Despite the high temperature being only in the mid 40’s and an overcast sky, we braved the elements and visited Greenfield Village on the last day of their halloween spectacular. Pumpkins lined the streets and fields and all were carved (I wonder where they get all the carved pumpkins?). We made sure to ride the train, ride the model T, and ride the carousel since it will be probably a year before we get to ride them again. We enjoyed the tribute to the Birds as they had a bunch of crows outside of the school yard as one of their exhibits. Its very clever how they weave Halloween into all the American history there.

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James and his classmates visited the Henry Ford Museum today and he said he had an absolutely wonderful time. Originally it was planned to be a visit to the Village but wet weather in the morning forced the class into the museum. After the visit James did get to visit the Village and rode the train with his family since Mom & Dad went there to pick him up and save James the two bus rides he would have to take to get home (one back to the school and another to his home). Greenfield Village is still decorated for Halloween and had a thousand pumpkins decorating the village, which is adds to the Fall atmosphere.

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Vehicles of the US Army were on display at Greenfield Village and James had a chance to see an incredible variety of vehicles that were used in World War 2 and the Korean War. Dad was kind of shocked how little the jeep changed from the 1940’s till the early 1980’s when he used to drive around in them. There was every type of GI issue including cigarettes that the Army used to provide to soldiers, imagine that. James enjoyed the specialty vehicles such as the military ambulances and personnel transports. He also saw a vast array of machine guns and other weapons from various era’s of our history. A very interesting exhibit that brought back fond memories for Dad.

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We knew going into this day it was going to be a hot one, so we ate a light lunch and ventured onward to Greenfield Village to see the annual Motor Muster of classic cars. The entire village was full of cars and people and we had a hard time finding a parking spot even at the furthest reaches of the Henry Ford parking lot. Fortunately we got in, traveled mostly via the train and the cab around the park. The temperature did hit 93 degrees but there was no humidity so we were quite comfortable most of the time. Great classic car show, we have missed it for the last couple times but we made sure to catch it this year.

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Recently on a visit to Henry Ford Museum James saw a shovel in cement with Thomas Edison written in the cement celebrating a ground breaking ceremony that happened nearly a century ago. Right after that we saw the entrance to the new Beatle exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum and asked James if he knew who the Beatles were. James replied “yes, they are the ones who wrote their name in cement”. With that answer we knew the Beatle exhibit was not for James but on a recent field trip to Henry Ford for James’ 7th grade class we took the Beatles tour while he was with his classmates and took the following pics.

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James got to go on a field trip with his seventh grade class and had a blast. Mom and Dad picked him up at the village to save him the long bus ride home from school (James does not care for the long afternoon bus ride although he does not seem to mind the early bus ride to school). The night before James said he was “tasked” with providing orange drink for the class and bought a pitcher and made everyone orange drink. Mom and Dad were a little suspect as he added more sugar but he claimed he knew what he was doing and it was his special recipe. We packed his orange drink in a cooler but to be safe we went out and added a couple packs of those fruit drinks just in case. Big thanks to his teacher Mr Jernigan for the pictures.

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For the second Sunday in a row we decided late that a trip to Greenfield Village would be a good choice. Today was mostly rainy and we felt that anything outside would be wet, but we saw a couple hour window and took advantage of it. We road the horse carriage, train (where it did rain pretty hard), Model T, and Merry Go Round and had a fun time on each one. Because of the poor weather there were no lines for any of the rides (last week we waited a half an hour to ride the Model T, this time they were waiting on people). On the way back we went through the museum and checked out the train display and the civil rights exhibit.

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While at Greenfield Village on Memorial Day 2016 Mom had her family background checked and found a likely relative who fought in the Civil War. Here is what the research said.

Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 7/30/1862 as a Hospl Steward.

On 7/30/1862 he mustered into Field & Staff TN 63rd Infantry
He was Surrendered on 4/9/1865 at Appomattox Court House, VA
(Estimated date of enlistment)

Promotions:
* Asst Surgeon

Other Information:
died in 1920 in Gainesville, TX

After the War he lived in Gainesville, TX

Here are 3 links to all the data we have, the pdf was given to us by the people at Greenfield Village.
http://www.civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?C&775293

http://www.civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?RegimentHistory?1491&C

Civil-War-History-Landis PDF

Greenfield Village had a re-enactment of the American Civil War and James got a chance to see a bit of how life was like as a soldier in those days. The entire village was an encampment for both the North and South and bivouac tents were everywhere. We took the train around the park and could see the artillery demonstration (cannons firing) from the train. We then stopped off at the historical tent where they check and see if you have any relatives that fought in the Civil war. While Dad’s family moved here after the Civil War, Mom’s family has been in Tennessee for centuries and they found a picture of Mary’s great grandfather from the civil war. They printed out a bunch of documents that we will post here as soon as we get a chance to scan them. After the historical tent we took a ride on the Model T and then went back through the museum to avoid a rain shower. We took a pic of Thomas Edison autograph in cement and of the Beatle exhibit. On the way home we asked James if he knew who the Beatles were and he said “yes, they are the ones who wrote their names in cement”, obviously confusing the last two exhibits.

A great time was had by all and a little Civil War remembrance to help our celebration of Memorial day.

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We decided to treat ourselves to one of our gifts, which was a trip to Henry Ford Museum. James had a blast with the green screen dancing to “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” video which Dad tried filming to the best of his ability. James also generated electricity, 200 watts as a matter of fact. We checked out the Presidential cars, the Rosa Park bus, along with the chair where Lincoln was shot just to name a few of the many attractions. James also got to dress up as a “weiner” at the Osacar Meyer weiner mobile along with visiting the new attractions at Henry Ford called “Roadside America”. Later we got home just in time to see the Lions beat the Bears, thus ending the Lion season at 7-9 after a 1-7 start. Thus ending football season in Michigan as all our teams are done.

Continue reading “Henry Ford Museum During Holiday Break 2016” →