Detroit, Michigan, Wayne Cnty Fairgrounds 8/22 - 8/28/2021 Travel Tour

                                                  From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com                                                                                                                Tim and Linda Bunyan

Arrived in Detroit at the Wayne County Fairgrounds ($25.00/night with full hookup). after an overnight at Harvest Host Montrose Orchards, Michigan

Signs arriving in Detroit

Although started in Glendale, CA, the state with the most number of Big Boy Restaurant locations is Michigan.

Rose Elizabeth, born: June 2021

Ford Field is a multi-purpose indoor stadium located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, and home of the Detroit Lions in the National Football League.

Detroit: The city started out in the early eighteenth century as a French fort, and went on to become the heart of the U.S. automotive industry, a key to victory during WWII.

We rode our bikes for several days along the Detroit Riverfront.  It is scenic, friendly, and vibrant. 

 The city has given funds toward a rebirth of interesting places where over 3m people visit the riverfront each year.  

Robert C. Vlade Park family-friendly sandy beach playscapes 

The Ford Headquarters World Center. FORD Motor Company was founded in Detroit in 1903. A single Ford factory, the River Rouge plant, which was located in the suburb of Dearborn employed more than ninety thousand workers.

Detroit became home to Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. 

GM Plaza, Aretha Franklin Amphitheater Milliken State Park

 Belle Isle over Macarthur Bridge   

The one-way Police Radio Communication Building 1920 era.   The radio link was installed for the Detroit Police Department to dispatch patrol cars.

  Urban beach lawn, Woodward Fountain

view from Canada.

Woodward Avenue's main artery runs downtown and connects many of the districts built up following the 1805 fire that swept through the town. 

Architect Albert Kahn designed the Fisher Building one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the U.S. completed in 1928.

Hotels were renovated and new hotels developed 

THE HENRY FORD Museum of American Innovation.

The museum complex is located in Dearborn, Michigan.  $38.00 Daily Admission and to the Village.   

Indoor-outdoor educational museum park comprises many traditional museums that tell the story of the Ford Motor Company as well as a living history village that chronicles American technological advances.

Presidential Automobile (Reagan Car)

With the invention of the automobile, by 1956 you could drive to Disneyland.,

1949 Trailwind Airstream

Wally Byam introduced the lightweight duralumin trailers and innovated worldwide caravan tours the turned the Airstream's characteristic look into an icon.

pamphlet guide to Knotts Berry Farms 

Ford quadricycle in 1890's; he chose to power his car with an internal-combustion engine. Reproduction of Ford's 1896 quadricycle which was his first gasoline-powered vehicle.

The Model T

Practical, roomy, and inexpensive, the Ford Model T became a phenomenon in America and around the world.  Model T's were everywhere in the 1010s and 1920s.

The Lincoln Highway

Inventions throughout time are all on display at Ford's Museum 

Electric Generator, 1897 supplied power to the Bunker Hill & Sullivan silver mine in Idaho.

Massey-Harris Model 20 Self-Propelled Combine, 1938

Furniture displayed - Ameirca's Finest.

EAMES inventions

GREENFIELD VILLAGE National Historic Landmark  1929 created by Henry Ford  1928 Model A - 1931 

Eighty-acre living history area called Greenfield Village.  Ride in a real Ford Model T 

reconstructed farmhouse from Dearborn, Michigan.  Ford was born in a farmhouse in Springwells Township,.  He left home at age 16 to find work in Detroit.

Ride around on the train.

Train stations and turntable 

Various transportation around the Outdoor Village Museum (we walked).  Many different buildings to see.: Edison Illuminating, Noah Webster House, Loranger Gristmill, Luther Burbank Garden Office, Robert Frost Home, Martha-Mary Chapel

Ford has the real houses, of America's innovators, delivered and reassembled here.  This is H.J. Heinz's house.

Thomas Edison's laboratory....the read building delivered here and assembled for all to see while visiting the Village Museum.

The inside features of Thomas Edison's Laboratory.

Like other shopkeepers, Mrs. Cohen lived above her store.  Placed here in Greenfield Village

Luther Burbank's (American plant breeder) contributions led him to develop the Russet Burbank potato - popularly known as the Idaho potato.

Poet Robert Frost Home (lived in this house while attending the University of Michigan in the 1920s. Wrote "Spring Pools" here.

Noah Webster's House/American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828.

Detroit is a city with an extensive industrial history, but it is also a city that is looking to the future.  Gallery Louis Comfort Tiffany: treasure from the Driehaus Collection.

