My parents came to visit for just over a week at the end of May, and we had all kinds of adventures around NW Ohio and in Detroit, MI. On their first full day, we went for proper tea at the Swan House, then spent a couple of hours in NW Ohio's Largest Antique Mall on the way home (which Mom said was a highlight of the trip for her).
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| Mom and me--ready for tea! |
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| Swan House May Menu |
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| The delicious food! |
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| Dad, Mark, Mom, and me |
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| This antique mall really is big... |
The next day, we took a walk in BG's Wintergarden Preserve (and, unfortunately discovered that the mosquitoes this season are worse then we've ever had here...at least from then on, we were prepared). After lunch, we went to the Wildwood Manor House in Toledo for a tour, followed by a visit to the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art. Locals--if you haven't been to Wildwood, it's worth checking out!
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| Wildwood Manor House |
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| They use this room for piano concerts |
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| The study...with wood paneling brought over from Europe |
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| An elegant dining room |
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| Mom & I loved this ladder in the kitchen! |
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| symmetrical gardens to match the house |
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| at the Glass Pavilion |
Mom, Dad, and I went to Oak Openings for some more outdoor exploring and a picnic lunch the following day, while Mark stayed home to get some rest (poor guy got a nasty cold just a couple days before Mom & Dad came). That afternoon, we went out for ice cream and a BGSU campus tour.
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| Mom & Dad at Oak Openings |
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| out on the trail... |
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it looks beautiful, but there
sure were a lot of mosquitoes! |
On our last day in the BG area, we went up to Toledo to see the Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary Cathedral and explore the Old West End neighborhood. There were definitely some interesting houses to see (and all the architecture out here is pretty different from what we see out west). Then we had lunch and walked on the beach at Maumee Bay State Park, along the Lake Erie coast. That afternoon, we visited Snook's Dream Cars and Downtown BG.
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| the Cathedral |
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| a few homes in the Old West End |
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| at Maumee Bay State Park |
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| panoramic view of Lake Erie |
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| Snook's Dream Cars |
It was also fun for me to have the chance to cook some dinners for my parents, including taquitos, homemade pizza, and Sweedish pancakes.
For the last part of the visit, we went up to Detroit for a few days. The main attraction was the Henry Ford Museum, along with the Rouge Factory tour and Greenfield Village. I had done a bit of research on the website, mostly to see about tickets and parking, but it was pretty different from what I expected--not nearly as car-focused (though there were cool cars). Greenfield Village is full of historic buildings and homes (some recreations, but most are original buildings that Henry Ford bought and relocated--wild, right!?). Really, I thought if you couldn't find something of interest, you're just not curious enough! So if you're ever in the area, it's worth checking out (and, if you want to do both the museum and the village, you need two days!).
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| The visiting Star Trek exhibit at The Henry Ford |
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| Next Generation costumes |
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| Enterprise model |
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This cool display shows
the assembly of the Model T |
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| a HUGE train engine |
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| I'd never seen an elephant hood ornament before! |
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| plane/helicopter |
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I found this display of tools very appealing...
so orderly (but also beautiful) |
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| view of the green roof at the factory (they assemble F-150s here) |
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| enjoyed seeing a few Mustangs here and there! |
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| making the most of Greenfield Village despite some light rain |
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| notice the dragon weather vane |
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| impressive pulley system |
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Most homes had staff/volunteers inside to tell us
about the history of the house and the items inside. |
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| a plantation home |
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an English cottage (wall and building were disassembled
in England, shipped, and reassembled here--amazing!) |
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| Mom and Dad had tea in the garden |
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| we saw lots of interesting old wallpaper! |
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a beautiful garden--it's hard to tell,
but several planters are heart-shaped |
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| working on the railroad... |
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| glass blowing demo |
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| tin crafting demo |
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| printing demo |
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| pottery demo |
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| weaving demo |
On our last day, we'd planned to visit Belle Isle. But the morning before, we learned that they were hosting a Grand Prix race that weekend, so the place would be totally overrun with race fans. I'm so glad we heard about it before we went, at least, so we could make an alternate plan. Instead, we visited the downtown Detroit River walk, where we got a nice view of the river and Windsor, Canada on the other side. We took a tour of the GM Renaissance Center building and walked around to see a couple historic buildings in the area. Then we toured the Ford Piquitte Avenue plant, which is a National Historic Monument (and turned out to be one of my favorite outings--it was very cool to see the cars displayed in the building they were actually made! Plus, our tour guide was really good).
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| on the river walk |
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| that's the Detroit River and Canada on the other side |
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| inside the GM RenCen |
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| truck made entirely of Legos |
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| part of our tour |
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| our tour guide |
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| historic church |
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| inside the Guardian building |
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| Model T at the Piquette Ave Plant |
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One of my favorite details: the fire doors (which close automatically
when a little piece of metal melts from the heat and releases the rope) |
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| they happened to be setting up for a wedding reception--looks cool, right!? |
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They created this display due to visitor requests to see how
the cars were actually assembled here. This plant was used
before Ford started using the moving assembly line. |
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| I think this was Mark's favorite car on display here. |
We also enjoyed some good food in Detroit: Detroit style pizza at Buddy's, fun car theming at Ford's Garage, and the Shatila Bakery (I love an excuse to go there!).
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| Buddy's Pizza |
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| Burgers & Fries at Ford's Garage |
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| Shatila Bakery |
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How beautiful are these French pastries?!
(They have Middle-Eastern ones too; I didn't get a picture) |
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We were there during Ramadan,
so they had some cute decorations up. |
Mom and Dad's last visit to BG was November 2013, so we enjoyed having them out this way again. And we certainly saw/did some things that Mark and I wouldn't have on our own, so that was fun, too. It was a good start to summer! Thanks, Mom & Dad!
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