Michigan is a beautiful state surrounded on three sides by four of the five Great Lakes. Michigan is a fishermen’s and outdoor lovers’ dream destination with over 3,000 miles of shoreline, 11,000 interior lakes, 19 million acres of forest, and 10 million acres of agriculture. The state is essentially two peninsulas, the lower “Mitt” and the upper “U.P.”

The Mezger Month in Michigan started in the “Mitt” at Haas Lake Campground in New Husdon. Nestled among five man-made lakes (former stone quarries) this was our location for Detroit and Ann Arbor outings.

GREENFIELD VILLAGE

Part of “The Henry Ford” located in Dearborn. Experience American culture and ingenuity from the Revolution to the early 20th century. We were able to enter the homes of Noah Webster & Robert Frost, the Wright Brothers’ home and workshop where they built the first powered airplane, and Thomas Edison’s laboratory.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E (electric) and Ford Model T

Noah Webster’s Library and Wright Brothers’ Cycle Shop

Actual workshop and tools used to build the Wright Flyer flown in Kittyhawk, North Carolina in 1903. One of five remaining bicycles built actually built by the Wright brothers.

Fun Greenfield Village transportation video below…

ANN ARBOR

As a lifelong Buckeye (Ohio State University) fan, I always wondered what our arch-nemesis, the Wolverines (University of Michigan) were like. So we traveled to their “den”. When one is in Ann Arbor, that is the University. The whole city of 28 square miles and a population of 120,000 seems to be associated with the university in some way.

The Wolverine den, Michigan Stadium. Go Buckeyes 🙂

Lunch at the Avalon sidewalk cafe.

Gerald R Ford Presidential Library (Closed due to COVID)

THE HENRY FORD MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INNOVATION

Back in Dearborn, we enjoyed incredible displays of American engineering from automobiles to aerospace to agriculture, from farming to furniture to firearms, from mathematics to manufacturing, from lighting to limousines, from railroads to rebellions.

She & Me in a Ford Model T

Actual 1978 Kermit The Frog puppet from Jim Hensen exhibit

Actual 1970s Bert, Ernie, and Grover puppets from Jim Hensen exhibit

Actual rocking chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. on  April 14, 1865.

Actual field bed and camp chest used by General George Washington when visiting his troops.

Actual Montgomery city bus Rosa Parks was riding in when she refused to move to the back of the bus on December 1, 1955.

Actual 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible in which President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.

Actual Ford GT40 Mk IV that won the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by A. J. Foyt

FRANKENMUTH

This Bavarian-styled city boasts the largest Christmas Store in the world.

Replica of the Silent Night Chapel located in the Austrian city of Oberndorf where the carol, “Silent Night” was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818.

TRAVERSE CITY

Traverse City is situated at the southern tip of Grand Traverse Bay and is one of the more beautiful cities we visited.

This day trip also included a visit to the famous Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

View from the top of the largest dune.