20. NASHVILLE AND STORY, INDIANA

Nashville and Story, Indiana

8/25/2009

Although we didn’t make it to Indianapolis, I was going to be darned if we didn’t make it to the Story Inn. We had been defeated before, but not this time. It is a good thing we skipped Indianapolis, because we hit some more major construction and we didn’t even get to the Nashville area until 6:00. This was bad, because we had dinner reservations for 6:30. Again, we couldn’t find the Story Inn. The GPS took us to an empty corn field. We eventually located a human being (they’re hard to find out here, which is kind of cool, unless you need one) who pointed us in the right direction. We did make it to the Story Inn at just about 6:30.

Our first impression of the façade was, “Wow. Looks a little run-down.” But good ol’ Patricia hasn’t let us down yet – until now. The Story Inn has a reputation as an exquisite gourmet restaurant – run by the only three residents of the town of Story. I’m sorry to say, the meal was not only far from gourmet, but it was actually bad. I had a gazpacho soup that was made from the vegetables they grew in their garden. Doesn’t that sound great? Well, it wasn’t. It was so overloaded with spices, I couldn’t taste the vegetables. I love spicy food, but this was too much. I saw a lady send it back, so it wasn’t just me. Laura ordered shrimp, which had the same spices. I ordered salmon, which didn’t have the spices thankfully, but tasted like something you’d get at Applebee’s. In regards to pricing, I read between the lines, but it is not clear that they charge you for soup and salad. When the waitress took our order, she offered us a choice between the two, insinuating it came with the meal. Laura was given a small plate with some spinach on it and I was given a bill for $9. All told, the whole affair cost $94. You might say, “Oh, Oliver, you just ordered the wrong thing.” Well, there are only five items on the menu – so there’s not exactly a wide selection. One final gripe was the service. Despite the fact that the food was thermonuclear our waitress never once refilled our water. Not once. I’m not trying to be a snob, but you’d expect a waitress to check on your water at Bob Evans. If you’re expected to drop $100 on a meal, I don’t think it’s unfair to expect a little service.

The bottom line: Stay away.

Not the best way to end our trip, but all in all our stops through Michigan and Indiana were wonderful experiences. And we’re proud to say we have now accomplished 2% of our complete journey. Ok... That probably doesn’t sound like much, but we’ll get there…

FAILED ATTEMPT – INDIANAPOLIS 500

Indianapolis, Indiana

8/25/2009

Just like last trip, there was one place where we didn’t make it. Stopping at the Menno-Hof museum really threw us off schedule. We calculated that by the time we would actually reach the Indianapolis Motor Speedway it would be after 4:00. Since they close at 5:00 it would be pushing things too much. Also, I’m sure driving into Indianapolis during rush hour is a real treat. It was probably for the best, since I think technically Schultz recommends going to the speedway during the actual Indy 500. So we’ll see if we can make that happen one of these days.

19. YODER POPCORN SHOPPE

Topeka, Indiana

8/25/2009

About ten minutes from Shipshewana is Topeka, Indiana and the Yoder Popcorn Shoppe. Its a little shop in the middle of acres of corn used to produce their popcorn. Sorry... I just don't get it. Look at the monkey. Move on.

18. SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA

Shipshewana, Indiana

8/24/2009

Leaving the dunes behind you headed towards the Amish town of Shipshewana. Since we had no formal dinner plans and we wouldn’t arrive in Shipshewana before around 10 o’clock we decided to just look for the first oddly-named restaurant off of the highway. Sure enough, we came upon a place called “Honkers.” Sounded odd enough. Turns out it’s a chain, but we don’t have them in Ohio (at least, not near us) so we didn’t know that.

