Pure Michigan!

We stopped at the shores of Lake Huron for a glimpse of the second largest of the great lakes.

On we drove to Beulah, Michigan.  This is where they grow cherries, and we stopped at a place known for its tart cherry pies.  Since we love cherry pie, we had a slice, then bought a pie to go.  It was delicious!

We ended the day with a beautiful sunset over Lake Michigan.

 

 

We walked through several greenhouses and took the tour bus through the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids.  The many blooming plants and curious sculptures were a welcome break from the country roads and cornfields.

 



Venus Fly Trap



Spider Sculpture

We had a great time in Holland!  We saw wooden shoes being made and tried them on, looked at delft ware being made, enjoyed a pastry, and watched the imported Dutch windmill turn with the wind.  

 

 

 

 Next we stopped at Deer Forest and fed lots of animals. There were farm animals and whole herds of deer!  When we arrived at each pen with our bucket of corn, the animals would come running, it was so exciting!  We went into the deer pen and were surrounded by these gentle, but very pushy creatures who ate right out of our hands.

 

The Motor City

We toured the Ford Factory in Dearborn where we saw Ford pick-up trucks on the assembly line.  It was fascinating watching them being put together piece by piece. 

the chassis

We also toured the Henry Ford Museum which was a mixture of cars, planes, furniture, trains, history, and more.  We looked at several presidential limosines (including the one where President Kennedy was shot), the chair where Lincoln was assassinated, the bus where Rosa Parks was arrested, and the Oscar Mayer wiener mobile. We walked along the timeline of automotive history from the first Quadricycle to the modern hybrids.  We particularly enjoyed the displays on the history of road travel! 

the original smart car!

Quadricycle

We took a tour through the Greenfield Village in a 1914 Ford Model T, at a blazing 15 miles per hour!  We walked through the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop where they built the first airplane, and visited Thomas Edison's Laboratory too. 

 

After working up an appetite, we decided to have some Detroit style pizza.  It is square-shaped and baked in a greased pan, giving the thick crust a crispy bottom & edges, then the toppings and cheese, with the sauce on the very top.

Muffins and Motown

We had another factory tour on our agenda, the Jiffy Mix tour at the Chelsea Milling Company, in Michigan. We started out eating their apple/cinnamon muffins while we watched a video about the mill, its history, and how it operates.  Then we put on hair nets and toured the factory watching the boxes being formed and filled with the various mixes, and finally crated.  I didn't know they made over 20 different kinds of mixes including brownie, pie crust, frosting, cake, cookie, muffin and baking mixes!  We got a great sample bag with a couple boxes of mixes, and a little cookbook for taking the tour.  They also had a special tour sample case of 24 boxes of a variety of their mixes for $12, which of course I bought and can't wait to try!



the variety of mixes we got!

After that we were really hungry for lunch.  We drove to Detroit and went to the Traffic Jam and Snug for a BBQ Beef Panini.  I'm so glad we decided to share this one, it was huge!  And it was delicious!  The carmelized onions and the tender barbecued beef together on the white cheddar/sun dried tomato focaccia was grilled to perfection! 

this is only 1/2

From there we headed over to the Motown Historical Museum. There we saw the home where Barry Gordy, Jr. lived and his famous Studio A.  It was really something to be in the same studio where all the greats like Diana Ross, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and many more recorded their music.  The tour guide made it a lot of fun and kept us singing along throughout the tour.

O - O - O - Ohio !

We drove through the farmlands of Ohio to Columbus and went to the American Whistle Corp. for a tour of how they make metal whistles.  It was pretty interesting seeing the machines that make the whistles, then put in the "cork" ball.   They hand put on the ring for attaching to a lanyard or keyring. The factory was really small and they only have 9 workers, but they make thousands of whistles each week. They also make all the gold plated ones for the NFL Superbowl and other special events.  One of the best parts was at the end of the tour when we got a free whistle! 

Every gas station in Ohio seems to have Buckeye candy, so we decided to try some.  They are chocolate covered peanut butter balls, but weren't as good as they looked.  We got a little silly with them before we ate them!

We spent some time at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.  It covered slavery through the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, and also other types of slavery today. 

hiding places in a house along the Underground Railroad

For lunch we stopped for Cincinnati chili.  It came loaded with chili, beans, onions, and cheese all piled on a bed of spaghetti.  Yum!

We drove on to Greenville for a fun factory tour at Kitchen Aid.  They make great stand mixers, which we saw on the assembly line, as well as blenders, and other appliances.  It made us miss our own kitchen and real cooking! 

all the parts of a stand mixer, and then some

one of the first mixers

On we went to Wapakoneta, the home of Neil Armstrong.  There is a fantastic Armstrong Air and Space Museum there.  We had fun climbing in the space capsule, trying to land the shuttle on a simulator, watching the movie about the lunar landing, and looking at all the artifacts from Neil Armstrong, other astronauts (many of them from Ohio), and the history of space travel.

the actual Gemini VIII Spacecraft

Apollo spacesuit

Good Food and Music

After stopping for some delicious pepperoni rolls in West Virginia . . . .

. . . we headed on to Pittsburgh, PA.  We arrived just after dark and saw the city lights sparkling from the bridges and buildings in the Allegheny River, and it was magnificent.  The next day we drove through the city and stopped for lunch at Primanti Brothers in the Strip District, known for its excellent sandwiches filled with fries, slaw, and tomatoes.

Rebekah had the turkey,

I had the knockworst.

After seeing more of the city, we went on to Zelienople to a candy store with candies from all over the world, as well as old time candies. We were kids in a candy store!!  I got some Bridge Mix, Boston Baked Beans, French Burnt peanuts, orange slices, and some black licorice. 

Here's what Bekah got:



 

We drove to Cleveland, Ohio. Of course we had to have a Polish Boy, so we stopped at Seti's.  They serve them grilled & quickly deep fried with BBQ sauce, slaw, onions, and fries on a bun.  We had a side of chili cheese fries, and a cherry "Cherikee Red" soda to go with them.  Delish!

Then we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  It was such a fantastic place to visit.  There were many displays of clothing, instruments, music sheets, cars, and more from the beginnings of rock and roll to the present.  There were special displays of the legends and just about every band and singer.  We really enjoyed this place.  It has 7 stories full of things to see, and so many videos, you could spend all day here.  It is right on Lake Erie, a very picturesque setting.

Gettysburg and Lunatic Asylum

Gettysburg was such an incredible experience.  I didn't realize how little I knew about this battle.  We viewed the artifacts in the visitor's center, then took the 24 mile auto tour of the battlefields and learned the history of the fighting in the order that it happened during those three days, while viewing the places where they fought. There were so many memorials to each company of soldiers it was overwhelming.  We made a brief stop at the National Cemetery where Lincoln gave his famous speech. It was really something to remember.

We headed into West Virginia to the Transallegheny Lunatic Asylum next.  What a crazy place to visit!  All the staff were dressed in old fashioned nurse uniforms.  The Asylum shut down in the '90s, but was built in the 1800s. It was self-sufficient with a farm, greenhouse, and even a coal mine to support it. It purportedly is haunted, and at one time it even housed soldiers in the Civil War.  It was quite a tour.  They had a room where they showed us some of the "treatments" given, I am so glad medicine has come a long way! 

patient ward hallway

the crib cage for "calming down" patients