Category: Trips

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 7

Michigan State Capitol
Lansing MI

Michigan State Capitol
Senate chamber
House of Representatives chamber
House chamber ceiling
George Romney, Governor of Michigan 1963-1969. He was the father of current Utah Senator Mitt Romney.
Portrait of President Gerald Ford. We are going to his Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids later this morning.
Looking up at the rotunda.
Farm in rural Michigan

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
Grand Rapids MI

President Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids MI.
Mary Jean with First Lady Betty Ford.
Statue of President Gerald R. Ford, our 38th President. He became president upon the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974. I remember watching President Nixon announce his resignation on August 8, 1974. Ford had become Vice President when Nixon nominated him upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was under investigation for political corruption (bribes, etc.). Thus President Ford is the only person who became president without a national presidential election. He ran for election in the 1976 presidential election against Jimmy Carter. I was a senior in high school that year, and I was eligible to vote for the first time, and President Ford received my first ever vote for president. Unfortunately, he lost to Carter.
Astronaut statue
President Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha NE (Nebraska’s only president), but his father severely abused his mother, so she divorced him and moved to Grand Rapids MI, where she met and married Gerald R. Ford. The child’s name was legally changed to Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. The quote in this picture is referring to his adoptive father.
Ford grew up in Grand Rapids MI
President Ford was perhaps our most athletic president. He was a star football player in high school, and went on to be a star lineman for the University of Michigan!
Ford was an Eagle Scout.
Ford served in the Navy during World War II.
His boat, the USS Monterey’s biggest challenge was when it was hit by a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean.
Prior to his presidency, Gerald Ford was a Congressman from Michigan. He rose through the ranks to become majority leader in the House. In 1972, President Nixon won re-election in a landslide, but oddly the Republicans did not win the house, which would have elevated Ford to Speaker of the House. If that would have happened, Ford likely would not have been nominated Vice President to replace Agnew, and thus would not have become president when Nixon resigned.
President Nixon’s resignation letter.
President Nixon was forced to resign because of his role in the Watergate scandal, which started in 1972 when some Nixon supporters broke into the Democrat headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC, and they were caught. Nixon become involved later, primarily to cover up the break in. As the scandal mounted, Nixon likely obstructed justice in blocking investigators.
When President Ford assumed office, he inherited a deeply divided and uncertain government and country. He had earned a very strong reputation for honesty and decency.
President Ford issued a pardon for President Nixon, in an effort to close the book on Watergate. Most likely, this pardon was the primary reason he lost in 1976 to Jimmy Carter.
President Ford’s Oval Office
President Ford’s Oval Office
The ceiling in President Ford’s Oval Office
Replica of President Ford’s Cabinet Room. Mary Jean is sitting in the chair for the Secretary of Interior…
… and I am sitting in the President’s chair.
President Ford worked full steam, even though many people of the left tried to paint him as an “illegitimate” president.
State dinner clothes and table settings.
President Ford authorized leaving the US Embassy in Saigon in 1975, thus ending our involvement in the Vietnam War.
The campaign of 1976.
This is what 1976 looked like! The United States celebrated our 200th birthday all year – lots of patriotic events all year, all over the country! JM’s Monroe Singers performed patriotic concerts several times throughout the year.
The Freedom Train came to Fredericksburg and set up at the FMC plant. I went though the displays on the Freedom Train, and the thing that I still remember most after all these years was seeing NBA star Bob Lanier’s size 21 shoes!
Model of the USS Gerald R. Ford.
This is a beautiful woman at a beautiful museum.
Graves of President Gerald and First Lady Betty Ford
Downtown Grand Rapids MI

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 6

Well, today was the day with all the driving. Since we were on the road for 7+ hours, we only got to see a few things, but they were all interesting!

Before leaving Canton, we stopped at the Pro Football Hall of Fame again to take a couple pictures I couldn’t get last night because it was raining, and we were running a little late.

Entrance sign (Do they look like Ninja Turtles to you?)
Hall of Fame Stadium is located behind the museum.
The classic angle – the original entrance to the museum.
Check out the yellow power line poles on both sides of the road!

Fredericksburg OH!

Fredericksburg OH is deep in the heart of Ohio Amish country. Even though it was raining when we drove through, the countryside was beautiful!
This is the third Fredericksburg I have been to.
Like I said, Fredericksburg is in the heart of Ohio Amish Country. This is the parking lot at the market/laundromat in downtown Fredericksburg!
While we were waiting for the red light to change…
Guggisberg Cheese Company in Millersburg OH. They produce the 2019 Grand Champion Baby Swiss Cheese! Very much looking like a Swiss Chalet, they even sell cuckoo clocks!
This one can be yours for $1600! All of the cuckoo clocks they have here were built in the Black Forest in Germany. Zoom in to see the incredible beauty in the detail work.
Driving down the road and saw some goats walking around on a roof.

