Monday June, 22
This morning, we got up and headed over to the Henry Ford Museum so we could be there when it opened at 9:30.
We had an hour before we needed to meet up for our morning activity, so in the meantime, we visited the Presidential Vehicles, Driving America, Railroads, and Driven to Win exhibits. That sounds like we covered a lot in one hour, but since it was mainly cars, trains, and trucks, they took up a good amount of space.
Some of my favorite artifacts were the presidential cars. My two favorites were the cars used by Ronald Reagan and JFK.
The Reagan car was not only used by Reagan himself, but also by Presidents Ford, Nixon, Carter, and George H.W. Bush. This 1972 Lincoln Continental was actually the presidential limousine that carried Reagan to the hospital after he was shot by John Hinckley outside the Washington Hilton. There’s supposedly a bullet mark where the bullet hit the car, but we couldn’t find it.
The 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible below is the very car in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963. It was definitely a solemn reminder of that day in our nation’s history.
We continued through the other exhibits looking at steam trains, early motorhomes, race cars, school buses and automobiles.
We also got to see the evolution of travel in America. The museum had some really neat motorhomes, as well as one of the first travelers’ cabins and hotels. Much of this development was spurred by the rise of automobiles and the creation of highways like Route 66, which made traveling more accessible than ever before following World War II.
As travel became more popular, entrepreneurs continued finding innovative ways to generate revenue. Places like fast-food restaurants and service stations began popping up along major roadways, making road-tripping more accessible. The convenience these amenities offered forever changed the world of travel.
At 10:30, we met up to board our bus and headed to the Ford Rouge Factory. It was time to get an inside look at how far automobile production has come since the vision of Henry Ford.
Our tour started off inside the assembly plant. You couldn’t take photos or videos, so that was disappointing, but linked a video for you to check out. It was truly one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen.
Thousands of moving people and parts, yet everything was so efficient. I guess that’s how Henry Ford revolutionized automobile assembly for good. In fact, the Dearborn plant makes a new F-150 every 53 seconds. That’s a lot of trucks in one day. The workers have about 53 seconds to do their job and 10 seconds to prepare for the next truck. They stand on a moving conveyor belt that matches their pace to the speed of the truck line.
One thing that surprised me was how many of the pieces are installed by hand—tailgate trim, stickers, cables, headlights, seat belts, windows, and more. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of the work is done by machines, but many of the details are still completed by hand.
I could have sat and watched it for hours. One of my favorite parts was watching the windshield and moonroof installation.
For the windshield, a big yellow automated arm with suction cups swung around, picked up the windshield, swung back to the truck, measured everything with a laser, and then placed it perfectly into position. It was crazy!!
For the moonroof, a forklift-like arm picked it up, went through the side window of the truck, turned around to face the back of the truck, measured everything, and then pressed it into place from the inside.
It took about an hour to work our way around the viewing platform as we watched each worker do their job quickly but carefully. If you looked up above, you could see the moving mechanisms in action that kept everything running. At one point, you could see the truck body being attached to the bed. It almost seemed like it just snapped into place like a LEGO.
It’s safe to say I’ll never look at a Ford F-150 the same way!
After looking at the factory assembly line, we were taken to the exhibit area and two theaters. The exhibit featured several historic vehicles built at the Dearborn factory, as well as the chassis from a Ford Raptor model.
Both of the movies were really interesting. One told the history of the Rouge Factory, and the other explained how the trucks are assembled. That one was especially neat because it used lights, special effects, and actual machinery to supplement the film.
Once the movies were over, we headed to the observation deck to get a good view of the Rouge Factory. It was neat to see everything from high up. There were some exhibits up there as well, but I didn’t really spend much time looking at them.
We went back down to get on the bus and headed back to the museum. It was about 1:00 when we got back, so it was time for lunch. We made our way to the grab-and-go restaurant in the museum and ate a quick bite before trucking on.
Now, hang with me here because the amount of stuff we saw is going to take a little bit to explain. I’m not going to lie… it all starts to run together after a while.
The first exhibit we did was Agriculture and the Environment. This area had old pieces of farming equipment ranging from tractors, pickers, plows, balers, and steam engines. Some of these pieces—like the tomato picker—were HUGE!
When we reached the back corner we got a surprise… a 1952 Oscar Meyer Weinermobile!!!
We also got to tour the Dymaxion House, which was quite an innovative piece of architecture! It was designed by architect Buckminster Fuller as a solution to the housing crisis following World War II.
To me, it gives alien abduction vibes, but whatever floats your boat. I could see why these never went into full production. The house was made from cost-effective materials, including aluminum, Lumite, Fabricoid, Plexiglas, and Naugahyde. Each home would have required about three days to assemble after purchase.
