UMTravels

Early out of the house. Early to the airport. No upgrade – checked for the upgrade starting Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday, and gave up and checked into my seat in 6D. Bulkhead. Light load so I had the middle seat open.

And then the “miracle” happened – they were about to close the door and the flight attendant “gave me the look” and pointed at Seat 1C (my favorite). Before I knew it, gone was the prospect of the Buy On Board breakfast strata (good by the way) and it was the freebie menu:

That said, the “Turkey Sausage Eggs Benedict” was a little odd…

And no salt and pepper… they forgot to plate it. And you can see my freebie Digi-Player where I watched half a season of Season 6 of The Big Bang Theory.

Got to Detroit, grabbed my bag, grabbed my rental car, and headed off to visit my Auntie Norma for a couple of nights. And see some sights.

Got settled in and then we were off to Miller’s Bar for burgers (there goes the diet). Auntie is looking good!

We got settled and she texted her buddy Dan The Drummer Man to tell him where we are (it is one of their haunts after choir practice) and he showed up and helped us finish the fries and the onion rings. Great times, that continued back at the house. Dan’s a couple of years younger than me, but with more baggage (ex-wife, children, etc.)

Up at 8:30 (thanks Norma for the coffee) and after some deviled eggs (easier than cooking) it was off to the The Henry Ford Museum and the Rouge F-150 Truck Plant Tour.

Highlights: The Museum, or at least a small portion of it…

The 1952 Weiner Mobile.

 

They even had a cute little machine to Mold-A-Rama your own little Henry Ford Museum
Weiner Mobile:

And here is a little video of how it works:

Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House made by the Cessna Aircraft Factory in Wichita, Kansas:

And the interior of said house:

And the Rosa Park bus:

And the interior of said bus:

And the row of Presidential Limousines….The Roosevelt

The Truman:

The Kennedy:

The Reagan:

Plus some fun signage…

And LOTS of cars, trucks, you name it:

And my favorite exhibit of all, the 1930’s Urinal Stand – OK, it WAS in the bathroom:

Took the bus over to the Rouge Truck Plant which produces the new all-aluminum Ford F-150 – you know I love a good factory tour (ask Jill about the Airbus Plant Tour in Toulouse, France). The routine is:

• Bus to the plant
• Theatre Number 1 – The Ford History with a seriously glossed over Ford/Union segment
• Theatre Number 2 – The new F-150 told as a Vegas-style show
• Observation Deck – The only place other than the car display where photographs are allowed
• The Plant Tour – DEFINATLY no photos here, though thoroughly interesting

The only photo:

The Rouge plant itself dates from 1917 (completed in 1928), covers 1.5 miles x 1 mile, has its own deep-water port, electrical power plant, and was designed as the first integrated auto manufacturing plant, from iron-ore coming in the front door to make steel, its own glass plant, a tire plant, the works (as they say).

After the tour, missed a turn getting back to Aunties (it’s only .5 miles from The Henry Ford) and stumbled onto a store that she mentioned taking me to – beat her to it. Merchants Fine Wine (and other things):

Where I found a bottle of Evan Williams to replace what Dan The Drummer Man and I killed last night, and a couple of interesting Vermouths that I haven’t tried before:

1. Stones Original Ginger from the UK ($13.99)
2. Vermute Lacuestra Rojo from Spain ($15.99)

Haven’t tried them yet, but will add to the stack of things Jim and I need to try.

Dinner tonight at the Elmhurst Taproom – home of the clam stew (and other things):

And the Greek Salad with beets (apparently VERY common in Michigan). We each ordered one, we should have split one:

And the MASSIVE amount of Mussels for $14:

Finished working off Auntie’s “Honey Do” list – just like visiting Mom! – after dinner.

Tomorrow, the Detroit Institute of Arts.

[226.2]