Tuesday, July 3, 2007

July Vacation

I'm off work for 2 weeks now for our annual shutdown at the plant where I work. We hadn't planned all that much for this time off really. We did go pick up our grandson Jakob and his mom Beth and brought them over to spend time with us. We decided to take them to Greenfield Village, part of "The Henry Ford" group of attractions nearby. The Henry Ford encompasses Greenfield Village, Henry Ford Museum, The Automotive Hall of Fame and an Imax theater. We decided on the Village part as it was a nice cool sunny day. The neatest part was that Skittles, Beth or Jakob had never been to see the Village. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a collection of historic buildings that are either recreated or brought to this site and reassembled. The people that run this place go to great lengths to make everything appear as it was at the time of the buildings uses. Many homes and factory buildings have period actors portraying life as it was which makes it a very interesting and educational adventure. My grandson Jakob got to ride his first train there also. It was a steam train named Torch Lake and is the oldest continually running steam engine in the U.S. Jakob also got to ride a carousel that was built in the late 1800's and still works. Lots of walking was done to see all that we could before the Village closed. After that we went and got some neat fireworks and set them off in a nearby area so we wouldn't bother any neighbors. This was the first time I had gotten any "mortar" type fireworks. These are the kind that insert into a tube and shoot up into the air and burst into colors. I think everyone enjoyed the fireworks greatly. That's how my vacation has gone so far. I think we'll just stay home for a few days and enjoy the time off. Till next time BYE!!




inside Edison's first electric plant



Jakob standing on Grist Mill grinding stone


Torch Lake steam train


Jakob printing on antique printing press


Jakob and Beth riding antique carousel



Model T's giving rides and the Village



4 comments:

Barb said...

It was SO cool there!!! Can we go again? I mean after my legs return to normal from all that walking? :)

Jeni said...

Reading your post about the grandson and the trains -and knowing how big a fan you are of trains too, Mike - reminded me of something else in this area besides the Horseshoe Curve and Railroader's Museum over in Altoona. There is a little town south and east a bit from Altoona - Orbisonia - and they have the "East Broad Top Railroad there -some kind of small gauge trackage or something like that. You've probably heard of it, maybe even been there too but just in case you weren't aware, now you are!!!

Smalltown RN said...

OH that looks like lots of fun....lots for little Jakob to see and do...and lots of history...thanks Mike for sharing...cheers and Happy 4th of July!

John Holland said...

Looks like a really cool place. I was just reading about Henry Ford the other day.