After filling our bellies we continued on our journey and our search for the Amish Log Cabin Lodging and Campground, where we were going to stay the night. Wow. Is that place hard to find? I suppose it should go without saying that there isn’t a lot of lighting in Amish country, so we couldn’t read the road signs. Even the GPS was failing us… my precious, precious GPS. Don’t worry. I continued to defend its honor despite the situation. We eventually stopped at a gas station that had just closed. I tried to get the guy’s attention inside. I got it, but, boy, was he mad. There was no way he was going to open the door for some weird guy like me. After much searching we found the campground’s southern location. That would have been great, except we were looking for their northern location. No clear indication where that was though. Eventually, by sheer luck we found the campground. Luckily, I had already informed the front office that we wouldn’t be arriving until after hours, so our key had been left outside in an envelope.

By now, it was nearly midnight, but at least we finally made it to our cabin. I say cabin, but it was essentially a hotel room, with a shower, maid service and the whole lot. They do offer more rustic cabins, but we chose the city slickers route. The first thing we did when we got there was give Daniel a bath. He enjoyed the sand, but not in his diaper. Finally, we got to get to bed and got some sleep.

The next morning we had a pretty good breakfast (provided) in the campground’s front office, before heading to the Shipshewana Flea Market. Laura was particularly excited about this part of the trip. We had read that this was a rallying point for Amish to trade and bid on their wares. Perhaps it once was. What we saw was a tourist trap of the worst kind. Vendors hawking Obama hats. Vanity license plates. We searched all over for some Amish goods, but we couldn’t find any. There were some Amish and Mennonites selling produce, so we picked up some of that. But the Amish were clearly marginalized. What happened here?

Disappointed in the flea market, we decided to visit the Menno-Hof Amish and Mennonite Museum that we read about in a brochure at the campground. This wasn’t a part of our original agenda, but we were so disgusted by the flea market we wanted to make something of our Shipshewana visit.

The museum was interesting. It went almost overboard on multi-media – perhaps to buck some Mennonite stereotypes, I don’t know. An old man was particularly proud of “The Tornado Room.” You sit in this dark room and then this TV comes on showing grainy, black and white footage of tornadoes. You think, “Ok. Time for a nap.” Suddenly, jets of cold air are shot in your face, artificial lightning starts flashing, loud noises are crashing, and the room actually starts to vibrate. Yeah. Daniel was not happy. We got out of there quickly and the old man seemed very disappointed. He told us that kids usually love it. Sure. Maybe six-year olds. Three-month olds - not so much.

17. INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE

Indiana

8/24/2009

When one thinks “lush and beautiful seaside” I don’t think most think of Lake Michigan – at least I didn’t. However, the Indiana Dunes which run along the coast is absolutely gorgeous. Did you know that Lake Michigan is larger than the state of Indiana? I didn’t. I read it on a sign while we were there. We laid Daniel down in the sand and he got pretty excited. We dabbled his feet in the water. He didn’t like that!

We decided to climb Mt. Baldy – which is the most famous of the dunes. It’s hardly a mountain, but have you ever tried to climb a hill of sand? It’s not easy! The view at the summit is really beautiful. You would think you were at the ocean. Try not to look at the giant smokestack belching smoke though. It kind of spoils the ambience a little. But just a little.

16. THE DUTCH COMMUNITY OF HOLLAND

Holland, Michigan

8/24/2009

Holland, Michigan is a fascinating little cultural enigma – founded by Dutch immigrants the population (until recently) has always been around 90% people of Dutch descent. We spent most of the day exploring this town and tried to hit three of its cultural highlights.

First of all, we visited what I supposed would be classified as a theme park – The Dutch Village. It’s a recreation of a 16th-century Dutch village, complete with costumed “peasants” walking about. We expected this place to be really cheesy, but it was actually a genuine celebration of the cultural heritage of the people of the town. You can basically just wander about, although they do have scheduled events, such as demonstrations of how wooden shoes are made and such. One of these demonstrations is candle making. I might have to turn in my “guy” membership card for saying this about candles, but these ladies rock. You have to see it to believe it. (Actually, apparently you can, since they were featured on the show “How It’s Made.”) All in all, the Dutch Village is a great family place, with plenty of stuff for kids. They also have stores and stores of delft pottery (that’s that white and blue pottery, don’t you know?) that could bring a grandma to tears.

