London at the Last Minute

At this point in our time in the UK we had been notified that the company was pulling expats back home due to pandemic related issues.  We were very disappointed that our time was quickly coming to close and that the pandemic had nullified much of our plans for European travel.  However, there was also an overwhelming sense of relief to finally be going home, back to our family, back to America!  I don't recommend taking on a pandemic in a foreign country.  

A trip to London had been planned many times over, but the pandemic kept ebbing away at our opportunities.  Knowing that another lockdown was soon pending, we planned the trip, booked it, and waited cautiously ahead of the October break in hopes that we'd get to go.  In the week leading up to the trip the government announced that a new circuit breaker would be beginning soon, with the start date to be announced in the following days.  At this news, I contacted my travel agent and cancelled all the plans thinking that there'd be no point in traveling to London if everything was closed.  Just two days before the planned trip date the government announced that circuit breaker would be focused in the most affected areas rather than country wide.  No doubt, this was an effort to try to help keep a dwindling economy stumbling forward and not take another tremendous loss at the hands of another lockdown.  And as luck would have it, London was not scheduled to go into the circuit breaker.  I called my travel agent back that night and rebooked everything.  We packed up the next day and caught a nearly empty train to London!

Earl of Wemyss and Gosford House

One crisp Scottish morning, my very dear friend Michelle arranged for a private tour of Gosford House, which is a neoclassical country home owned by the Scottish Nobleman the 13th Earl of Wemyss.  The home serves as his holiday home, since his primary residence is in England.  

The estate was built in 1780 and sits on more than 5,000 acres that includes stables, an ice house, curling house (very unusually for Scotland), boat house, and the family mausoleum.  The estate includes 1,700 art pieces with original works by Da Vinci and Michelangelo.  The home has been host to the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and Princess Anne.  It's also been used in the filming of The Awakening and Outlander.  

But everything is not as it seems from the outside.  During World War 2 the British Army occupied the house and during a lively party burned down the center block of the home.  By the 1950s, areas of the house had been abandoned, left roofless, and significantly damaged by fire.  An aerial view of would show a hollowed north wing.  Only the south wing is functional, but it's glory still shines through.  The main part of the house is consumed by that extravagant three-story Marble Hall laddened with art and gleaming with natural light from the beautiful glass dome ceiling.

The idea that this is someone's personal home, who's not even in the monarchy, leaves me a little awestruck.  It was an interesting day touring the house and walking the grounds.

Belated Anniversary at The Fingal

Along with the many other travels that Covid eliminated, there was one particular trip that I was especially disappointed over.  Jacob and I tried to travel as much as we could during our early years of marriage, despite the limited resources and time off that goes along with being a new hire fresh out of college.  We even took a babymoon while I was 5 months pregnant, knowing it may be our last chance to travel as a couple for a while.  After Brenna was born, we continued to travel as often as we could, but having a baby on board completely changed not only the way we vacationed but also the destinations that we travelled to.  Some of our bucket-list destinations got put on the back burner for more kid friendly options like beach vacations and Disney World.  As she grew, so did her sense of adventure and love of travel, which was a joy for me to see except for one minor detail.  She loved to travel so much that the idea that we would leave her behind on any trip was a devastating thought to her!  And so, its been 13 years since Jacob and I had a "trip" for ourselves.  

But this year was gonna be the year that we snuck away!  It just so happened that Outdoor Education Week was scheduled for the same week in May as our anniversary.  Brenna would be off camping on a small island off the western coast of Scotland.  Jacob scheduled the time-off and I booked us a great 3-day getaway at the Trump Turnberry, also on the western coast of the Scotland, but alas, Covid struck and the pandemic destroyed our plans.  

We did get some consolation a few months later after Covid restrictions eased a bit.  We enjoyed a rare night out.  Brenna was spending the night at a friends house one weekend and we decided to take the opportunity to stay at the Fingal.  We combined two of our favorite things: ships (albeit, not a cruise) and food!

The Fingal was originally commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1963 with the purpose of ferrying lighthouse keepers, essential supplies, and maintenance staff to lighthouses, as well as undertaking repairs to navigational aids throughout the West Coast and the North of Scotland. Fingal retired from lighthouse service in 2000.  After serving in several different capacities in the following years, The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust (caretakers of the Royal Yacht) acquired the ship in 2014.  With much planning and design work the ship undertook a £5m conversion over more than two years that transformed it into a luxury floating hotel with each of the 23 cabins onboard the Fingal named after one of the lighthouses in its previous service.

