I have an “accidental” travel goal to see all 50 states. I say accidental, because I did not set out to attain such a goal until I had already seen over 35 states. (Thank you grad school and United States Air Force for multiple cross country moves!). I was down to just 5 until a few weeks ago, when I crossed one more off my list. Having planned a cruise with some friends that we needed to postpone at the last minute, we were searching for the perfect destination for a shorter trip – where none of us had visited – a TALL order for two couples who travel as much as we do. After much back and forth we found it –
Mackinac Island in MICHIGAN!
Andy and I started our trip with a day in Detroit so we could visit the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation – a very short drive from DTW airport. A friend had recently visited and raved about it. We had never heard of it but it sounded interesting so we decided to fly into DTW and rent the car to drive to Mackinac Island (about 4-1/2 hours) so that we could visit. Our only disappointment was that our plan only allowed one afternoon at the museum, which was not enough to see everything there. It’s at least a 2 day visit! Having arisen at 4am to catch our 6am flight get to DTW, picking up the rental car and heading straight to the museum, we were quite tired as the afternoon wore on. I’d get to the point, where I’d think, okay I need to call it a day, I just can’t go on anymore, and then we’d see something else out of the corner of
our eye and have to head to that section to check it out. Like this Dymaxion House – have you ever heard of one? We sure hadn’t!
Dymaxion
Dymaxion
We stayed until closing time in spite of the exhaustion and still didn’t see all of the museum not to mention the Greenfield Village and Ford Rouge Factory Tour also on the property! The first exhibit we saw upon entering was an exhibition of several presidential limos, including
JFKs – yes the one in which he was assassinated.
Kennedy Limo
As parents of pilots, we were especially interested in the Heroes of the Sky exhibition which highlighted the history of American aviation.
Aviation History
The most moving exhibit for me was “Liberty and Justice for All” where we were able to sit on the actual bus Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat.
Rosa Parks bus
And of course Henry Ford’s Museum of American Innovation would not be complete without the man himself or his model T.
Model T
Model T
And to think this was just the “secondary destination” of our vacation plans. Stay tuned for my next post about the “Main event”.
