The Highlight of My Year

On May 25, the whole family once again piled into Grandpa's Suberban and spent our third and final day at Greenfield Village.

Staying with this year's tradition, we all took a Model T ride first, once again in the Depot Hack!! Then at Alison's request we all rode the Carousel. (I seem to remember that she rode it more than once! ;D).

Then we all traveled down to the other end of the Village to see the short play, "Tally's Tales" at Susquehanna Plantation. "Tally" was a slave cook at Susquehanna,
 and she told a little about slave life. She talked about how the slaves used signals to communicate messages, different songs the slaves sang, and even told us a story about Brr (sp.?) Rabbit.

After the play, we all split up. Grandpa and I went across the street to Cotswold Cottage, and saw the beautiful flowers gardens there. Grandpa and I also enjoyed seeing the homes of Noah Webster, the birthplace and school of William Holmes McGuffey. Mom and Dad took Alison to a place where she could make her own candle-she really liked that! Grandpa and I also saw a play on the inventor Elijah McCoy--holder of 57 patents, and inventor of a self-lubricating system for trains.

Right after lunch, Grandpa and I rode the steam train, pulled by the historic 1873 steam locomotive Torch Lake. The Torch Lake is the oldest continuously running steam locomotive in the United States. I really enjoyed the train ride! :)

After our half-hour train ride, Grandpa and I rode in a 1930s Ford bus. I have only been on the bus like one time before, so the experience was really new. The driver was telling all about Greenfield Village on the 20-minute round trip--I really really liked it!

One of the things the driver did was tell us a joke: On what continent did Henry Ford not build Model T's? I correctly replied, "Antarctica". "Correct," the driver said, "but why?"

He said that the penguins would have liked driving Model T's, but the feet couldn't reach the pedals! ;) Maybe I could get a Model T for my penguins at the bottom of this blog! :)

After the bus ride, Grandpa and I went to the Firestone Farm, since I hadn't been there this year yet. Firestone Farm is a real, working farm at Greenfield Village. The centerpiece is the birthplace of the tire tycoon Harvey Firestone.I really enjoyed seeing the sheep in the barn! :)

Right after the Firestone Farm, Grandpa and I realized we had a little more time before we left. So, being tired, we took one more bus ride! :)

Hope you enjoy my photos!

~Photobug
(above and below) Horses "Abe" and "Lincoln" help with the farm work.

(above and below) The next few pictures are of Cotswold Cottage and its beautiful flowers.

^^The next few pictures are of Firestone Farm.

^^(above and below) My wonderful Grandpa! :)

^^A window from inside the Firestone home.

^^BAAAA!

^^The Ackley Covered Bridge, and the Ackley Pond.

^^On the left, a windmill from Cape Cod, on the right the oldest building in Greenfield Village (the fireplace dates from the 1600s!).

^^A wide-angle view of the Village Green, with the Martha-Mary Chapel in the background, center.

^^Hermitage Slave Quarters.

^^Mom and Dad with Alison, helping to make a candle.

^^The Carousel on Main Street.

^^The next few pictures are of "Tally", the slave cook at Susquehanna Plantation.

^^"Freedom!"

^^The Torch Lake in motion.

^^Henry Ford's birthplace.

^^Susquehanna Plantation.

Al, our conductor.

^^Smith Creek Station, where a young Edison used to work.

^^The Torch Lake, in black and white. I was having fun playing around!

^^Next few pictures are of Model T's.

^^The "Depot Hack" we rode in several times.

^^Notice the sign behind the Model T, "Watch the Fords go by"??

^^I really like this quote.

^^The front of the bus we rode on.

^^(above and below) Pictures of a Model A we saw parked.

Hope you enjoyed my tour! :)

http://www.thehenryford.org/