Regular readers at Midwest Guest know that we have memberships to The Henry Ford. We enjoy visiting the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, an 80-acre site with 83 historic structures recreating various locations and eras throughout American history.
Greenfield Village regularly offers rides on a train with a 19th-century steam engine, but for a few days each year, Thomas the Tank Engine visits the village and travels the tracks to give visitors rides during a Day out with Thomas.
Thomas draws a lot of families to visit the village and wait for their chance to ride the train pulled by the cheerful blue engine.
We found that visiting the village when Thomas is in town usually means that once you get past the crowd at the train station, the rest of the village is less crowded.
Since our goal with visiting the village is usually taking photos, less crowded is good—and I had a couple of chances to catch a few shots of Thomas during his travels around Greenfield Village during one recent visit.
You can barely spot Thomas in the distance in the first shot, as I caught him going past the mid-1800-vintage Susquehanna Plantation from the tidewater region of Maryland.
The subsequent shots show Thomas coming and going past us as the little engine pulls cars full of passengers.
We enjoy our memberships at The Henry Ford and also have memberships for several other museums and cultural institutions in our area. We find that having memberships encourages us to visit our local museums more frequently during the year, even as we help support the places we love as they struggle in a challenging economy.
Please consider supporting your local museums, zoos, historic sites and other great places in your local area by purchasing memberships and visiting.
You’ll be glad you did!
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2009
Fun pictures! Day Out with Thomas is expensive and crowded, in my mind, so we've never taken the kids. We would do exactly the same thing you did--visit the quiet area while everyone else is busy with Thomas.
Posted by: Linda | June 26, 2009 at 06:42 AM
My son would be in heaven here! One of his favorite travel memories is the steam engine at Dollywood on a Gatlinburg trip!
Posted by: Jen@TwoKidsandaMap | June 26, 2009 at 07:13 AM
Cute pictures of Thomas!
Posted by: Kymri | June 26, 2009 at 07:22 AM
We did Thomas Day Out a couple years ago in Tennessee. My son had a blast. It was a cool day trip for any boys. :)
Posted by: Amy @ The Q Family | June 26, 2009 at 07:32 AM
Ohmygod, a real tomas the train! My son would be dying right there:)
Photo Friday - Manaul Antonio-Costa Rica's Gem
Posted by: marina villatoro | June 26, 2009 at 10:38 AM
I'm right there on that train. Call it the child in me. Thanks for this post.
Posted by: Cate | June 26, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Thomas! I hate to admit it, but I've been on the Thomas train every year for the past five years when it comes to the redwoods in Santa Cruz mountains. What's funny is the music blaring out the train as you go through this peaceful forest. What I do for my train-loving little dude. (Though, I hope this is the year he outgrows it!)
Posted by: Carolina | June 26, 2009 at 06:49 PM
As a nineteenth century history addict, I would love to ride a steam-engine train. That looks like so much fun.
Posted by: gypsyscarlett | June 27, 2009 at 03:56 AM
Linda-The Day Out... program did look like an expensive proposition for families, between admissions/tickets, food and the (of course) special Thomas souvenir stand! We thought the village was going to be crowded, but the rest of the village beyond the Thomas activities was pretty serene that day :)
Jen-Trains and kids seem to be a good match...kids seem fascinated by them.
Kymri-The train was cute, and the kids were definitely all about it!
Amy-Everyone waiting for Thomas seemed pretty excited, and it was a big day out for them.
Marina-I saw these photos when I was looking through my collection for a likely Photo Friday subject and figured some of the regulars would enjoy seeing them :)
Cate-We didn't know it was Thomas day when we decided to go to the village that morning...but the families there had ordered their tickets quite a bit in advance. It was quite the event.
Carolina-I don't remember hearing the music, but I did have my own little Thomas song that I was singing and driving @photowanderer nuts with that day! :lol:
Gypsy-I think you'd love the entire Greenfield Village. Lots of restored 19th century buildings--many of them associated with famous folks of the era. The village has a regular steam engine ride the rest of the season, horse-drawn carriage rides, music concerts, a tavern where you have a meal served by costumed characters, special programs like Civil War reenactments...if you're ever near Detroit, you need to include Greenfield Village on your schedule!
Posted by: Dominique | June 28, 2009 at 09:05 AM
I'll need to forward this post to the many children I know who are Thomas lovers. Boy, that train is so popular and well traveled, such a hit!
Posted by: Lorraine | June 29, 2009 at 09:36 AM
Lorraine-Thomas certainly seems to have a lot of fans here in the Detroit area!
Posted by: Dominique | June 30, 2009 at 01:36 PM