford to re-create various American historic structures, such as Thomas Edison’s laboratory, the Wright Brothers’ workshop and others. In the vein of historic Williamburg, Virginia, the workers at Greenfield VIllage dress in the garb of their appropriate era and show how the people of that time lived and worked. (The village includes a working farm, glass blowing facility, etc.)  Ford Model T’s cruise up and down the roads of the village (Caren and I enjoyed a ride in one of the 6 authentic Model T recreations), along with horse drawn shuttle buses.

After spending quite a bit of time exploring Greenfield Village, we moved on to a tour of the Ford Rouge factory, where the company currently manufactures their F-150 trucks. The self-guided tour allows you to view the assembly line area from a walkway above. Unfortunately, Ford is not currently producing any F-150’s at the factory, so seeing the empty assembly line was a bit disappointing. Despite some videos posted at strategic locations along the tour route, it was hard to get too excited seeing the vacant production areas.

Following the Rouge Factory tour, we completed our day with a visit to the Henry Ford Museum. The huge museum building houses an eclectic collection of American history, with exhibits dedicated to (of course) the automobile in American life, but also railway trains, adventures in early flight, American power and manufacturing history, home arts and furniture, a Dymaxion House from the 1940’s (a proposed solution to mass-produced housing… of which 2 were ever built), and a special exhibit featuring the history of chocolate. Among the artifacts found at the museum are the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the Rosa Parks bus, the limousine in which JFK was killed, and last, but not least, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile (see photos).

Other than the disappointing factory tour, the complex was interesting and a lot of fun to visit, although it was definitely exhausting being on our feet all day.

Next up… a Sunday drive up to Mackinaw City with a brief stop scheduled for Frankenmuth, Michigan… then Monday morning, we’ll take the ferry over to Mackinac Island for a couple of days of rest and relaxation (we hope).

Stu