Month: July 2009

The land of the red buck or the flat rock depending on who’s translating

Leaving the land of the raindrops, we traversed the Upper Peninsula or U-P and ended up in Escanaba. It sounds Spanish but it means either the land of the red buck or flat rock in the language of the Ojibwa depending on who is translating. In his poem “The Song of Hiawatha”, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described how Hiawatha “crossed the rushing Esconaba” referring to the river.

There was this promotion to receive 10,000 United FF miles if one stayed in three Wyndham or related properties this summer. I thought that meant you could stay in, say, three Hawthorne Suites. But no, you have to stay in three different label properties. And so this is why we are staying unhappily in the very downscale Super 8 in Escanaba tonight. 🙁

More food photography

Tonight we settled on more local fish for dinner. So we went to the Stonehouse in Escanaba for dinner. It was really packed. That’s a good sign. They had some weird specials like a cream Reuben soup. Hard to imagine cream, sauerkraut, corned beef and rye croutons. Also there was a stir fry shrimp over brown rice with a raspberry chipotle sauce. That makes me shudder. But the walleye meuniere was quite good with a light, piquant lemon sauce. The rice pilaf was also good and the Rombauer chardonnay was really, really good. In terms of dinners we have had dining out, this rated in the top eight during our trip.

We left Wilkes-Barre, PA and were supposed to go as far as Youngstown, OH but we got there earlier than anticipated and decided to go all the way to Ann Arbor on the 20th. It was a long drive but we were glad that we would be staying two nights in one place.

During the day on the 21st we went to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. While it’s a lot about transportation, it’s got a lot of other stuff in it too. It is huge! We didn’t get to see it all but concentrated on the cars, trucks, trains, wagons, bicycles, motorcycles, clocks, car related things like motels, highways and gas stations and a display highlighting the struggle for equality in the United States.

One of the first things we saw were the limousines of Presidents including this one, the actual car that John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated.

But there was so much more than just cars! Ford must have spent a lifetime collecting stuff – important stuff, historical stuff. This is George Washington’s actual camp bed. George Washington actually slept here!

Can you believe it? This is the actual chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot by Booth at the Ford’s Theater.

Along with lots of cars, trucks and trains, there were bikes, carriages, and wagons. Here’s an actual Conestoga wagon.

Remember when I told you way back in Reno, NV about the Lincoln Highway? It was the first coast to coast American highway and these are the actual brochures describing it.

Yes, an actual picture of John with an actual 1956 Chevy BelAir. Nostalgic for John since his family owned one just like it except the one that they had wasn’t a convertible and was gray and white. So maybe not exactly alike.

Serendipity

Who could have planned it this way? Even, I, compulsive planner that I am, couldn’t have figured those many months ago when I started working on the trip that the day we would be in Ann Arbor would be the same day that Jonathan would be there as well. We were so excited to see him and Rose and John, Ryan’s parents as well. The Hendersons, who live in Ann Arbor, got reservations for us all to go to Zingerman’s Roadhouse for a special dinner. It was all about organic produce and local products. Yum, vegetables!

It was so great seeing Ryan’s folks and Jonathan tonight. It reminded me of how much I miss seeing all the family. Time to go home.

Here’s the promised picture. You may notice that the steam is blowing in the wrong direction. This is because the train is backing up. Lots of trains. A good demonstration of the roundhouse in use. The Steamtown National HIstoric Site still needs to work on a lot of its locomotives and cars. They are old and rusty. We saw many trains at the Henry Ford Museum in Deerborn, MI. They are in way better shape. I guess its a case of private money vs. public money.