Cars, Commerce, and Klingons

The coolest place we visited while in Michigan was The Henry Ford museum.  (They call it The Henry Ford).  There's a lot more to it than just cars.

The promo video is a bit melodramatic, but all that stuff is actually there on site.

We went through the museum, which car guys, as well as history buffs need to put on their must-visit lists.

 

There's a section on the development of steam power to run factories, etc. with several massive displays of machines.  You can see the progress of the technology as the years passed.  But just the scale of some of the machinery is quite impressive.  Some of them are actually in motion as well.

The "other" kind of steam engines are also present.  Yep, there are full size locomotives and cars inside the building.  And you can get up inside some of them.

Not to be outdone by the ground transport machines, there is another section on aviation with whole planes hanging from the ceiling, like this DC-3.

But of course, there is extensive information about the manufacture of cars.  Including this cool expanded view of a Model T.

And a large expanse on the evolution of the automobile, with its influences from the interstate highway system, manufacturing innovations, culture, etc.

My favorite display model was this DeSoto Fireflite from 1957.  I really dig that style.  I'm so into chrome and tailfins.

And you can't have a Ford musuem about cars without Mustangs.  This is actually the very first one.  Serial number 1.

In one hallway, there are Presidential limousines including those that carried FDR, Kennedy, and Reagan.

What drew us here was the special limited engagement of the Star Trek exhibit.  I took a ton of pictures of everything, but won't load it down here too much.

There were props from all the shows and movies from TOS thru ST:Discovery...

...including the original consoles and captain's chair from the Original Series.  Restored to working order.

Models from the productions...

Costumes...

And some interactive displays.  Here's yours truly taking a rest and communing with the Hivemind.  (No, this is not actually how I publish blog posts.)

We did make one quick stop in a town called Gratiot at a shop that was mostly comics called SJ Sportscards.  The owner took a really long time to come to pricing on the vintage singles and junk wax era items that we picked out.  Most of his stuff was still stickered with 1992 prices, and apparently his references haven't changed much.

I got these for eight dollars.  Hey, they're nice and everything, but....

Ya gotta go to The Henry Ford.  And take some time in Greenfield Village, if not just to drive a Model T!