Bronners Spring 2013

A cool spring day presented the perfect opportunity for a trip to Frankenmuth and a visit to Bronners. James went shopping at Bronners and bought a couple Easter lights that were on sale (after Easter sale). James and his family then had a chicken dinner at a pretty crowded Bavarian Inn (We did not expect it to be crowded because it was still pretty cold out, but I think lots of family’s were like us and just said “enough” to winter). We then shopped at their outdoor mall where Mary got to visit the cupcake shop that won a reality show contest (cupcake wars). On the way home we got to listen to the Tigers win over the Yankees so it was a good day all around.
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Edited: April 6th, 2013

Dinosaur World Kentucky 2013

Although we stopped at Dinosaur World on the way down to Nashville, the weather was so wet we knew we could not possibly go through the park so we decided to stop on the return trip from Nashville on a much more pleasant day.

Dad and James went through the park and then we met Mom in the gift store. The picture to the left shows Mom and James looking at Jellyfish.

James wanted to do something different this year and have a picture taken at every single exhibit in the park (his logic being that we cannot tell whats new unless we know whats old), so let the tour being.
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Edited: March 3rd, 2013

Nashville 2013 – Grandpa’s Birthday

Our annual visit to Nashville was one for the books as far as weather was concerned. As nice as it was last year in January, it was equally lousy this year with lots of rain and wet weather for early March. But we made it in time for Grandpa’s birthday (March 1) which we celebrated with a small cupcake party in his room the first day in Nashville.

Saturday was a road trip for Grandpa as a wheelchair van gave him a ride out to the cemetery. Again, the weather made things difficult and Grandpa actually slid out of his wheel chair in the van, but he did get to visit his parents graves which was the goal.

Other highlights of the trip include breakfast at Loveless Cafe, dinner with Uncle Bill at Bar B Cutie, Friday night pizza at the hotel, and a trip to Nashville’s most famous toy store.

Sunday morning we met Uncle Bill at Grandpa’s room and said our good byes. Hopefully we won’t be away for a year this time.

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Edited: March 2nd, 2013

Fire on Jackson Street in Dearborn Heights

This morning we were on our way to visit Aunt Peg (she is scheduled to go home from Heartland rehab this Wednesday) when we saw a street blocked off at Jackson between Dartmouth and Colgate. The fire department was there putting out a home that was on fire. We hope everyone is ok and safe.

Edited: February 17th, 2013

Manuels Taco Hut at Halloween

At James Halloween Get Together one of our guest tipped us off to this little gem of a place. During the year its Manuels Taco Hut, but they close for one week in the Fall and decorate the entire restaurant for Halloween. Its a great atmosphere with black walls, plenty of Ultra Violet lighting, and creepy skulls, ghost, and skeletons adorn the entire restaurant.

Mom and Dad had chicken burritos and beans while James stuck with his usual chicken nuggets and french fries. The food was great and nothing was left on anyone’s plate at the end. Mom liked the animated Michael Meyers best, Dad liked the talking sculpture best, and James liked the singing pirate skeleton in the treasure chest the best.

Manuels Taco Hut is on Ecorse road between Pelham and Allen road on the North side. We heard from their website that they do something similar for Christmas.

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Edited: October 30th, 2012

Liberty Park

To visit Ellis Island and Liberty Island (aka Statue of Liberty) we had to take a ferry from Liberty Park which is located in New Jersey.

At this location is a monument to the World Trade Center and (as you can see in the picture to the left) if you take a picture of it head on it recreates the New York Skyline with the Twin Towers. In front of this are a couple beams from the wreckage of the towers. I had heard about this display already because an atheist group says it is in the shape of a cross and should be removed since it is a religious symbol. Believe me, when I saw this the last thing I associated it with was a crucifix or any religion.

James did his own honor to the fallen by striking up a “Liberty” pose with souvenirs he had purchased from Liberty Island.

Once we got home, James went a grabbed an encyclopedia from his room and put batteries in his “torch” flashlight and asked us to take one last picture of him in his Statue of Liberty pose before he went to sleep.
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Edited: September 15th, 2012

A Drive Through New Jersey

They call New Jersey the Garden State and from some of these pictures you can see why. On the trip to New York we simply drove through the state, not really stopping anywhere. However on the way home was a completely different story. After crossing into New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge we took 95 South past the Newark Airport to Liberty Park. Liberty Park has two sections, The first is a park with a view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhatten skyline, the second is the ferry dock which is where we went to (those pictures have their own section and are located elsewhere on this blog).
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Edited: September 15th, 2012

A Drive Through New York

We came into New York via the Tappan Zee bridge and stayed in Tarrytown. Dad got to attend a banquet where he was honored for 25 years of service to his Company. The banquet was held in a beautiful banquet hall at the Knollwood Country Club in Elmsford.

The next morning we took a quick tour of Sleepy Hallow New York! Yes, this is the setting of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hallow featuring Brahm Bones, Incabod Crane, and (of course) The Headless Horseman. The next stop was not a stop but a trip through New York City for James. From a time perspective it would have been much better to go back through New Jersey to get to the Statue of Liberty but James’ favorite city on earth is New York so we made sure he got to see it. Most of the pictures of the New York Skyline were taken from the New Jersey side at Liberty Park and the Statue of Liberty Ferry.
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Edited: September 15th, 2012

A Drive Through Pennsylvania

About half the drive from Michigan to New York is through Pennsylvania which has the highest elevation on I80 East of the Mississippi. The terrain is nothing but hills and is very beautiful to say the least. We were fortunate enough to see the sun rise in this beautiful country and the next day watch the sun set in the same terrain. Some of the highlights of the trip were a stop in the Pocono’s to visit the Nascar speedway there. Mary has often said the only Nascar track she has ever seen in person was Michigan so now she can no longer say that. Also the Deleware Water Gap, a National recreation area where the Deleware river cuts through the Appalachian mountains on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey was quite spectacular.
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Edited: September 15th, 2012

Greenfield Village 2012

We used to go to Greenfield Village often, then the Titanic exhibit came to the Henry Ford Museum so we have to stop at the museum on the way to and from the village.

James had a great time this Saturday visiting Greenfield Village and actually found some Halloween items in the gift shop for his Halloween party. There were not many people in the village this day, probably due to the 90 degree (we had low voltage at our house all weekend so the AC was off and we were used to the heat) weather, but it was still fun as always. The bandstand was roped off with a bucket of paint on it so I think the next time we visit we will see a freshly painted bandstand. James saw a couple turtles who skuttled into the water as soon as we got close, but we did manage to get a pic of one of the little guys sunning themselves on a rock.
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Edited: August 27th, 2012