Saturday, September 20, 2014

Field Trip: The Henry Ford (2012 Yeah, Really)

First things first, I have to admit that this trip to The Henry took place quite a while ago. I'm not very good at hopping on posts very quickly. This Blog was originally my idea, but I have the most trouble getting anything up on it. Either way its just a notice to you, but hey at least I am writing the post. (unlike our trip to Somerset Mall for the grand opening of the LEGO store where we helped build a ten foot Buzz Lightyear.) Well, on to The Henry Ford.

Amongst Erika's blog reading and deal searching she came across the fact that Target, the store, was paying for entrance to The Henry Ford certain days this year(2012). It so happened that when she discovered that one of those days was fast approaching. I requested the day off work and on Presidents Day we went to The Henry Ford.

For the sake of those who don't already know and those who have not yet gone to do a search for it to find out, The Henry Ford is a museum in the Detroit area. It houses many things. I first thought it was just cars, You know "The HENRY FORD". But when I went this past summer for Maker Faire Detroit, I discovered that there is lot of other stuff. Mostly it is a way for us to look back at many ways of life from the past. From cars to tractors, dollhouses to real houses, even planes to trains. There is a lot to see and even some to do. (Did you notice that?)

I won't give you a complete walkthrough of everything, but I'll hit most of it and show a lot of pictures. When you first walk in the door you are welcomed by the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile. Now that is just cool. Who doesn't want to see that thing up close?
Very shortly after that we ended up looking at dollhouses, no where near like the one I made for Alyssa. Much bigger and a lot more detail. Alyssa of course loved it. Jake though, very quickly turned to the tractors on the other side of the aisle. When Jake and I made it back to the others we had come across a friend of ours and her daughter who hung with us the rest of the day.

We found a little play house to hang out in for a while.
We meandered through bedrooms of old and then found LEGOS, Tinker Toys, and K'NEX to play with as well as crayons and paper.

We walked among some "engines" that, honestly, you have to see for yourself.
And then we found airplanes. It turns out Henry Ford dabbled in airplanes and commercial flying for a bit. Some of what he did and other history significant planes are on display. Then there is a place with lots of paper and an airstrip.
Now is where honesty has to kick in. I'm sure you can already tell that this visit to The Henry Ford is from over two years ago. This was one of a few posts that Erika has asked me to write. As you can see it has taken me a while to do. There have also been quite a few that she has wanted me to do but I never did get to. This one I am going to finish and maybe even do others in the future.

At this point I'm not entirely sure how that day ended at The Henry Ford, but we have gone many times since then. We even had a membership this last year. We've been for just the museum and we've been for Maker Faire Detroit. Every time is fun though. The Henry Ford is a great place for adult and children alike. There are quite a few things to draw the kids into learning about our history in so many aspects of life. Yet each display has detailed info for a curious adult to spend days reading each. The Henry Ford is gold mine of learning in the Detroit area. It's probably the closest you can get to Smithsonian quality museum in our area that I know of at least.

I could keep going on for quite a while but I'll leave it with this:

If you are in the Detroit area and want to spend a day learning and experiencing our past go to The Henry Ford. And if the season is right come back the next day to check out Greenfield Village next door. The village is another experience in and of itself that I would suggest to anyone.
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