June 12 - 15 2014 - Visit to Michigan

June Visit to Michigan 2014

Father’s Day weekend, the boys and I decided to travel to visit Omi, Uncle Fred and Aunt Betsy in Michigan. At first, I thought it would be fun to take an Amtrak train from Iowa through Chicago to Ann Arbor, MI. It became clear that the trip would take about 11 hours and I realized that the boys would enjoy the first four hours of the trip and then would probably grow bored of sitting in seats. The best train journeys are the longer ones in which you can rent a whole cabin with seats which become beds and travel overnight. That is more exciting. Firstly, before leaving we all enjoyed the annual Greek Food Fair in Des Moines. The most amazing frozen concoction is the homemade Greek coffee ice cream topped with baklava.

Then, on Thursday afternoon the three of us flew to Detroit.  The first site of interest was the welcome fountain at Detroit Metro Airport, which makes hops and surprising leaps.

As soon as we got our rental car at sunset and got on the Detroit highways, I remembered that driving is different than in Iowa. The Detroit driving is not only faster, but it is also completely irrational. Drivers in Detroit in both new and dilapidated old American cars driving 80 miles an hour exited from the left lane, crossed into our lane and narrowly missed our car often. I was amazed we made it north to I-75 at all.

On our way from the airport, I called one of a few pizza places in Rochester I found on my phone and ordered a pizza to pick up when we arrived there. It would be around 9:30 or 10 pm and I knew my mother would not have dinner still available for the boys. Having left at 4 pm, we were pretty hungry. So, we picked up a pizza at Georgios, a place that didn’t exist during my high school days and headed north to our house.   I am glad we picked up food because there wasn’t anything else to eat at home. Even the milk was finished when we arrived. My Mum had assumed that I wanted to shop for just the right food.

So, we all had some pizza and got ready for bed. It’s lovely to wake up at home and see the beautiful garden on a summer morning. While the boys still slept, I went out and bought some food for the days we would be there. We all ate some breakfast on the front terrace and enjoyed the sunshine and park like grounds. I would like to have a garden like my Mum’s acre, but it would require a full-time staff. 

We had decided that we would see the second half of Greenfield Village with my Mum on Friday. So, we made our way south again, almost back to the airport and visited Greenfield Village. While there, we took the steam train south to the bottom half of the village. 

We had not had time to see the homesteads on our visit last summer. We walked around to see the home of Noah Webster, a working farm, , etc. Here is the sundial at a cottage from Cotswald, England.

The boys are at that stage of potty training in which they are wearing underwear and using the toilet, but at a moment’s notice they might realize they need to go to the bathroom.  If we are in the unfortunate situation of being out in the world, like at Greenfield Village, we have to dash around looking for a restroom, hoping one of the boys can hold it. Just as we got our lunch food, Peter announced he had to go. Omi was already at the bathroom, so I had to leave our food and a scared Ted and run with Peter to find Omi. Luckily, Ted watched over our food while he munched on a corn muffin; no one approached him to ask why his mother had left him alone and Peter made it to the potty.

After the homesteads, we walked up to enjoy the old fashioned carousel and a playground near Main Street and to see the Model T cars driving around. 

We also exited via the store to see all the craft items and made our way back home. After more crazy Detroit driving and an encounter with a large pipe in our lane on the highway - this time at Friday rush hour, the boys and I took Omi out for a nice Italian meal, so none of us had to worry about food or cooking.

The next day, we drove west to visit some old family friends and then to Ann Arbor to visit Uncle Fred and Aunt Betsy. The boys and I stopped on the way to visit my Mum's old college friends, Phebe and Sid at their home, which looked the same as it has on all my previous visits for the past twenty years or so, although there are probably a few more wonderful art pieces on display. Even though recent health set-backs for Phebe have been scary, they were both in good spirits. The boys took a beloved, but hopefully sturdy Noah’s Arc art object out for a maiden voyage around their living room. It was nice to see both Phebe and Sid  looking happy and like themselves.

“Aunt Fred and Uncle Betsy” as the boys like to call Fred and Betsy, have been hard at work on their new place in Ann Arbor and it also looked park-like. The hidden gem of a stream running through the middle of their back yard has been exposed and was now a highlight. 

We relaxed and enjoyed time outside with them and then a lovely dinner with Betsy’s daughter Mel.

On Sunday, we went to downtown Ann Arbor to enjoy the outdoor artisans market, try to eat at Zingerman’s Deli, which was too crowded to enjoy, and then go to the Hands-On Kids Museum. The boys really liked the museum, which included three main floors of an Exploratorium of fun science exhibits and puzzles to explore and try. They liked the giant bubble and the ball factory.  

Then, we ate a quick snack and as with all visits, we made a mad dash for the airport for our evening flight home.