President Warren Harding Home & Memorial
Marion OH

This was the home of Warren Harding, 29th president of the United States. Harding won the election of 1920, which was the first presidential election after women were eligible to vote, formalized in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. He conducted a “front porch” campaign in 1920. President Harding died of a heart attack in 1923 after only two years in office. This house and the Warren Harding Presidential Museum are undergoing an extreme makeover, so this was just a photo stop. The site is due to reopen in 2020, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Harding’s election to the presidency.
Before becoming president, Harding had owned a newspaper which made him wealthy. He served in state offices as well as the US Senate prior to 1920. On a personal level, Harding was known/rumored to have had some affairs, including one long-term relationship. First Lady Florence Harding remained with the president until he died, and she died only a year later, in 1924.
President Harding Memorial
I was surprised how large this memorial is.
Graves of President Warren and First Lady Florence Harding

President Rutherford B. Hayes Home, Library & Museums
Fremont OH

This is the location of the home of President Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States.
“Spiegel Grove”
Hayes’ uncle built this house in the mid-1800s and essentially gave it to Rutherford. It was 4000 sf until after Hayes’ presidency, when he added on to a total of 21,000 sf with 31 rooms! Photography is not allowed inside the home. Too bad, because it is exquisite. Very large rooms, 12 ft high ceilings, incredible furnishings, almost all of them belonged to the Hayes family. The family took great care to preserve all of the possessions.
The graves of President Rutherford and First Lady Lucy Hayes
The Museum
President Hayes lost the popular vote in 1876, but he won the Electoral College – by only 1 vote! There was much controversy about the split decision, but we elect our presidents through the Electoral College, not popular vote. President George W. Bush won the Electoral College in 2000 while losing the popular vote – the first such incidence since 1876.
A lot of interesting displays throughout the museum
The chair Hayes sat in on the dais for his inauguration.
Quotes or writings from President Hayes. Zoom in to read.
Presidential Limo
Replica of the Resolute Desk. President Hayes was president when Queen Victoria gifted this desk to the United States in 1880.
Lucy Hayes’ birthday is tomorrow, August 28, so the museum is throwing a party!

Toledo OH

Chelsea MI

Jiffy Mix headquarters in Chelsea MI
How many corn muffins are in these storage silos?
Mary Jean with “Corny”

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 5

Downtown Cleveland OH

Another view of the Cleveland skyline.
Key Tower.
Terminal Tower
The Hilton Hotel with First Energy Stadium in the distance.
Fifth Third Bank?
Progressive Field, Home of the Cleveland Indians.
Progressive Field
Bob Feller statue. My father saw him pitch.
Statue of Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League for the Cleveland Indians, several weeks after Jackie Robinson became the first black player in all of major league baseball, for the National League Brooklyn Dodgers.
Slyman’s Restaurant. President George W. Bush ate here in 2007 when he came to Cleveland for a presidential visit. This was a very clean place, and the food was exceptional!
Corned beef hash. After one bite, Mary Jean said this was the best corned beef has she has ever had.
Bacon and swiss omelet.
Slyman’s known for its deli meats and sandwiches. We ordered two sandwiches to go for lunch on the road. Here is what the turkey sandwich looks like! And it was the best turkey I have ever had!
This is Ralphie’s family’s house from A Christmas Story movie.
The leg lamp is in the middle window.
The leg lamp
The Bumpus House next door. Both houses are available for overnight guests.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

This is the only national park in Ohio.
Brandywine Falls
Brandywine Falls
Brandywine Falls
Thick forest
Ledges Overlook – you can see for miles and miles!
This cabin was built in the 1930s by young men who were in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the group created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alleviate unemployment during the Great Depression.
Everett Road Covered Bridge. From the early to the late 1800s, Ohio had over 2000 covered bridges. This reconstructed bridge is modeled on a pattern from 1869.

Nativity Museum, Akron OH

Replica of Bethlehem’s Nativity Cave.
In the actual Bethlehem cave, this star supposedly marks the spot where Jesus Christ was born to the virgin Mary.
This museum displays hundreds and hundreds of nativity scenes from all over the world, and made from many different materials.
Cardboard and Foil, from Poland
Coconut from Hawaii
Olive wood from Bethlehem
Australian Aborigine
Made of wood, from China, by Christians who were persecuted by the Communist government.
Thorn wood from Nigeria
From Columbia
Made of coal from West Virginia
And even one made of Legos.

