Planes, Trains and Automobiles . . .

And so much more!

Today we went to "The Henry Ford" - which is a combination of the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, the Ford Factory Tour and lots of other things. It's way more than you can do in one day, so we have decided to stay here in Livonia, Michigan, for at least two more days.



Today we went to the museum . . .

And we saw Planes . . . this is the Wright Bros. first-flight plane . . .

Trains . . . This is the largest locomotive I have ever seen!

and lots of Automobiles . . . From the very first car made up to the present - and not just Fords either, all makes of cars are represented.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more to see . . .

Bicycles of all types . . . including a bicycle built for 10! The wooden one in front of this photo was only useful when going downhill . . .

Telephones . . .

And furniture - all types from chairs, desks, dressers, tables, sofas, . . .

And, of course, fire trucks . . .

There were light fixtures, household items such as sewing machines, kitchen gadgets, televisions, radios, machinery of all types, brick-makers, steam engines, tractors and farm equipment, memorabilia from all different eras, I can't even remember all of it. After awhile I just stopped taking photos because there was so much.

There were historically important items too, like the actual chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in at the Ford Theatre when he was shot (do you think the discoloration at the top of the back was caused by his blood?)

The car John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was shot (after his assassination, the car was refurbished and a hard top was added, but this is the actual car) . . .

And the bus that Rosa Parks was riding in when she refused to give up her seat to a white man and started the Equal Rights Movement . . .

We got into a conversation with a security volunteer who told us that it was Henry Ford's desire to collect one of every thing ever manufactured in the USA. He said that besides all the items currently on display in the museum (and I didn't even begin to show you the enormity or the variety or the comprehensiveness of the museum), there are buildings and buildings and buildings full of more stuff that hopefully someday can be incorporated into the exhibits. They change the items out continually, and right now there is a huge airplane exhibit (which I didn't take many photos of because we already went to the Air Force museum). But the airplanes are taking up such a big portion of the museum, they had to put a lot of the other items in storage.

It was sort of like the Smithsonian, you need a lot of time to take it all in. We were there most of today and I think we walked through it all, but no way did we have time to read all the information that is available. John was right - it did blow my mind.

Tomorrow we are going to Greenfield Village, which is adjacent to the museum. We've been told it is a full day experience at the minimum, to see it in depth can take 2 full days. And we want to take the Ford Plant tour on Thursday. So we're gonna be busy for awhile . . . I'll keep you posted!!!