National Historic Landmark  downtown Detroit, Michigan 1989

Beyond Van Gogh at TCFR Center, downtown Detroit

"I always think that what we need is sunshine and fine weather and blue air as the most dependable remedy." - Theo van Gogh, Arles, 29 September 1888.

"It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored than the day." 

Now on our way to Sara's Campground in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Mackinaw City, Michigan KOA 08/18 - 8/22/2021 Travel Tour

                                                    From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com                                                                                                                Tim and Linda Bunyan

We stopped at Royal Farms and Winery in Atwood on US 31 in upper Michigan along the way.  It is a boutique-like Farm Market and Winery offering seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables off the farm and homemade baked goods and lunch from their on-site bakery.  It is family-owned owned and they make sensational hard cider!    Seeing
the farm and this beautiful market with wine tasting on the garden patio is a delight.

We arrive at Mackinaw City/Mackinac Island KOA ($53.00/night-full hookup) for a fun-filled week of bike rides, boat rides, and walks about this waterfront city.   We are eager to get to our island adventure.  We park for free at Mackinaw City Dock to ride the passenger vessel, owned and operated by the Shepler family since 1945.   It started as a family-operated parking lot and hot dog stand offering the fastest, friendliest ferry service to Mackinac Island. Sheplers Ferry for the 1/2 ride through the straits of Mackinac Island.   

The Perimeter Tour bike ride is the only highway in America where no cars are allowed.  

BRIDGE; Opened to traffic in 1957.  One of the greatest construction and engineering marvels the world has ever seen.  "Mighty Mac" was designated by the American Society of Engineers as fitting to the hard work and dedication of many people.  

Five-mile-long suspension bridge linking Michigan's two Peninsulas between Lakes Michigan and Huron at the Straits of Mackinac.

We plan to ride all around the waterfront on the island so we rent our bikes on the island rather than take our own and have our bikes all day.  Lots of places to pull over and take a closer look at the natural beauty. Arch Rock, Point Aux Pins, Lover's Leap.  leisurely pace of about 2 hours and 3 miles time for photos and restroom break.

Waterfront Hotel on Main Street.  Once completed the bicycle loop we rode back to the bike shop and continued to explore the island and historic downtown area.

The World's Largest Summer HotelSince 1887 America's Summer Place takes us to a bygone era of old-world hospitality and charm.  Sit in a rocking chair on the world's longest porch and enjoy fresh lake breezes and views overlooking the Straits of Mackinac. Family-owned for three generations, this National Historic Landmark is one of a kind.

History and hospitality meet with nature. relaxing journey back in time.  Esther Williams Swimming Pool stunning beautiful and interesting place to visit.  Victorian beachfront community where bicycles and horse-drawn carriages are the preferred modes of transportation.

Afternoon Tea and croquet on an endless lawn.  Golf on The Jewel.  The Jockey Club at The Grandstand overlooking The Jewel golf course, enjoy lunch and cocktails with indoor and outdoor options. 

Luncheon at The Jockey Club at the Grand Stand.

Pool Grill and ice cream at Sadie's Ice Cream Parlor and Mackinac Island State Park has miles of trails.  MUSIC in Mackinaw at Conkling Heritage Park, front porch of The Grand. 

Geranium Bar,   Audubon Wine Bar cozy library setting. After 6:30 in the main areas of the hotel, gentlemen are required to wear a coat, tie, and slacks, and women in a dress, skirt, or pantsuit. Somewhere in Time Rock filled Mackinac Island in 1980

The Gardens Tea Wedding Rose Walk, Wildflower Hill Tennis House Gardens Hors and Carriage Topiary

Supplies are delivered by wagon.  Automobiles are not allowed on the island.

THE BRIDGE

We ride our bikes around several historic sites, including Fort Michilimackinac,  

and Historic Mill Creek State Park.   Mackinaw City is a village in Michigan.  A perfect destination at the base of the Mackinac Bridge where the Great Lakes Huron and Michigan meet.  Sheplers Marine Service serves both power and sail boaters.

An engineering masterpiece; designed to withstand 125 mph winds of the straight

Views of the Mackinac Bridge, the straits, and the Upper Peninsula from the waterfront walking path.

The village and access point to Mackinac Island.  Colonial Michilimackinac 10th-century fort and fur trading village.  The livelihood here in 1778 was the fur trade. 

   John Jacob Astor established the American Fur Company's northern department headquarters on Mackinac Island and by the 1820s the fur trade was flourishing.

After a complete Bike Checkup by Tim, we completed an 8-mile bike ride through the village.  Now it is time to depart this beautiful village.   

Down Hwy 75 through Bay City/ Flint to:  Detroit, Michigan