I spent the entire day today at The Henry Ford. It is a series of museums -- the Henry Ford Museum; Greenfield Village; Ford Rouge Factory Tour; and the Benson Ford Research Centre. It is far more that just a car museum, which is what I expected. There was only time for the Henry Ford Museum and the Rouge Factory Tour. I am anxious to return sometime to see Greenfield Village, though, which contains more than 100 notable historic structures imported from around the U.S.A. They've been assembled into a village, with actors playing epoch appropriate roles, and turned into what must be a fabulous slice of Americana. And a one-day commitment
The Henry Ford Museum was more of a cultural institution than I'd imagined, containing furniture, tools, and other quotidian elements of American life from throughout the 20th Century and before. For example, the museum features the chair Lincoln was sitting in during his unfortunate encounter with John Wilkes Booth. There was a killer exhibit, also, entitled "Best of Friends: Buckminster Fuller (the geodesic dome guy) and Isamu Noguchi (the coffee table guy). A very special treat was the tour of the only remaining dymaxion house -- a super high-tech, round aluminum hut that Fuller designed and hoped aircraft workers could fabricate to be easily assembled for millions of returning servicemen. According to our tour guide, "Bucky" messed everything up through his lack of business sense. Probably true, but the technology behind and in the house were absolutely amazing. (There's a cool link to the right that gives a better sense of the house than these photographs do.) There was also a prototype of a dymaxion car that Bucky and Isamu ("Izzy"?) Noguchi designed together.
The cars were, as expected, great. Unlike the Chrysler museum, which only displayed vehicles from that company and it's brands, the Ford Museum contains cars from all sorts of makers: vehicles donated by GM and Ford; one of the first (or THE first) Honda Accord assembled in the U.S.; a VW Beetle and Westphalia Camper Bus; Toyota's first model in the U.S.; etc. It even has the only original 1962 Weinermobile!
A hightlight is the display of limousines that have carried every president from Roosevelt to Reagan. Curiously, the bullet-proof windows on the Reagan Lincoln have gone entirely white, while all the earlier vehicles' glass has remained clear. No one knows why.
There were some remarkable exhibits in a "Liberty" section of the museum, which covered civil rights issues. These included the bus that Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of (you could get on board and sit in the seat she occupied!), and a lot of good demonstrative exhibits relating to womens rights.
The aircraft collection was a bit cramped, and the planes somehow didn't get me too excited. There was one aircraft -- the first one ever flown over the South Pole -- that was quite remarkable. Fun, also, to see an old Ford Trimotor.
The Rouge Factory Tour was great fun. The plant, the site of terrible Labor unrest in the '30's and a birthplace of the United Auto Workers, now makes about 1100 F-150 pickup trucks a day. We were shown two movies, one about the history of the plant and another about assembling the F-150 specifically. We then went to an observation deck to view the plant from above and so Ford could tout its environmental efforts (grass on the factory roofs, special rainwater collection devices in the parking lot, etc.). We then toured the assembly operations on an overhead walkway. The plant was remarkably quiet, impeccably clean, and smelled pretty nice. The assembly operations were smooth and the workers' movements in putting the trucks together appeared smooth and ergonomically thought-out. Still, I was impressed by how brutally hard the repetition must be for the workers -- installing , say, windshield wipers and plastic windshield trim pieces on 40 identical trucks per hour for 8 - 10 hours in a row, day after day. That's gotta be tough. No pictures were allowed in the assembly hall, so you'll just have to go see the place yourself!
I had an easy drive from Dearborn down to Auburn, Indiana. My first time in the state! On the road, the license plates read "In God We Trust," just like our money. Also, like Michigan, Indiana's highway speed limit is 70 mph for cars, and slower for trucks. A great idea!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
November 8 -- the Walter P. Chrysler Museum
The drive from Toronto to the Detroit area was very easy. Straight, fast roads past all sorts of English-sounding places, like Hamilton, Cambridge and London. There was light snow, and the route took me through wide, flat farmlands. I came back into the United States through a town called Sarnia.
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum was exceptional. It's collection of perhaps 100 vehicles (Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Rambler, Hudson, DeSoto, Willys, Jeep, etc.) is in impeccable condition, and includes some of the Chrysler greats: the 1934 Airflow, a 1941 Town and Country, a 1969 Charger, and some fabulous 300's and Imperials.
There were some world-famous concepts, as well; the Chrysler Atlantic and the original Viper, for example. One fun car they had on their "garage" level (downstairs and not to be missed!) was the Chrysler LaFemme, designed to appeal to newly liberated 1950's women. It had any number of styling features specially designed for women, and a lovely pink and white color scheme.