Scottish Highland Adventure

Just a short two weeks after our England getaway, we were off again.  During lockdown, as we were patiently waiting for restrictions to lift, a friend and I planned a joint Highland adventure for our families not knowing whether we'd be able to actually take it or not.  As it turns out, it ended up being a celebratory trip!  We celebrated both Brenna and Michelle's birthdays.  We were trying to make the most of our very short, socially distanced, don’t leave the UK summer.  

  

The trip started with a curvy drive through Glencoe.  The highlands are incredibly beautiful!  Brenna snapped pictures along the drive of all the mountains and valleys.

English Country-Side Getaway

It's no secret how much I love travel and when we took this assignment I had dreams of making my way through as many European countries as possible during our time here.  Unfortunately, between the extended unexpected plant outage which was immediately followed by the four month covid lockdown, all my plans were laid to waste.  Over the course of the year I planned and canceled a fall Baltic cruise that covered Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, and Sweden, a Christmas trip to Portugal, a winter break in London, and an Easter trip to Belgium and France.  My dream of a stamp-filled passport has fizzled! 

But!  My travel loving spirit would not be deterred!  Once we were granted access to the world beyond the four walls of our home, I booked a trip!  We were allowed to leave our homes, but not the UK, so I focused my efforts on all that Great Britain had to offer.  While I had originally hoped to do London, it had not fully reopened and still had it's fair share of the covid related restrictions.  Instead, I decided what better place to socially distance than in the English countryside!  

I've stated on this blog before that our family is not a fan of road trips.  I much prefer planes and cruising.  However, in an abundance of caution we decided to limit our exposure and drive across the country.  We split the trip into segments, both going and coming, and stopped off at attractions along the journey.  We left Edinburgh mid-morning and drove through south Scotland and into England.  Scotland is beautiful!  It's like driving through a Thomas Kinkade painting.  The little villages are nestled into the base of the rolling green hills with streams and wildflowers scattered about.  The further south you go the terrain changes and England doesn't have that same fairytale type feel.  

Five hours into our drive, we reached our first stop at Liverpool, home of the Beatles.  We stayed right alongside Albert Docks and were blessed with some amazing weather that allowed us to really enjoy all the shops and activities during our time there.  We took in some shopping at Liverpool One, which was exciting in itself since we hadn't done it in so long.  We enjoyed lunch out (that I didn't have to cook!), frantically raced to beat an Alice in Puzzleland escape room, and enjoyed dessert (and even breakfast the next morning) at Heavenly Desserts.  Liverpool was an interesting town to see and provided a great kicked off for our time away.

Mediterranean Cruise Vacation for Brenna's 12th Birthday

I didn't want Brenna's birthday to get lost in the move, so we had a small get together with her friends before we left.  While I offered to do the usual party themed celebration, she preferred it to be nothing more than just a fun hangout, no decorations, no cake, no fuss.  There was a lot going on during that time.  Our furniture departed for the journey to Scotland long before we did and since we sold the house, we were forced out earlier than we expected and had to live in a hotel for the final week in Houston.  Given everything else I was dealing with at the time I was especially grateful for Brenna's understanding.  Knowing that her birthday would fall shortly after we got to Britain and I didn't expect we'd know anyone, we decided to plan our summer vacation as Brenna's birthday celebration.  Brenna loves cruising as much as we do and she helped me plan everything.  On her actual birthday she and I enjoyed a spa day where we got facials, manicures, and pedicures in preparation for our cruise vacation.  

The pre-birthday hangout

Dallas Spring Break

By complete accident we seemed to be on a tour of southeast Texas having visited Houston, Galveston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi all within a few short months.  We decided to keep the tour going by spending Spring Break in Dallas.  Other than flying through, we've never really spent much time there.  We stayed a few days at the Four Seasons Dallas at Las Colinas.  It was far enough to feel like we were getting away and close enough to make the trip easy and convenient.  The resort grounds were beautiful and it felt like a refuge in the middle of the city.  Things started off well and Brenna was excited when a tray of cookies for her picking emerged from the front desk while we were checking in. We were pleasantly surprised upon arrival to discover that despite the fact that pool was not scheduled to open until April, the hotel chose to open it for the day for their guests to enjoy the unexpected warm weather. So, we ditched our plans for the first evening and spent the afternoon enjoying a swim in the pool and then relaxing in the hot tub.

