I Must Have Done Something Right: Henry Ford Museum

While my Mom and Dad where here in May we decided to visit the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. We had heard from both Canadians and Americans that it was great day trip. Jacob was in Arizona on a work trip, so it was just me, Brenna, Mom and Dad. Originally I thought it would be a short excursion and then maybe we would do some shopping after, because how long could you really spend in a car museum. But, based on the suggestions of friends we planned for the whole day and I'm glad that we did.

We visited both the Henry Ford Museum as well as Greenfield Village. The Henry Ford Museum building itself covers 8 acres with 40 foot ceilings. It documents the genius of ordinary american people by recognizing and preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives. We saw the cot that George Washington sleep on during the war, the chair that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in, the Presidential Limousine that JFK was assassinated in, and the Goldenrod which is the fastest car in the world. We sat in the bus that Rosa Parks rode when she refused to give up her seat to a white gentlemen in Montgomery, Alabama. I enjoyed reading the life timeline of George Washington and its very honest documentation of his character (not as heroic and upstanding as you may think) and his rise to power as our first president. I also enjoyed reading life timeline of Abraham Lincoln (whose character was documented just as we've idolized him to be as Honest Ab) and the struggles he faced during the civil war with views from both the north and south sides. Of course, along with the historical aspects of our country, there were lots of planes, trains, and cars.

Brenna loved moving from exhibit to exhibit and even though some of this was out of her current scope of interest, the museum did an excellent job of having kid-friendly stations that kept her entertained. There was a paper air plane making station with a runway set up to see exactly how far you could fly your plane. There was a hug toy train exhibit complete with streaming video from a tiny camera attached to the top of the locomotive, so you could see yourself on the big TV screen as the train made the curve coming out of the tunnel. Finally, there was a mini-garage where Brenna learned to change a tire and replace an oil filter.

After we finished up at Henry Ford we moved on to Greenfield Village, which is an 80 acre outdoor replication of America's colonial times. Some building were authentic and had been removed from the previous location and resettled at Greenfield Village. Building like Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, Thomas Edison’s laboratory where he invented the light bulb, the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law, and the bicycle shop that belonged to the Wright Brothers were just some. We got to ride in a Ford Model-T to tour some of the grounds. Afterward, Brenna and Mawmaw enjoyed the amazing kids playground, while Pawpaw and I toured Edison's lab. The lab had all original equipment and materials. After the building had been relocated to Greenfield Village, Henry Ford invited Edison to recreate his original experiment to create the lightbulb. At the time, Edison was in his 80's so Ford had a chair provided for him at the experiment table so that he could sit rather than stand. After the experiment was complete, Ford had the chair nailed to the floor. Edison was the last person to sit in it and its never been moved.

Next, we made our way through the railroad junction and roundhouse, the craftworks where we watched them blow glass, and the farm lands where we saw horses plowing the fields. Finally, after more than 6 hours, we headed home and still had not seen all there was to see. They also offered a factory tour where you could visit the Ford assembly plant and watch the new F-150s being built, but that would have to be saved for another day.

So, it was a great visit and I'm glad we got to experience it. I highly recommend making the time for it if you're ever in the Detroit Area.

Brenna exploring the halls, playing house, and the human hot dog!