Henry Ford Museum

Hello, hello! I hope your Monday and week is off to a great start.

Did anyone else’s weekend fly by?

Ours was jam-packed with activities, so in an effort to avoid overwhelming you with pictures and stories, I am going to keep this post dedicated to the highlights of Saturday’s whereabouts.

Along with our friends Alex and Alex, Scott and I finally made it out to explore the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

We arrived right before lunch time and made our way through all of the exhibits until closing time. I had no idea how much there was to cover!

Scott and I both went in expecting to see automobiles, and what we found first dated all the way back before automobiles were even a thought.

We started at the furniture exhibit. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

Martha Washington’s arm chair from the 1860s (left)

Edgar Allan Poe’s writing desk from the 1830s

Vintage carnival pieces

Heating stoves and lanterns from the 1800s

All of the automobiles you can imagine (more on that later)

Both Scott and (boy) Alex are huge history buffs. They could spend hours and hours in one exhibit of a museum, and while I appreciate looking at everything, (girl) Alex and I tend to move at a faster pace than the boys.

We had fun exploring the decades of living room decorations, appliances, and class rooms. It was cool to feel like I was walking into actual houses.

I loved seeing the one and only fully built, lived-in Dymaxion House!

The Dymaxion was completed in 1930 after two years of development, then redesigned in 1945. The creator, Bunkmister Fuller, lived in it with his family for over twenty years!

“The Dymaxion house represented the first conscious effort to build an autonomous building in the 20th century,” according to Wikipedia.

Today it resides at the Henry Ford Museum and was restored for people to be able to come see what it was all about.

I thought it was a neat concept!

We met back up with the boys right outside the Gridiron Glory exhibit, which featured the best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There was plenty of hometown representation of the Detroit Lions, and an assortment of artifacts and displays showing off the best of the best.

I enjoyed learning more about the sport and seeing life size molds of the incredible size and strength of some of the most impressive NFL players.

(Straight up flexin’…)

(Those leg sizes are crazy!!)

Scott convinced me to try the interactive football helmet on, even though all I could think about was how many other peoples’ heads have been inside of it prior to mine. I’m kind of a gerbaphobe, so I gave myself a pat on the back for this one.

The helmets have speaker systems installed in order for the player to hear plays from the coach!

Typically, the Quarterback and one Defensive Lineman wear these types of helmets. Props to them… those things were heavy!

We took a quick break from the museum to watch a movie at the attached IMAX Theatre. We watched D-Day in 3D and brushed up on our knowledge of what led up to the historical events that took place in Normandy in 1944.

It was a cool experience! I love IMAX theaters.

With a little over two hours left to explore the rest of the museum, we walked over to the middle lobby unsure of what to tackle next.

Once again, this place is huge!

Lucky for us, a tour guide saw us and offered us a complimentary tour of the highlights. She did a wonderful job hitting all of the must-see pieces and I was very thankful to have her narrations and stories throughout the remainder of the exhibits.

We started in the Liberty and Justice wing and saw some amazing artifacts.

One of thirty copies of the Declaration of Independence

The chair President Abraham Lincoln was sitting in at the time of his assassination

(A lot of the discoloration isn’t necessarily blood. The chair came from the Smithsonian and has water damage from it’s time there. Today it is protected from lights and humidity at the Henry Ford Museum.)

The exact bus Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat after orders

There were so many things to see! At this point, I was very grateful we found a tour guide to get us through everything we needed to hit.

Next up were the airplanes and automobiles.

While I could literally upload at least thirty more photos, I am going to refrain and leave you with my favorite parts.

A wedding party taking photos under the planes!

The 1903 Wright Flyer

1923 “Exploded” Model T 

1903 Ford Model A – the first one!

1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale… holy cow this car is expensive!

1962 Ford Mustang I – the original Mustang design

and a whole line of Presidential vehicles:

Eisenhower’s 1950 Bubbletop Lincoln

THE 1961 Lincoln Kennedy Car

Our last stop took us to the 1941 Allegheny Locomotive and an impressive collection of trains.

I was so in awe! How did they even get them here?

While we made it through the highlights of the museum, we could have easily spent more than our allotted five hours there. I’m sure we will make another trip down the road.

On our way out, we stopped into the museum cafe that only featured local Michigan products.

I don’t know why, but places like these always intrigue me. Scott and I both love finding and trying the products Michigan is known for, and since we made it to the cafe right before closing time our selection was limited.

Even so, I enjoyed my Michigan Cherry Salad with a specialty local known dessert bread.

It was a great little Saturday, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about history behind the city we now call home.

After the museum, the four of us headed towards Downtown Detroit to pick up our race packets for the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon the next day. I’ll be sure to post a recap as soon as I get some pictures together.

Stay tuned!

Questions of the Day

• Do you like visiting museums?

• What is the coolest thing you recently discovered about your city?