The housekeeping staff made Brenna feel like a princess. They put her name in stickers across the shower door and gave her a special kit of bubble bath, shampoo, and conditioner. The next day we came back to the room to discover they had made her bed with princess bedding and left her a fun stuffy. 

Brenna and I had a great time completing the resort scavenger hunt. It wasn't as easy as I had expected.  Some hints were tough to decipher, but at every turn we were met with friendly staff faces and knowledgeable advice to help us along the way.  Jacob and Brenna enjoyed the sports club and spent an afternoon playing a few sets at the indoor tennis courts. 

One day we ventured out for some shopping and fun at Grapevine Mills.  We conquered two escape rooms and spent some time in the arcade.  The next day we braved the spring break masses and visited the Dallas World Aquarium and Zoo.

San Antonio Thanksgiving

We decided to take a little trip during our Thanksgiving break.  We knew our time in Texas would be drawing to a close very soon and we hadn't had the opportunity to get over to San Antonio yet.  We visited there when Brenna was just a baby and she doesn't remember it now.  So we packed up and headed to the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort for a few days of taking in the tourist sights.  The resort was all decorated and ready for Christmas.  The front entrance had large ornaments hanging from the pavilion, the lobby was decked with Christmas trees, and the back outdoor patio was covered in the Christmas light displayed called Light Up the Night.

Moody Gardens Galveston Day Trip

One pretty clear day in October we headed down to Galveston to spend the day at Moody Gardens.  We got there early and enjoyed a leisurely walk along the patio to take in the views of the bay and the Colonel paddlewheel boat.  We headed to the Rainforest Pyramid first to catch all the animals stirring during the morning hours.  The rainforest was Brenna's favorite because all the animals are out in the open with you.  We had fun with some very friendly ducks and birds that didn't mind if you got close.  Next we headed to the Aquarium Pyramid to watch the penguins and seals and pet the stingrays.  Finally, we quickly walked through the Discovery Pyramid.  Even though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle exhibit wasn't our favorite, Brenna enjoyed seeing all the different types of real live turtles that were part of it.  We were able to catch the Backyard Wilderness in the 3D IMAX which was interesting and we experienced an earthquake through the 4D FX theater production of San Andreas.  We had a great day!

Corpus Christi Tag Along

Over the last year, Jacob has traveled often.  There's been several international trips, but much more often it's been quick trips back and forth to Corpus Christi, usually weekly.  Sometimes, he'd fly down for a day or two; sometimes there and back in the same day.  Once Brenna got out of school for the summer, we tagged along for one of his business trips.  As an indicator of how often he travels there, when we pulled up at the hotel, the valet knew him by name.  

Brenna and I slept in each morning, while Jacob went to meetings.  We hit the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant and then spent our days at the pool.  Surprisingly and despite it being summer, we had it mostly to ourselves.  I guess Corpus isn't really known for it's tourism!  One evening we had dinner on the top floor of the hotel at The Republic of Texas and took in the view of the bay from the observation deck.  On our final afternoon, we visited the Texas State Aquarium and got a look at the USS Lexington.  It was a fun and easy getaway, even if Jacob had to work alittle!

Maui Vacation

Hawaii has been on our bucket list since we got married.  After years of "not right now", things seemed to fall into place and we finally decided it was time.  We were back in the USA, which made the trip a little shorter.  Brenna was old enough to appreciate the trip and remember it, and Jacob had racked up lots of air miles thanks to all his international travel with the new job.  So, I jumped into action and started planning.  It was fun, since it was something completely new and different that I'd never tackled before.  After raking through which island to visit, which region of the island to stay on, and what resorts we liked, we settled on Maui!  It turned out to be an adventure of a lifetime!

We started our trip with an easy 3.5 hour mid-morning flight out of Houston to Los Angeles.  It was my first time in California and the views of the mountains were really lovely as we made our approach.  We had a quick 1.5 hour layover in Los Angeles, which gave us just enough time to grab a bite to eat and restock our snack supply for the next flight.  Then it was off to Maui!  

Coming into Los Angeles

Christmas Caribbean Cruise Vacation

We've taken a vacation every summer since Brenna's been born... except this past summer.  Our summer was consumed with the move, temporary living, and building the house.  I knew trying to squeeze in a vacation would be a lost cause, so in early May I booked a cruise for our next school break; Christmas.  At the time, I didn't know that we'd be spending Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains with the other McAlister's or that Jacob would be in Dubai the week before the cruise was scheduled.  The end of the year was travel laden to say the least, but given the tough year we'd had with the move, Hurricane Harvey, and losing the cats, this turned out to be a nice break for just the three of us.  