President William McKinley Library & Museum
Canton OH

William McKinley was our 25th president, serving from 1897 until he was assassinated in September 1901.
President McKinley bust
President McKinley was one of the “front porch campaigns”. He did all his campaigning in 1896 from his home here in Canton.
McKinley’s White House desk
His bed from the White House
Piano that First Lady Ida McKinley played at the White House
President and First Lady McKinley
Adjacent to the McKinley displays is a museum called Street of Shops which are models of Canton shops in the early 1900s. Notice the horseshoe prints on the street!
General Store
Blacksmith Shop
Pioneer House
Post Office stage garage
Print shop
Service station
Fire house
Packaging from the early 20th century
Choose you apron style!
Go for a bike ride?
President McKinley Memorial.
This is a huge structure, and it looks even larger because it sits on a hill.
Statue of President McKinley (23 steps from ground level)
A sense of the scale of the size of the structure.
The crypts of President William McKinley and First Lady Ida McKinley
Looking up at the top of the dome.
The brass exterior doors were the largest ever cast when they were built in 1905-1907.

Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton OH

Here it is – the Football Hall of Fame.
John Madden’s bus
Special exhibit on football cards.
Joe Namath’s 1965 rookie card is the holy grail of football cards, so Namath is featured prominently in this exhibit.
The “Big 4” football cards: Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Bonco Nagurski, and the Goodwin Champions.
Joe Namath’s rookie cards – 15 of them!
Autographed Joe Namath jersey.
Displays for the decades…
Jim Thorpe statue
Tribute to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only Super Bowl champions with a perfect record (17-0)
Each Hall of Famer is honored with a bronze bust. It is a pretty neat display to see row after row of these busts.
How the busts are made.
Me and Joe
Mary Jean and John Elway
Me and Dan Marino. For you, Keith!
Earl Campbell, the only hall of famer I have met.
Jim Brown, greatest football player ever.
John Riggins
Super Bowl III display: Jets 16, Colts 7
Terrell Davis wore this helmet during the 1998 Super Bowl XXXII win.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy
Niemann portrait of Super Bowl III.
Super Bowl ring, 1969
Super Bowl ring, 2016
Super Bowl ring, 2019
Carrie Underwood’s outfit when she sang “Oh, Sunday Night!” to open the 2017 prime time Sunday Night Football season.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 4

Lawnfeld, Home of President James A. Garfield
Mentor OH

This is the home of James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States. When Garfield bought this house it was a 1-1/2 story 9 room farmhouse. He expanded it to a full two-story 20 room house to accommodate his growing family. When he was alive this was a 160 acre working farm. When he campaigned for president in 1880, he did so from this front porch, the first of the “front porch campaigns”.

Garfield served as president for only 200 days; he was shot by a disgruntled office seeker on July 2, 1881 (Garfield was inaugurated on March 4, 1881) at the Washington DC railroad depot, then the president hung on and eventually died on September 10. The president was coherent during that entire time, his condition fluctuated numerous times, and finally took a turn for the worse and died on September 19.

This is wallpaper on the ceiling of the entry foyer. The wallpaper was somewhat unusual, but it used on the ceiling because it was easier to clean the kerosene lamp soot from wallpaper rather than paint and plaster.
The parlor.
James and Lucretia Garfield’s summer bedroom, on the first floor.
Interesting heater.
Dining room china cabinet. The china on the right was the Garfield family china, and is what the Garfields took to Washington to use at the White House. They never had time to pick out official state china.
Garfield’s mother Eliza’s room. Eliza was the first mother to live to see her son inaugurated president, and she was the first president’s mother to live in the White House (albeit for only a few months).
The Garfields’ upstairs (winter) bedroom.
Carpet on one the floor of one of the bedrooms upstairs. Prior to its use by the 20th century Nazis, this design was used to indicate well being or good luck.
Garfield’s study. His children bought him the chair for reading. Garfield was a voracious reader, and he liked to read in a semi-reclined position.
After Garfield’s death, his widow Lucretia created the first presidential library with an addon to the house.
Interesting door hinge
Garfield’s campaign headquarters office.
Garfield’s campaign headquarters office. During the campaign Garfield had a telegraph installed here.
Lucretia had this windmill installed in 1894. This windmill would pump water up into the tower, which held a 500 gallon storage tank. There was a water line which gravity-fed the water into a 300 gallon holding tank on the third floor of the house, which then flowed to the faucets in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room!
A mock-up of President Garfield taking the oath of office.
President Garfield with First Lady Lucretia at his bedside.