After we left the Dutch Village we traveled over to the Veldheer Tulip Gardens and DeKlomp Factory – which is basically a complex of shops that sells tulips (Laura picked up a few), wooden shoes and more of that delft pottery. Actually, the Veldheer people are the only manufacturer of delft in the United States. Unfortunately for them the city was doing construction on the road right at their entrance, so it was very difficult to find a back way in. We overheard the workers complaining about that. It may have explained why they didn’t charge us admission, since apparently they usually do. According to Schultz, in May the tulips are in bloom in the garden out back, which I’m sure is breathtaking, but this late in the summer there wasn’t much out there – so I’m glad they didn’t charge us. Oh, by the way, they also have buffalo wandering about. Why? I don’t know. It’s a weird place.

Finally, we visited a park called Windmill Island – so named because there’s an island with a windmill on it. Clever, huh? Anyway, they charge admission and I was a little annoyed because apparently you can get a discount if you visit the Dutch Village and Windmill Island, but they wouldn’t give it to us because we had to buy the ticket at the Dutch Village. Nobody mentioned that to us there. Why they couldn’t give us the discount at Windmill Island is beyond me, but I’m sure there is some complex bureaucratic reason behind it. Laura thinks I am turning into a real dad – trying to get discounts on everything, salivating at the mouth if I can save a dollar. Maybe she’s right.

Actually, Windmill Island is pretty cool. They have a couple of little exhibits there and we have to admit, at this point we were thinking to ourselves, “If I have to see one more piece of white and blue pottery…” They have a Dutch carousel there and we took Daniel on it. Don’t worry. We didn’t put him on a horse. We sat with him on a little wagon. We could tell he didn’t know what to make of it, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

It looked like the entire fire department was there that day. We were afraid something had happened to someone, but it soon became clear that they were just testing their equipment. You ever see firemen testing their equipment? It’s like Christmas Day. They’re all giddy with excitement, firing off the water hose and patting each other on the back. To tell you the truth, it does look like fun.

Anyway, I took a tour of the windmill. Laura stayed below with Daniel because heights and Laura don’t mix. The windmill is worth a look though. It’s the only authentic Dutch windmill in the United States. It was a gift from the Dutch government. You can’t get one anymore, because now they’re all national landmarks in the Netherlands – so if you want to see one, come to Holland. The tour guide was a very knowledgeable college-girl. I get the impression that every high school and college kid in town is forced to work all this Dutch stuff every summer. It’s cool for us tourists, but I’m sure it gets real old for them! But, like I said, our guide was really great – she even took it in stride when some guy interrupted her to tell a story about how he once accidentally swallowed a bee. Great story, dude.

15. MARSHALL, MICHIGAN

Marshall, Michigan

8/23/2009

Our next stop was the town of Marshall, Michigan – almost every building in town is on the historic registry. We ate dinner at Schultz-approved Schuler’s. The food and service were excellent – and it was reasonably priced. Save room for the grasshopper pie.

We spent the evening doing a self-guided walking tour of the various historic buildings in town. What’s kind of weird is that people live in some of them, so I wonder if they get sick of people walking up and taking pictures of their house while they’re sitting on the porch. The town has two big attractions – The Honolulu House (built in a Hawaiian theme due to its statesman owner’s love of his former assignment there) and a fountain in the middle of town. In the evenings, the fountain is lit up with ever-changing colors. Daniel was mystified by it, so we carried him around it for awhile. I’m glad we found something for him to enjoy.

That night we stayed at the National House Inn – the oldest inn in Michigan. It is a really great bed and breakfast that retains a lot of its 1835 origins. On Sunday nights they have a special where every room is the same price, regardless of the size, so we took the biggest room they had. It had a separate sitting room area where we put Daniel. When we woke up the next morning, I found him under the couch! Somehow he had learned to scoot himself along on his backside. Plus, he was 180 degrees from the direction we had placed him in. He was quite proud of himself. When I found him, he had a big grin on his face. From now on, we’re going to have to tie him down!