We decided not to tell Brenna about the cruise and save it as a Christmas surprise.  I love vacation planning, and this was the biggest secret I've ever had to keep from her.  There were several moments over those 8 months that I almost let the secret slip or just wanted to give it away anyway.  But I stayed strong, and as Christmas approached a small gift wrapped box appeared under the tree.  We told Brenna it was the only Christmas gift she would received from us this year, and while she tried to be a good girl and say she was fine with it, I could see her emotions bubbling up.  She was crazy curious!

On the last day of school, before the winter break, Jacob took off early and we attended Brenna's class Christmas party.  After the party, she came home with us and we sat her down and gave her a choice.  Since she was only getting the one present, she could open it now, to enjoy during the winter break, or she could leave it until Christmas morning and do things the traditional way.  Just as I expected, she jumped at the chance to open the gift.  Her overall reaction was much more subdued than I expected.  Once reality set in, she was thrilled about the vacation, but slightly disappointed that I didn't include her in the vacation planning like I usually do.

Smoky Mountain Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving in four years that we actually had as a holiday where both Brenna was out of school and Jacob was off work.  With just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, we decided to join Jacob's brother and his family for a holiday trip to The Great Smoky Mountains.  Dolly Parton was our host as we stayed at her DreamMore Resort for the week.  The resort was beautiful and we enjoyed the cool fall colors and weather.  

McAlister Disney Vacation 2017

After three years in Canada, we've learned that it helps everyones perspective on life to take a little break in the winter, find some warmer weather, and leave the dreary cold behind.  So, way back in January we got away for a Disney World vacation.  The weather was perfect, the crowds were low, and we had a wonderful time.

We surprised Brenna with a limo ride from the airport to Disney World!

Bermuda Cruise Vacation

We enjoyed our NCL Getaway cruise vacation so much last year, that I immediately booked another vacation on her sister ship, the Breakaway for the next summer.  We would have more than twelve months to wait!  The cruise was booked for Aug 28th, our last week of summer, and this would be our first time to cruise in late August/early September, which is prime hurricane season.  After much consideration, I felt it was safest to book another cruise to Bermuda, since it rarely sees hurricane activity.  It's just a tiny speck of an island all alone in the middle of the North Atlantic.  And of course, with only five days before sail away, Hurricane Gaston began slowly making it's way to Bermuda!  We closely followed its track, knowing there was a possibility that our cruise could be delayed or rerouted.  Lucky for us, with two days to spare, Gatson took a sharp turn east and carried away from the island.  We thought we'd averted the crisis and were off to enjoy a hurricane free vacation.  The only other potential for hurricane activity was just an invest east of the Caribbean that had the potential of getting into the Gulf of Mexico and strengthening.  We knew it may cause some adjustments to the Caribbean itineraries but it would have no impact on our trip......or so we thought!  More on that later.

We kicked off our vacation with a Mom and Me Day!  Brenna and I usually have our annual Mom and Me Day just before her birthday.  This year, because of travel and summer camps, we had to postpone and decided to save it for a trip to the nail salon just before our vacation.  The day before we left for vacation we both got manicures and pedicures followed by a pancake breakfast at McDonald's.  Then it was back home to pack-up for an early morning departure.

Niagara Falls and Great Wolf Lodge

As soon as we found out we were coming to Canada I stopped off by the book store and picked up a copy Frommer's Canada to browse.  That's when I realized that Niagara Falls was only about a three hour drive from Sarnia.  I came home and told Jacob that we had to go!  For one reason or another, it took us two and half years to get there.  Jacob's time has been limited this summer due to work commitments, so we tried to squeeze in a short two-night trip over the July holiday weekend.

We drove down on Sunday to avoid the Canada Day crowds.  We got an early start and were in Niagara before noon.  We decided to stop off by the hotel to see if they could hold our luggage until check-in while we toured the Niagara Falls area.  We were surprised to hear that they already had a room available so we checked-in and got settled into our room.  Another benefit to the trip was this was our first stay at Great Wolf Lodge.  It definitely lived up to all it's rave reviews from friends and the trip turned out to be more about Great Wolf than Niagara.  She was so excited with the whole place and loved having her own separated little space with TV and bunk bed.  After promising that we would have time to try everything at the hotel, we convinced her to leave so we could go tour Niagara Falls.