I was reminded what a technological tour-de-force Chrysler had been up through about the '70s, being first with Hydraulic breaks, aerodynamics management, the use of alternators instead of generators in thier cars, etc. There was a nice group of docents, too, who were happy to share their knowledge of the museum and its cars.
There were three great short film, too. An overview (quite dated -- 1999) of the Daimler Chrysler Technical Center, the history of Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars, and the life of Walter P. Chrysler.
It was about a 45 minute drive around Detroit to the Red Roof Inn in Dearborn, where I'm staying before hitting the Henry Ford Museum first thing tomorrow,
November 7 -- Toronto
A great day hanging out!
I spent part of the morning getting to know Kayla and meeting the woman who looks after her, Peets; spent the rest of the time in a cafe trying to figure out how to put a blog together.
Gwen came home in the middle of the day, and Gwen, Kayla, Buddy, Peets and I had a big play and photo session.
Gwen and I had homemade wonton soup for lunch, and then went out to a new Romanian film, "Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days." Great film about friendship in a totalitarian society. Very heavy.
In the evening we went to a delicious, high-end diner just a five-minute walk from Gwen's place, while Stephen and Elaine looked after Kayla and Buddy.
Big cuddles with Buddy before going to bed!
I spent part of the morning getting to know Kayla and meeting the woman who looks after her, Peets; spent the rest of the time in a cafe trying to figure out how to put a blog together.
Gwen came home in the middle of the day, and Gwen, Kayla, Buddy, Peets and I had a big play and photo session.
Gwen and I had homemade wonton soup for lunch, and then went out to a new Romanian film, "Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days." Great film about friendship in a totalitarian society. Very heavy.
In the evening we went to a delicious, high-end diner just a five-minute walk from Gwen's place, while Stephen and Elaine looked after Kayla and Buddy.
Big cuddles with Buddy before going to bed!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
November 6: Boston - Toronto
I left Brookline, MA, shortly after 9:00 a.m. Drove out the Mass Turnpike in rain, past Springfield and through Western Massachusetts to Albany.
There, under blue skies, sunshine and pert cotton candy clouds I picked up the Thomas Dewey Throughway, heading west through Schenedtady, Utica, Syracuse, south of Rochester and on to Buffalo.
The sky got darker and darker as I rolled west. The traffic coming toward me on the other side of the motorway became frost-, then snow-covered. As I aproached Buffalo, the white stuff started to come down. First, light, directionless flakes stumbled their way slowly to the ground. Then the snow got wetter, heavier, and far more determined.
The radio announced a “lake effect” snow storm, with eight inches of accumulation in a short time. It was almost a whiteout. I passed three accidents at the side of the road, and the heavy snow, compressed by the wheels of the traffic, became rough ice on the ground. I was unhappy about the conditions, but very pleased in the knowledge that I had just put four new snow tires on the car.
In almost an instant, on the expressway from Cheektowaga to Tonawanda, the storm disappeared. The evening became crisp, clear and windy. There was a great view of the funny, reedy skyscrapers that surround Niagara Falls, and also the spray rising into the sky, as the highway snaked towards Canada.
The border crossing involved a 20-minute wait, and then was uncomplicated:
“Why are you coming to Canada?”
“To see an old friend.”
“Where does your friend live?”
“Toronto.”
“Are you bringing any liquor”
“Nope.”
“Have a great time!”
This was totally different from my last arrival in Canada, when immigration at the airport was very difficult indeed:
“Why are you coming to Canada?”
“To see an old friend and her new baby.”
“Oh. How old is the baby?”
“I think about seven months.”
“That’s not such a new baby.”
“Well, I guess it still seems pretty new to me.”
“Are you bringing any gifts valued at more than $60?”
“No.”
“What, no gift worth more than $60 for the new baby?????”
Etc., etc.
I arrived at Gwen’s new house a little before 7:00 p.m., after driving through Tornonto, which is colorful at night. Gwen's parents were there, as were Kayla and Buddy the dog. Kayla, now a year old, is twice the size she was when I saw her last, and has a thick head of red hair. She went right to bed, and the rest of us had adult (and dog) drinks, dinner, and a wonderful catch-up.
A big shout-out to the Tom Tom device that I bought and used to navigate from Boston to Toronto: minimal preparation, little anxiety about whether I was on the right route or not, and gentle, precise verbal exhortations before each tun throughout the five hundred and forty-something mile journey. Nice.
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