Cooters

What would a trip to Nashville be without a visit to Cooters Garage. Actually its a Dukes of Hazzard museum which is located right next to the Willie Nelson museum. Inside you will find tons of pictures and collectibles from the Dukes of Hazzard television series, but without a doubt was the opportunity to see 4 of the vehicles used in the series, the General Lee, Cooters tow truck, Daisy’s Jeep and of course a Hazzard county police car.

The museum was free, but there is a charge to take your picture inside the car (which is why Mary is outside of the General Lee). Fret not Hazard fans, we did purchase several souveniers to support this fun tourist site.
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Edited: August 31st, 2010

Willie Nelson Museum

Within walking distance of our hotel were several tourist sites including the Willie Nelson museum. The museum is divided into two halfs, the front part is a huge sourvenier store which claims itself to be the largest souvenier store in Nashville. We visited many other souvenier places and so far this one does appear to be the largest, although we are by no mean experts and have certainly not seen all the souvenier places.

The back part is the museum and there is a $8 fee to go there. Inside were many articles not only from Willie Nelson but also from Johnny Cash, Elvis, and even an Audie Murphy tribute. The museum was built with many of the items that Willie had to sell to pay his IRS bill, the museum purchased many of those items and returned them to Willie which was a cool thing to do.

One of the creepiest things we saw on any trip was the Patsy Cline exhibit which included a mangled watch which stopped when her airplane crashed (fatal). Many other very interesting exhibits were here to visit and well worth the $8 charge.
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Edited: August 31st, 2010

Thomas at Greenfield Village 2009

Thomas the train came to Greenfield village for a day and boy did James have fun getting to ride on Thomas. Tickets for this event had to be purchased weeks in advance despite having a subscription to the Henry Ford. The train actually looked exactly like Thomas does. For those who do not know Thomas, its a kids show based on trains at a train station and was narrated by the late George Carlin. Its not really a cartoon, more like stop motion animation.
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Edited: May 1st, 2009

The Henry Ford Motor Muster 2007

It was Motor Muster time at Greenfield Village and we all went down to see the cars. Mary took a bunch of pictures of the automobiles that were on display and James and I enjoyed seeing all the cars mixed in with the historic village. They had a parade down mainstreet and awards were given out for several categories of classic cars. James takes after his mom and really enjoys cars and such, hopefully he will be more mechanically oriented than his dad who cannot even change his own oil (I tried once but pour oil into the radiator and everything had to be drained, what a mess).
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Edited: July 19th, 2007

The Henry Ford 2006

Since we have a subscription to Greenfield Village and the Museum we go several times a year, this is a hot August day in Michigan but it didn’t stop us from having a ball of fun. James wanted to ride on the carousel which is not a problem, my only complaint is that the ride last so long, you really get your money’s worth but also will be a little dizzy for a day or so, lol. James loves the atmosphere here and so does Mary and I, they really have the village like a burb out of the past rather than an exhibit in a museum. A must see if you like American History, visit the Village in the summer and the museum in the winter.
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Edited: August 3rd, 2006

Greenfield Village & Museum 2006

Theres really nothing better on a warm day than going to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. This year there was a special baseball exhibit in the museum that we wanted to see. They also play old time baseball at the village using old time equipment and old time uniforms. We split time between the two, plus made our usually visits to the band stand, the covered bridge and such. Hard to believe this village is located in Dearborn and not out in the wilderness somewhere.
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Edited: July 23rd, 2006

Hands On Museum 2006

Heres an idea whose time has come, its called the hands on museum in Ann Arbor is a great place for kids of all ages to visit. Different activities on different floors and James might actually have learned a thing or two. James got to see himself in front of a blue screen with different backgrounds and also got to see a tornado up close. Lots of science and electronics and much of it was beyond him, but thats why they have different floors for different ages. I would have to say the favorite thing for James was the gear boxes and the switches. The gear boxes was fascinating because he turned one thing and a bunch of things turned, the switches were fun because, well, he likes turning on switches.
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Edited: March 30th, 2006

The Henry Ford 2004

There was a car show going on at the Village so we thought James might enjoy looking at all the classic cars. Mary is a big time car fan so living in the Detroit area is great for her, there is a car show nearly every weekend somewhere in the state and many of the shows that we go to aren’t even planned, we just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

James seemed to enjoy getting outside for a bit as well, it was a brutal winter and not a good spring either. Hopefully we will have a good summer.
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Edited: June 25th, 2004

Fort Macinaw 2004

James, Mary and I visited Fort Mackinaw on both the city side and the island side. I personally liked the city one better although the island one was much better built as forts go.

That evening we got to see a great fire work display that went on over the water. There is so much to do nowadays in Mackinaw that you really can’t see everything in just one weekend. The island alone would take that. I would say 5 days would be perfect, however we usually only stay for 3 or 4 but at least we never get bored.
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Edited: May 30th, 2004

Henry Ford Museum 2002

This was Mary’s first visit to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn MI. Mary loves cars and antiques and really loves seeing the sites at the museum.

Some of the more gruesome exhibits are the chair Lincoln was assasinated in and the car Kennedy was assasinated in.
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Edited: April 3rd, 2002