The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: Museum

Museums

  • Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame 2006

    We took James to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Many classic items there but flash photography was not allowed so some of the pics may look dim. They say the flashes can actually damage some of the stored items, who would have thought that.

    My family has long been Hank Williams fans, both Sr. and Jr., and Johnny Cash well I think everyone likes Johnny Cash. Lots of interesting things to see but what impressed me most was all the gold albums that lined the walls. A pretty awesome display although you would have a hard time ever finding your favorite song because there are so many.

    The car display was cool as well and there was alot of computer/video interactive devices. You could easily spend a whole day at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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  • Belle Meade Plantation 2006

    So many of the great race horses were bred at the Belle Meade Plantation. We had stopped here only for lunch and found ourselves buying tickets and going on the tour. Well, I should say Mary went on the tour, James and I had plenty to explore on the outside of the mansion including the stables and a creepy old mausoleum out in the back.

    I remember Mary telling us that one of the people in the Bell Meade history got in trouble with the Tennessee government so they sent him to what they thought was the worse place on earth, that place was Mackinaw Island where we vacation each year.

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  • Mothman Prophecies Adventure 2006

    Our journey took us to Charleston WV, Pomeroy OH, Marietta OH, and of course, Point Pleasant WV, the site of the Mothman legend

    In Charleston, Mary visited where she lived during her college days. In Pomeroy we had a chance to cross the old bridge across the Ohio river and see the new bridge being built. Marietta is well known on the Ohio river as an up and coming resort town.

    The main attraction was Point Pleasant and the TNT area (Mothman was first seen near abandoned ammo igloo’s on the outside of town, hence the name TNT area came into being). Their story was made into a movie called “The Mothman Prophecies” starring Richard Gere a few years back.

    Although the movie was set in present time, the actual events happened in a span of 13 months, from Nov 1966 till the collapse of the bridge on Dec 15, 1967.

    The most amazing thing that we noticed was the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone that we met at Point Pleasant. So if you are looking for a little mystery and adventure in your next vacation, check out Point Pleasant West Virginia!

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  • Greenfield Village 2006

    There is really nothing better on a warm day than going to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. This year there was a special baseball exhibit in the museum that we wanted to see. They also play old time baseball at the village using old time equipment and old time uniforms. We split time between the two, plus made our usually visits to the band stand, the covered bridge and such.

    It is sometimes hard to believe this village is located in Dearborn and not out in the wilderness somewhere. When you drive the train around the park you can see the Ford proving grounds and other Ford property located right next door. We could, if we really wanted to, walk to this place from our home as its only about a mile and a half walk from our home.

    Great time was had by all.

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  • Museum Ship Tour Saulte Ste Marie 2006

    The Museum Ship offers more than just a tour of her deck. Housed inside her massive cargo holds is a 20,000 square foot museum with over 100 exhibits! The Edmund Fitzgerald exhibit holds the two lifeboats from the stricken vessel. Torn away during the sinking, these lifeboats are two of very few major artifacts recovered after the tragic demise. The exhibit also features an hour long presentation about the events that occurred on November 10, 1975 which caused the tragic loss of one of the Great Lakes’ largest freighters. In addition to the museum exhibits, the Museum Ship VALLEY CAMP displays four 1,200 gallon aquariums stocked with various species of fish from the Great Lakes region.

    The ship is gigantic, you could kick field goals on the deck and never have to worry about the ball going overboard. I am not sure who is the original owner of this tanker. Its says Republic Steel in some area but I also saw the emblem for US Steel (both are my customers in Lorain Ohio).

    A great tour, hard to believe one just like it sank in Lake Superior.

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  • Ann Arbor Hands On Museum 2006

    Here’s an idea whose time has come, its called the hands on museum in Ann Arbor is a great place for kids of all ages to visit. Different activities on different floors and James might actually have learned a thing or two. James got to see himself in front of a blue screen with different backgrounds and also got to see a tornado up close. Lots of science and electronics and much of it was beyond him, but that’s why they have different floors for different ages.

    I would have to say the favorite thing for James was the gear boxes and the switches. The gear boxes were fascinating because he turned one thing and a bunch of things turned, the switches were fun because, well, he likes turning on switches.

    Highly recommended, glad we found this place

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  • Greenfield Village 2005

    James wants to ride the carousel first thing now whenever we go to Greenfield Village. Can’t really blame him either, its one of the oldest carousels in the country. Mary and I rotated duty this day so James got to ride the carousel twice. Of course all the favorites of ours had to be visited including the bandstand and covered bridge. Mary was very impressed with the floral for this time in the season and took many pictures of flowers and crops including watermelons and pumpkins.

    Beautiful September day at the Henry Ford and James got to ride his favorite carousel. A great time was had by all.

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  • Niagara Movieland Museum 2004

    I remember as a child visiting a wax museum while visiting at Niagara Falls. At that time, there was no Clifton Hill or if there was it was a normal looking area. But as a child the wax museum really fascinated me with its 3d representation of history such as Marie Antionette and movies such as the African Queen. I do not know if this is the same place, or if it evolved into this place, but I really enjoyed going through this museum and all the movies and television shows that were represented here.

    They have all the great ones, Wizard of Oz, Indiana Jones, Blues Brothers, and a slew of horror movies. A worthwhile visit for sure.

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  • Niagara Ripley Believe It Or Not Museum 2004

    This is one of those tourist traps in Cliton Hills but if it is half as good on the inside as it looks on the outside it has to be great. The outside is a building that has been tipped over by King Kong who is standing on what used to be the top of the fallen building and shaking his fist triumphantly in the air. How can mere mortals resist something like this.

    The inside was legit and fun, perhaps the thing that I liked best is when you come out of one of the exhibits and there is a couple taking a picture and your first instinct is to step back and let them take the picture. After a few seconds you realize that they are very realistic mannequins and you have just been “gotcha’d” by the good people at Ripley.

    A fun place, but isn’t everything on Clifton Hill?

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  • Barrells Over Niagara 2004

    As you walk along the falls they really just have a fence so you don’t fall in and why not, you have this beautiful wonder of nature so why would you want to look at anything else? As we were walking along we came to this little “cove” for lack of a better word and it had all these trash can looking things that had writing on them.

    At first I thought it was one of those things that get autograped, sort of a Ripley was here thing, but on closer examination I realized that these were the actual barrels of people who went over the falls in them. A sort of museum for dare devils. Some made it, some did not. Kind of a creepy testimonial to the mental giants who threw themselves over the falls in one of these contraptions.

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