The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: Shopping

Shopping trips

  • Bronners Frankenmuth 2004

    There is no better way to get into the Christmas Spirit (assuming you even need to) than to visit Bronners in Frankenmuth MI. As soon as you enter the parking lot it is Christmas, even if you come here in July. The atmosphere is one of Christmas fun and the place is known world wide as the largest Christmas store on earth.

    Bronners is one of those places you go to for hard to find items. If you have a little nook and cranny and are looking for just the right thing to put there, Bronners will have it and probably will have multiple versions of it. We have gotten Christmas items with the Detroit sport teams on them just to show the versatility of the place. In fact they are known for their personalized bulbs while you wait (takes only a minute or so if there is no line and if there is a line it goes fast because it only takes a minute or so).

    James enjoyed himself this visit and got out of his stroller and walked around on his own. Our only concern with him walking around is that he might get stampeded by larger people but on this day there is an open area he (and us) feel comfortable.

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  • Clifton Hills Niagara 2004

    Clifton Hills is an area of Niagara Falls where you can find all sorts of arcades, tourist traps, Ripleys Believe it or not, wax museum, and many haunted houses. Perhaps the strangest architecture you have ever seen, even the burger king has a giant frankenstein eating a whopper. Lots of fun times here for sure.

    I remember as a kid visiting the wax museum and being fascinated by it, I tried to find it all these 40 years later but I think it closed up ages ago. It seems all the tourist traps are in Clifton Hills now. Still, what a great place to be, filled with a carnival atmosphere, and plenty of fun and games.

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  • Sea Shell City 2004

    We stopped at Sea Shell City to do some shopping. Its becoming a habit to stop here either on the way up to kick off our vacation or on the way down to extend our vacation. We consider this part of the Mackinaw experience even though it is technically located in Cheboygan. We do the same with St Ignace, its all part of the Mackinaw experience.

    James spent a little time eye balling the pirate ship outside of the store. It was almost like the kid was saying “I will be playing here soon and one day even running this ship”.

    Inside the shop we had the usual selection of items. Mary bought a t shirt and I bought a bottle holder for the bar. A fun experience for everyone at Sea Shell City this year.

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  • Flower Show 1970

    Every year in the heart of the Michigan winter we would go to the Flower show at Cobo Hall in Detroit MI. It was always alot of fun for the family as there was really not alot to do in Michigan this time of the year. The picture here is of James Dad at one of those flower shows. He was always fascinated with the new devices and electronics that would be on display at this show, but never really had any interest in all the flowers. Never the less, it was a fun family tradition.

  • Detroit Flower Show 1967

    This was the first flower show that James Dad remembers going to. One of the items that fascinated him most was a simple elctrical test box where you would touch a pad and if you gave the right answer, a light bulb would light up, but if you gave the wrong answer, a buzzer would go off. Sort of like an educational version of operation but with questions. Other than that, Dad doesn’t remember much else from the show but does remember it was always a good time.

    To this day there are still flower shows all around the country, including Detroit and the Detroit suburbs. Most of the time they are combined with home improvement, hence the name Home and Garden show has evolved. Today you will hear it called the “Home Improvement Garden Show” or something similar.