The breakfast was very nice – if a little disorganized (everyone was trying to use the one waffle maker at once, for example) – but that was all part of the charm. It was just two ladies trying to do everything in a tiny kitchen. That is part of the fun of bed and breakfasts, we discovered. It’s more like you’re staying in someone’s house than in a formal hotel. But everything was still really top-notch. We’d love to go back there again.

14. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER

Farmington Hills, Michigan

8/23/2009

After the Fair Lane Mansion tour, we found ourselves in a bit of a time crunch for the event that I had planned the whole trip around: a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Center to see a Holocaust survivor share her experiences. Unfortunately, there was some major construction being done on the highways, large chunks of which were shut down. Luckily we had the GPS or we never would have figured out an alternate route, but even so we wound up being over a half-hour late. Luckily, we weren’t the only people to face this problem, so the events of the day had been delayed and we arrived just as the tour was starting.

This museum is very impressive, however, because of the delay the tour guide had to rush things to get back on schedule so it turned into a “Look at the monkey. Move on” situation, where we wished we could have explored a little bit. In all honesty, I wouldn’t recommend the formal tour – in fact, we broke away from the guide a couple of times to look at the exhibits ourselves. Our tour guide seemed like a nice man, and he was a retired surgeon – we know that because he nonchalantly mentioned it every couple of minutes.

Although the tour was rushed, the meeting with the Holocaust survivor was well worth the trip. Although the Motown Museum was the most fun we had on our trip, meeting this lady was definitely the most worthwhile. Her name was Mania Salinger, a Polish native who had spent 1939-1945 in various concentration camps, including Auschwitz. Wow. That’s the entire war. It was an eye-opening experience. After she spoke to the group we bought a copy of her book which she autographed for us. Laura and I talked to her for a little bit and she even gave me her email address if I wanted her to come visit my classroom. A beautiful woman.

These are the kinds of experiences that are making these trips worthwhile. This is something Laura and I started to think about when we visited Columbus, Indiana where it was apparent that many of the buildings were disappearing, and even our two-hour search for Cincinnati chili. You kind of assume that things like this will always be there, but they may not be. Time marches on. By the time Daniel gets to be my age, people like Mania Salinger will be all gone. Don’t wait, folks. A Holocaust survivor speaks every Sunday at this museum. Go listen to what they have to say.

13. AUTOMAKERS' MANSIONS

Detroit and Environs, Michigan

8/23/2009

After a really fun and busy day (we also visited the Detroit Science Center) we went to an evening Mass at St. Stephen and Mary Mother of the Church. By the end of the service it was 8:00 and we were starving. We had planned to eat at a place called Harry’s, but while driving there we passed by a Little Caesar’s Pizza and couldn’t resist. We recently moved from Newark, Ohio to Columbus – and away from a Little Caesar’s and the best pizza we had ever had. As soon as we moved to our new place we found a Little Caesar’s, but it was terrible. Whoever owns the Newark Little Caesar’s is a god among pizza men. We wondered if the Detroit Little Caesar’s would be as good. It wasn’t. However, we also ate there because we knew we were going to eat at some nice (read: expensive) places a couple of nights, so we thought it best to not waste money on food the other nights. While we were waiting for our pizza, some guy came up to us and started playing with Daniel’s toes. Um… Please don’t do that, scary Detroit guy.

We spent the night at the Allen Park Best Western Greenfield Inn. It was very nice and not very expensive at all. (As an aside, our room had a TV in the bathroom. How much time do people spend in the bathroom that they need entertainment in there?) They gave us breakfast, and this time – as opposed to the Days Inn – it was actually breakfast. It was good. Laura and I had to take turns eating because Daniel was particularly fussy and needed comforting. We try to keep him in a routine and obviously the trip was throwing him for a loop. Poor little guy.

Our first stop on Sunday morning was Fair Lane Mansion, the estate of Henry Ford. While merging into a highway entrance ramp the car in front of us suddenly stopped and we saw a little black kitten skirting around on the road. I got out and tried to help the lady recover the kitty which had hidden itself under her car. We tried to reach in and grab him, but then he jumped up into the underside of the engine! She turned the engine off and we were able to pull him out. It was then that I noticed the lady’s Pet Smart uniform. If there was anybody who could help this cat, it was her! Disaster averted, we continued on our way.