Crystal Mountain Michigan Spring Break

We're trying to make the most out of our time up north.  We've slowing been moving through a hit-list of places that we wanted to enjoy while we were here.  These are the type of places that we might not have visited otherwise.  One big item on our list was to experience skiing.  Neither Jacob nor I have ever tried it, and considering how well Brenna has embraced the winter climate, we made it a priority for this year.

I found a great resort in north Michigan called Crystal Mountain that seemed to have everything we were looking for.  In January, I made all the arrangements for a Spring Break Ski Vacation.  It had been a mild winter, but the resort assured me there would be skiing until April.  I planned it just like I plan all our other trips; with great attention to detail.  I made reservations for snowmobiling, snow-shoeing, and ski lessons.  We also planned for spa appointments, the adventure course, and a hiking trip to the Michigan Legacy Art Park.  As the date approached, we weren't "warming-up" but we were hitting temperatures above freezing.  I was concerned that we may not see any snow on this ski vacation.  As it turns out, we did have snow.  Granted it was more man-made than natural, but it provided the slopes we needed to try our first ski adventure.  Unfortunately, because of the above-freezing temperatures, most of the other trails on the mountain were snow-free and eliminated our opportunity to try snowmobiling and snow-shoeing.  At first I was a bit disappointed, but after our first couple of days at Crystal Mountain I realized it was a better fit us.  We got the best of both worlds.  We could enjoy the all the outdoor activities with mild temperatures and still take in the winter-type skiing.  It did rain 2 out of our 5 days there, but there were plenty of activities to keep us busy and we enjoyed some down time in the cabin with board games and family movies.

We drove roughly 4 hours all the way across Michigan with the cats.  We reserved a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, pet-friendly cabin so they could join us on this vacation.  The cabin was just what you would expect from a cozy ski cabin.  It was settled on the outer edge of the mountain and backed up to a small pond.  The living area had a large window that looked out over the pond and the Canadian geese kept Pickles entertained during his stay.  He spent most of his time perched on top of the kitchen counter for the best view of the backyard.  Moose preferred the solitude of the master bedroom which had a very large sky window that gave him views of the tall maple trees outside.

Puerto Rico Family Vacation

Earlier this month, we met up with Jacob's family in Puerto Rico for a special family get together.  We spent the majority of our time at a beautiful hacienda that's nestled into the foot hills of the El Yunque Rainforest.  The hacienda is actually a part of a working horse farm and had some amazing views and cozy outdoors area.  Here's a few pictures from around the property and our family get together.

Virgin Islands Vacation Surprise

I'll start by saying we are not very spontaneous.  Especially when it comes to travel.  I love to travel, but I also love to plan travel.  Because we have a special trip planned for later in the fall, we decided to stay close to home this summer.  So, I had absolutely no upcoming travel plans other than maybe a quick weekend trip over to Niagara Falls for late in the summer.  That's why I was stunned one Sunday morning in church when Jacob turned to me in between songs and whispers "Let's get away somewhere for a cruise vacation, but it has to be the last week in June."  I sat beside him through the service certain that I must have misunderstood.  My brain only caught "getaway", "cruise", and "June".  After church, he confirmed what I thought I had heard and told me to go see what I could find!  And then the search was on!

Now, the one time I booked a cruise on short notice was only because I had already combed through all the options, done all the research, and had everything lined out. All I was waiting for was the go ahead from Jacob that his schedule would allow him to go.  This was very different!  Jacob's schedule provided a very definitive time frame to start my search, but still there was lots to consider and only a short time to do it in.  How many days to cruise, where to go, where to leave from, and which ship to take.  I called my travel agent bright and early Monday morning and we got to work.  By Wednesday, we were booked in a beautiful suite on the brand new Norwegian Getaway departing from Miami to the Virgin Islands in T-minus 15 days!  I spent the next day arranging flights, a pre-cruise hotel, transfers, and a cat sitter.  The rest of the week I researched ports, shore excursions, dining options, and entertainment schedules for the ship.  The following Monday, we wrapped up the last day of school and then Brenna and I spent the next three days packing and shopping for last minute supplies.  It was a very exciting two weeks with the anticipation and preparation.  And just like that, it was here!

Jacob worked Friday morning until mid-day.  When he got home we packed up and headed for Detroit to catch a late afternoon flight to Miami.  The flight was uneventful and we got into Miami late that night.  We caught a taxi straight to our hotel and got settled in for the night.

The next morning as the sun came up, we caught our first glimpse of the Norwegian Getaway from our balcony.  After a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we went back to the room to pack up and head to the port. 

Good Morning Miami!  First view of the Getaway!

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!