DIA to 8 Mile

With just one day in Detroit, we knew we had to make it count.  Arriving at the Detroit Institute of the Arts just after it opened, we explored the impressive collection but spent the most time in the amazing courtyard containing Diego Rivera's mural of Detroit, which he created right there in the museum.  Not only is the mural a testament to Detroit's history, but the space itself is just beautiful.

Daniel appreciates the touch of providing a portable stool to carry with you as you peruse the art

While Maddie studies the symbolism apparent in the painting

Absolutely stunning!

The iPad station provides insight into how Rivera made the mural

Next stop - Dearborn and the Ford Museum.  We stopped at the historic Dearborn Inn for lunch.  Designed and built by Ford himself, when he wanted a hotel closer to the airport, the hotel is incredibly charming, the food delicious, and the location - just down the block from the museum - perfect.

Apparently Ford believed that history in books was less than inspiring and also felt he had to prove something to those who doubted his intellect.  Therefore, he decided to create a living history textbook at this Dearborn property.  Initially I expected exhibits devoted only to cars but soon realized that the museum was filled with all measure of startling artifacts - from the limousine in which John Kennedy was assassinated to the chair in the theater where Lincoln last sat.  On a less depressing note, the bus where Rosa Parks refused to move sits within the museum, along with the courthouse, meticulously rebuilt in its new home, where Abraham Lincoln practiced law.

Our summer road trips made us the perfect audience for this exhibit

The Presidents' cars are outfitted with special steps for the secret service to stand upon

Dana spoke with one of the volunteers to learn how the museum managed to acquire these incredible pieces.  How did Illinois part with the courthouse or Alabama with the bus?  Apparently, Henry Ford cleaned up during the Great Depression, offering city after city a relative nominal sum (approximately $10,000) for each piece.  In a time of such economic uncertainty, they were happy to comply.  So... a four hour trek around the Ford museum and Greenfield Village accomplishes exactly what Ford hoped it would - you truly feel as if you are walking through one period of history after another.  It is a remarkable place.

The Rosa Parks' bus

Living history

The home of Noah Webster

Dana contemplates the space where Lincoln tried his cases

After devoting the day to museums, it was time to spend the evening exploring the two Detroit neighborhoods we knew through film - Grosse Pointe and 8 Mile.   While we had no luck recreating our Jeff Daniels' experience by locating John Cusack's child home, we did enjoy ogling the astounding mansions overlooking Lake Michigan.  Going from being the riff raff who couldn't get past the iron gates of one yacht club after another, we then became the outsiders who clearly didn't belong on the streets off of 8 Mile.  Blasting "Lose Yourself" from our speakers, we went off in search of Eminem's childhood home, even though Maddie read that it had been burned down (in a questionable manner?) after someone bought it with the intention of making it a museum.  It was just as well, as it's difficult to imagine many people making the journey to where the museum would have been located.  To do so, one has to drive past some menacing characters.  Of course, that added to our adventure.  Adding to our amusement was Siri's GPS voice, insisting again and again that we "Make a U-Turn" and return to the original course we had set before deciding on this detour.

A few of the lovely Grosse Pointe homes

And then... 8 Mile

The house next door

The lot where once Eminem's house stood

Returning home after our driving tour, we opted to park the car and keep it simple for dinner.  The Book Cadillac is located right across the street from the two warring "Coney" haunts, the more famous (and, we believed, deservedly so) Lafayette and its competitor American Coney.  Many people order two coneys as their meal, but we opted to order just one in order to walk next door and order another for comparison's sake.  At $2.50 a "coney" (a hot dog with mustard, onions and chili), this was also our cheapest meal of the trip (even after we visited both restaurants).

We're now all nestled into our comfy hotel room, watching the first Hunger Games on TV and getting ready to call it quits on the last day of our vacation.  Michigan gets high marks from our family, and we fully expect we will be back to this great "lake" state.