We got to Fair Lane in time to join a guided tour given by a very stern woman who kept warning people not to lag behind so we could keep on schedule. Some people did try to dawdle to take pictures, but she’d snap at them to keep moving. It was actually pretty funny. We enjoyed the tour, but it is your standard “walking through a rich guy’s house being told stories about the furniture” place, so you either like that kind of thing or you don’t.

The end of the tour drops you off at the gift shop (how convenient) but this day there was no one there to man it. This created a lot of consternation in the staff, who were running around attempting to find whoever was supposed to be there. While we were waiting, we needed to change Daniel. The public restroom facilities are actually a part of the house, so I changed Daniel on the carpet in one of Ford’s rooms. Anyone who’s had a baby knows that sometimes unexpected things can happen while trying to change a diaper. I had visions of Daniel urinating on one of Henry Ford’s rugs. Now, how many people can say they did THAT? Luckily, no such incident occurred.

12. MOTOWN MUSEUM

Detroit, Michigan

8/22/2009

Honestly, Laura and I didn’t expect to enjoy the Motown Museum – neither of us are huge fans of the music – but it was one of the most fun places we’ve been to in our lives. We were extremely impressed. The amazing thing is the whole museum is literally only three rooms. Nonetheless, the hour tour was a blast. What really made the experience fun were the tour guides, who clearly weren’t faking it. They loved Motown and they loved sharing it with people. During the second half of the tour, one of the guides took us down to the recording studio where he messed with people (including Laura, to my amusement) and had us all singing “My Girl.” So now we can say we sang in the Motown recording studio. How many people can say that?

11. DETROIT INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS

Detroit, Michigan

8/22/2009

The Detroit Institute of the Arts is big. Very big. Maybe too big. It certainly has a huge collection of art from almost every genre you can imagine. The emphasis seemed to be on modern and contemporary art, however. Laura and I love art museums, so it’s hard to go wrong for us. Our only problem was that it was hard to navigate. They gave us a little map, but it wasn’t much help. It didn’t tell you where to find specific pieces. We wandered around a lot, searching for things we wanted to see, but couldn’t find. I don’t think it was just us. We overheard several people trying to find the ancient Egyptian art and having no luck. Laura is a big Egypt fan, so it was a bit frustrating. Apparently, the pride of the museum is Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portrait. There are banners of it in every room in the museum. I felt like we went through every room in the museum, but I never found it. They were really pumping up this Van Gogh – you think it would be easier to find.

One slightly odd thing about this museum is that they make you wear these tiny metal tags “somewhere visible on your body.” These darn things kept falling off. Eventually I just stuck them in my pocket. I think they were trying to think of something more unique than those hospital wrist-band things a lot of museums make you wear. They should probably leave the artistic expression to the artists.

10. THE CHARLES H. WRIGHT MUSEUM

Detroit, Michigan

8/22/2009

We arrived at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History around 2:00pm. We were the only people there, which is a shame since it’s a pretty interesting museum. You move through the exhibits chronologically, starting with the rise of mankind in Africa all the way to black Americans in modern-day Detroit. I found the pre-European slavery exhibits the most interesting, as it is not a period in black history that I feel gets a lot of attention. What I mean is, the slavery era and the civil rights movement are both thoroughly covered in several museums (The Freedom Center and The Henry Ford to name just two we recently saw ourselves) so the pre-slavery element really made this museum more unique. The guide who introduced the exhibits to us before we entered described them as more of a history of mankind, rather than just black people. I think starting with the rise of mankind in Africa and then spreading out to form various ethnic groups actually really helped bring that point home. I’ve rarely seen a museum that’s trying to say, “See, we’re all alike after all” without appearing out of touch or naïve – the Charles H. Wright actually does it well. It did make me think.

Once you do reach the slavery era you pass through a recreation of a slave ship, complete with mannequin bodies crammed in to give you a perspective of the inhumanity of the conditions. As a history teacher, I’ve seen a lot of diagrams and read descriptions of these conditions, but the recreation helped really show me what it must have been like. This museum definitely sent off “teacher bells” in my mind – as in, I wish I could bring my students here.