The inside was divided into a few main rooms, including a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and bathroom (or “bath closet”). While it looks strange, there were some pretty innovative features on the inside. For example, instead of a traditional closet, there were automated shelves on a pulley system with multiple levels. You pressed a button, and they would move up to the level you needed.
We left the house and continued through the remaining exhibits. One of those was the Fabric of America exhibit. Here, we saw early quilts, dresses, suits, hats, and even a flag used in Abe Lincoln’s campaign. The quilts below were made in Selma, Alabama, using strips from flour and seed sacks, along with scrap fabric.
Then we walked to the Fully Furnished exhibit, which featured unique pieces of antique furniture used by some of America’s most notable figures. My favorite was the desk from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Anna and I took a quick ride in the Model T featured in the Made in America exhibit before continuing to the Liberty and Justice for All section.
This area houses the exact chair in which President Abraham Lincoln was sitting when he was assassinated while watching a play at Ford’s Theatre. I can’t say I ever thought I’d get to see an artifact that holds as much historical significance as this chair.
The stains at the top are believed to be hair oil from the men who sat in it while guarding the chair after the government seized it from the family during the investigation. It’s more likely that the stains toward the bottom and on the seat are Lincoln’s blood, since he fell forward after being shot.
We also saw the bus where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking change in the Civil Rights Movement. You could actually walk inside the bus, which was super cool. Talk about history coming to life!
In the second-to-last exhibit, Made in America: Power, I saw some of the biggest engines I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s hard for me to comprehend how they even built such things. The amount of power these hundred-year-old engines put out is a testament to the brilliant engineering and quality of materials used during this time period.
For reference, they measured power output in lightbulbs. For example, the machine pictured below could power 7,460 lightbulbs.
Also… I thought the guns were pretty cool.
Lastly, we went to the Heroes of the Sky exhibit. This one was pretty awesome. It was full of old airplanes that had been used in one way or another to mark a point of innovation in aviation.
My favorite was the Fokker plane from the Josephine Ford Byrd Arctic Expedition. I thought the combination of paint, materials, and lettering looked so good.
It was flown on May 9, 1926, by Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett in an attempt to be the first to reach the North Pole by airplane. Although the flight was considered successful, there have been questions about the accuracy of their in-flight records. I thought the combination of paint, materials, and lettering looked especially good on the plane.
At 4:45, we wrapped up our Henry Ford Museum visit with a purchase from the gift shop.
We sure have taken a DEEP dive into some of the most important pieces of our nation’s history over the past couple of days. While they’re only pages in a chapter, details make the story, after all. Most of these were pretty major!
I think the lesson learned from what we’ve seen over the past few days is that if you take the time to do something the right way and efficiently, it has the potential to change the way an entire system functions. That success doesn’t come without experimentation, failure, or setbacks, which is why it takes so long… sometimes decades.
I think the Henry Ford campus is also a testament to the longevity, uniqueness, and opportunity our nation represents. Despite the times throughout history when those things were tested, such as during World War II, U.S. citizens have always found a way to adapt and push the needle farther along. As we celebrate 250 years of the greatest land to live in, it’s so important to reflect on just how far we have come as a nation and recognize that advancement isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
With that said, it was time to move on to our next destination: Amherstburg, ON, Canada! We were staying in Brantford, ON, for the night, but I found this quaint little town to stop in before we called it a day.
We reached the border crossing about 5:30 and were across by 6:00, so I’d say we came out pretty good! From there, we drove to Amherstburg, where we ate dinner and took a stroll along the Detroit River.
We ate at a restaurant called The Salty Dog, where we sat outside and enjoyed the ambiance of the village. The food was so great. We had balsamic-glazed Brussels sprouts (which may not look great, but oh, they were good), calamari, and I had the dill fish sandwich with Parmesan and garlic fries (top tier)!
Once our bellies were full, we walked down to historic King’s Navy Yard Park and strolled along the Detroit River for a few minutes. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
Anna and I decided to try a beloved Canadian treat called a BeaverTail for dessert. These are doughnut-like pastries shaped like a beaver’s tail and topped with a variety of sweet toppings. We got the Triple Trip with Nutella, Reese’s Pieces, and peanut butter on top… enough said there, I think.
For your enjoyment, here’s a picture of my dad and Anna dumpster diving for a souvenir. Everyone has their own idea of shopping I guess. She got a the top off a piano bench to hang on the wall…
We loaded up and began the three-hour drive to our hotel in Brantford. I was shocked at how beautiful the scenery was. It was full of vast fields, farms, vineyards, and gorgeous countryside. I definitely didn’t expect this when I thought of Canada. The sunset was the cherry on top!
What a day! We started in a museum learning about some of our nation’s most innovative minds, toured an assembly plant, crossed the border into Canada, ate dinner in a village, and dumpster dove for souvenirs. You could say we covered all our bases.
Leave a Reply