Road Trip: Ohio
Day 6: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - Lansing, MI
Day's statistics:
Weather: 52, breezy
Steps: Steve 10,258; Linda 9,835
Drove: 385 miles
Previous bathroom showers were OK, some were rated "needs improvement" (slow draining tub, shower head too low [meaning I had to bend over to wash my hair]). This shower head was even hard for me to reach - and I'm six feet tall. Linda had to call me to adjust it for her because she couldn't reach it.
Breakfast was OK, scrambled eggs, home fries (a first on the trip so far), no meat (also a first on the trip), bagels, cereal, danish, and a little more.
Our fourth and final capitol on this vacation. We parked right in front of a capitol, again.
This was the first capital that had no security to get into the building. We were told that this was because
"it is the people's building." First thing to do, check in at the information desk and... get our stamp.
Here are the book pages:
We wound up taking a tour with a class of elementary school kids - who behaved pretty well (just like the students from Lafayette). Our docent was a 91 year old veteran named Carl. He went up and down four flights of stairs on our tour - and he conducts multiple tours each day.
We saw some interesting sites. The main dome, including a close-up, and some artwork and architecture.
The floor was glass tile.
You could see the shadows of the people walking on them from below (sorry, don't have a picture of that).
A very old credenza in the Governor's office.
And a shot of the Governor's office (we were outside the door, outside the conference room, outside the office).
An intricate, originally-gas chandeliere. Notice the moose on it too (with President Ford in the background).
The portrait of President Ford.
An interesting pane of glass on a door, well back-lit.
The House.
The art work above the Speaker's chair.
The ceiling has skylights representing each state.
A close up of our home state. Thankfully it wasn't on the other side of the room...
And the Supreme Court (though now it was used as a Committee Meeting room).
Some interesting architecture.
And some interesting light fixtures.
This was the first time we saw a Senate chamber, but weren't allowed to take any pictures - because they were in ession! Though there are cameras streaming the sessions to TV stations as well as the internet, we still were prohibited from taking pictures. I have no idea why, and I asked but didn't get an applicable answer (I don't think the person understood the question).
Our next stop was the Michigan History Center. We passed the gift shop on the way in and stopped by. We
didn't find a Lansing shot glass, but we found one for Michigan, that at least listed Lansing on it.
There were many kids and the volume at the admission desk was deafening. There was a lot of history
about Michigan, especially Detroit due to the obvious auto industry. Here are some highlights.
A flag from the Civil War.
A collection of items from WWI.
Some old cars (an Olds[?], a Model T, and a Jeep[?]).
Linda posing in a cut-outs.
A couple of old-time store fronts, with "someone" doing some shopping in the second...
Some old-time rooms.
Some old posters that may or may not still be applicable today.
My turn to pose in an almost-cut-out.
An old Corvette.
In the middle of the facility, there was a round outside garden-like area, that had a lone tree in it. They call the tree
Carl. And it was planted a few years ago when it was probably 30 feet tall. And it had a wierd design around the base.
Next it was on to the Turner - Dodge house (no relation to the auto manufacturing family, or the Atlanta mogal). The house was
old and one of the oldest still standing original structures in the city. We really had no idea what to expect going in. It
turned out that the story of the house and its residence were interesting, but as most of the contents were no longer original,
and there were some unfortunate extra supplies (tables and chairs) about. But overall, it was decent.
Here are sone shots of some rooms.
A cute picture of a girl with a kitty.
An antique Santa picture tat Linda particularly liked.
A tin ceiling in one room.
This is actually made from hair. Yes, hair.
The top floor, much like in the Harrison House (though that one was sectioned off) had a big open room for dancing.
An original organ.
The river behind the house.
Outside the house.
It was now time for our late lunch. We had a couple choices to go, but one was literally less than a mile away, so that, Meat BBQ, was the choice.
It turns out it was a Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives location. We remembered to take images after we started, but Linda had the beef
brisket sandwich with cole slaw, and I had the pulled pork sandwich with fries.
Though it was still early, we decided to take a leisurely drive to Toledo - as we reenter Ohio.
The drive should have only been 120 miles or about two hours or less. And it was. We found the hotel and decided to run to Wal-Mart for some wine and a light snack (OK, cookies).