It’s hard not to compare the Charles H. Wright Museum with the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Both Laura and I agree that the Charles H. Wright is far superior – it covers some of the same ground as the Freedom Center, but much more. Also, the Charles H. Wright is far more interactive and less about display cases. As I mentioned above, when we were there we were the only visitors. Maybe it was the time of day. I don’t know. But I hope this great museum isn’t getting lost amidst the other, more famous attractions in Detroit.

9. DETROIT'S AUTO MUSEUMS

Detroit, Michigan

8/22/2009

It had been more than a month since our first trip and we had finally scraped together what we needed to embark on the second part. Our first stop was The Henry Ford – undoubtedly Detroit’s most famous auto museum. We got there right when it opened, but it was already teeming with people. At the ticket booth I asked if they gave a AAA discount. They don’t. I thought it there was anywhere in the world that would be connected with the American AUTOMOBILE Association, it would be the Henry Ford people, but I guess I was wrong. A woman next to us in line told the ticket man that we could use her discount (she must be a member of the museum, I assume). He asked if we really knew each other. Of course we didn’t. No discount. Seemed a little pedantic, but oh well.

This museum is massive. Laura called it “a guy’s dream come true.” Cars, airplanes, all kinds of gadgets, huge factory machinery, even full-sized steam locomotives. Probably the coolest exhibit is this “house of the future” prototype that was built in the late-1940s – a silver dome that obviously never took off. When we went, the special exhibit was of rock stars’ cars and guitars. Those were pretty interesting to see. I got my picture next to the ZZ Top “Eliminator” to show off to my Dad – a big fan.

This was a great museum and they have a lot of activities for kids too. I saw a lot of under-10 children having a lot of fun. Definitely worthy of its reputation. The only concern is the price. The museum itself is $15 a person. Housed within the complex are some other things that we wanted to see – like Greenfield Village and a Ford truck assembly line – but each of these things cost another $15 a person. To take advantage of the full experience you’re going to have to put down some serious cash.

8. MOUNTAIN STAGE

Charleston, West Virginia

8/9/2009

After the world’s greatest food we drove to the Clay Center where the Mountain Stage radio show was being recorded that night. Mountain Stage is apparently a very popular music program, although Laura and I had never heard of it until we read about it in the book. I did listen to a portion of the program in preparation for the trip.

The night we went featured Maia Sharp, Cracker, Other Lives, Hill Country Revue, and Marcia Ball. We were worried about bringing Daniel (just shy of three months) but we tried to take him anyway. The music was far too loud for him, so I spent a lot of the show just outside the auditorium. That was ok, since the show was being broadcast on televisions outside – plus the fact that I could easily hear the music through the auditorium doors. There was another couple who had brought a baby stuck outside most of the time too, so we didn’t feel like the only bad parents. That aside, Daniel actually seemed to enjoy himself in the lobby. He responds really well to music and he was very active and happy jiggling around in a place where the music was a little softer.

It probably goes without saying that the bands were all excellent musicians, but this is the first time we felt a little confused by Schultz’ selection. No doubt there are hundreds of different and exciting performances going on in every city all over the country every night. We couldn’t quite put our finger on what makes the Mountain Stage so special.

RETURN TRIP - MARIETTA, OHIO

Marietta, Ohio

8/9/2009

For our first anniversary we decided to make a return trip to Marietta. We didn’t stay this time. We were just passing through on the way to Charleston. Because it was Sunday, The Barking Dog was closed, so we wept bitter tears. However, The Tin Rabbit was open. The crotchety lady is still there. We bought a few things and she told me to go get some boxes in the back room. We found a rather large antique store called the Antique Mall of Marietta that we had somehow missed our first time here. It was housed in a large warehouse-type area, with many interesting collections. Before we went on our way we couldn’t leave without visiting Austyn’s. It’s still amazing. Wasabi mashed potatoes. How can you be so good?