James A. Garfield Memorial and Grave
Cleveland OH

It was a great disappointment to see the Garfield Memorial under renovation. Normally, this gigantic monument looks like this:
This is where President and Lucretia Garfield are entombed.
Inside the main hall stands a large statue of Garfield, standing as he would as a congressman when he served in the House of Representatives.
The ornate designs throughout this chamber are spectacular. This is looking up to the top of the tower.
Down below the main chamber are the caskets of the President and First Lady.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cleveland OH

Johnny Cash’s tour bus.
A very cool museum!
There are many, many displays like this. So many outfits, posters, guitars, handwritten letters, etc.
KISS drums
Elvis has the largest section, of course!
Yup, a suit worn by Elvis.
Elvis played this.
While this video was playing…
Mary Jean was rocking it!
Rick Nelson’s guitar
Mama Cass (Mamas and the Papas) outfit
Dolly
Taylor Swift outfit from 2014 concert.
Rolling Stones.
The Beatles
Now, on to the Hall of Famers…
So the Hall of Fame has a “Garage” section, where you can jam like you are in your garage. There are people to teach you to play something simple, so a couple people tried it out…
Mary Jean on the drums!
Me on the keyboard!

Cleveland OH

Cool skyline picture!
USS Cod Submarine Museum
Steamship William G. Mather Museum
Lake Erie redo! Yesterday’s Lake Erie picture in New York was a bit overcast and gray. Today in Cleveland it is clear and beautiful!
Lake Erie
Ship on Lake Erie
Lake Erie
First Energy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns.
Statue of Cleveland Browns great Jim Brown, perhaps the greatest football player ever!

Our hotel in Cleveland

We are staying at the Key Tower Marriott. The Key Tower is the tallest building in Cleveland at 57 stories tall.
The view from our 19th floor room – the Terminal Tower, a Cleveland landmark.
The Terminal Tower lit up at night.

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 3

East Aurora NY
Home of President Millard Fillmore

This is the home of our 13th President, Millard Fillmore.
This is the only house built by and lived in by a president.
He and his family lived here for about 4 years in the 1820s.
There are many items in the house that actually belonged to the Fillmores.
Our docent Kathy was a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide who truly seemed to love the Fillmore legacy.
A lock of Millard Fillmore’s hair.
President and Abigail Fillmore’s bed. The quilt was made by Abigail, and is silk.
Millard Fillmore made this table.
The bookcase was the actual first library in the White House. First Lady Abigail Fillmore, a teacher by training, was stunned to see there were no books in the White House when they moved in, in 1850. She petitioned Congress for the funds to create the first White House library.

Vidler’s 5&10 Store

This is a throwback vintage 5 and Dime store with many vintage items among a huge store.

Buffalo NY
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site

President William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo in September 1901.
Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as President at this location, a private home.
This is where Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in.
Both President McKinley and Vice President Roosevelt were in Buffalo to attend the Pan-American Exposition, which was a very large exposition demonstrating modern conveniences, including, for the very first time – French Fried Potatoes!
The museum has a nice setup of panels explaining the scale of the exposition.
At the time in 1901, Buffalo, New York was the 8th largest city in the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office at this “pie crust” table in this room.
(The table is a replica.)
Replica of President Roosevelt’s Oval Office desk.
President Roosevelt faced many issues as he assumed office.
This museum was pretty neat. The docent “transported” us back to 1901, painting a detailed picture of Buffalo in 1901, the excitement of the exciting exposition, and then the shock of the assassination, and then the Roosevelt swearing in.

Lake Erie

Lake Erie, at Hamburg NY Town Park
Lake Erie
Buffalo skyline from about 8 miles away.

Jamestown NY
Lucille Ball Desi – Arnaz Museum

Crossing off a bucket list item. This was actually a pretty cool museum for any Baby Boomers who grew up watching I Love Lucy!
The Ricardos’ kitchen
The Ricardos’ living room
The Hollywood apartment
This is what the production crew and studio audience looked like to the cast as they were being filmed.
This is me doing the Vitameatavegamin sketch. I can show you the video if you are up for a laugh and a cringe!
Lucille Ball’s gravesite.
Lucille Ball’s childhood home
Statue at Lucille Ball Memorial Park
Celoron Lighthouse at Chautauqua Lake.
Chautauqua Lake