Midwest Guest

Midwest Travel Links August 2016 (Part 1)

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

Top 10 Things to do with Families in Iowa-Check out Jody's list of fun things to do in Iowa with your kids at Trekaroo. So pretty much everyone enjoys ice cream, and the "ice cream capital of the world" makes this list as well as plenty of other fun eats, arts and history sites that everyone will love!

Geauga County Amish Tours-We've driven through Geauga County multiple times, but it was nice to stop a while with Mike via this post on his OHventures blog to enjoy a few of the simple pleasures of Amish country and hop over the county line for a visit to the general store at Mesopotamia (I love the clove-flavored hard candy I've gotten here over the years!).

Quirky Attraction: RV Hall of Fame-Dreaming of taking an extended road trip via a tricked out RV? Visit the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana to see some roomy rigs and to learn more about this lifestyle and way of traveling. Check out Scott's story at the Quirky Travel Guy blog.

Positively Futuristic-You may know that I'm positively a sucker for a good story about a car museum or collection of another other sort of vintage vehicles. Check out Maureen's story about this collection of classic cars in Chicago, Illinois. The Klairmont Kollection includes over 300 cars with some of them sporting some really cool colors! Check it out at the Positively Tuesday blog.

Smith Cemetery State Nature Preserve-Come along with Bob as he explores a remnant of Ohio's Darby Plains prairie that is also a 19th-century pioneer cemetery. This one-acre preserve in Madison County is a particularly nice place to see prairie wildflowers in bloom as well as learning a little about the history of the area. Check it out at the TrekOhio.com blog.

 

 

U.S. Grant Home in Galena, IL-Mel is a bit of a history buff and enjoyed her visit to President Ulysses S. Grant's home in Galena, Illinois. The Grants settled in Galena at the onset of the Civil War in 1860. Grant returned to the town after commanding the Union Army and accepting Lee's surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia in 1865. The grateful folks in Galena gave Grant this home and many of the furnishings that still remain here now. Read the story at A Little Time and a Keyboard blog.

Chicago History with the Late Gene Wilder-I remember reading the Erik Larson true-crime tale that took place in early Chicago during the 1890s (The Devil in the While City), but here's a version of the tale that I did not know existed. The folks at the Chicago Architecture blog tell us that the Gene Wilder narrated a documentary film about Chicago's "White City" during 2005. Be aware that I also found it on YouTube and Amazon Prime, as well as on DVD you can purchase at Amazon. I also remember hearing that director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio plan to bring the tale to theaters as a movie, but I've yet to hear that it is anything but "in development". Check it out at the Chicago Architectural blog.

Déjà Vu Tuesday: The Carole Lombard Mystery-True-life mysteries and movie stars of the Golden Age are always interesting subjects for me, and here's a classic cold-case mystery concerning Jane Alice Peters...the Hoosier actress better known as movie star, and wife of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard! Lombard died nearly 75 years ago in a plane crash in Nevada while she was raising money for a War Bond tour. Lombard was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and a story at the Historic Indianapolis blog reports that she may have slipped away from the War Bond tour for a quick trip home to Indiana and a meeting with a well-known palm reader who allegedly foretold her then-imminent death. Check out Libby's story (and the original query from an author to her that sparked this blog post)  at the Historic Indianapolis blog.

Cuyahoga Valley: Ohio's Only National Park-Explore Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park with Amanda as she lists some of the must-do trails and sights to see We've been to the park a few times, but we've yet to check out the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad trip as Amanda suggests,. Her list also includes a few of our favorites like Brandywine Falls, stopping for a meal in Peninsula and walking a bit along trail along the Towpath trail. Check it out at A Dangerous Business blog,

How to Take Better Vacation Pictures-Sherry shares some of the best images from her travels, along with a few simple tips about composition that you should keep in mind as you point your camera and look to create some of your own memorable travel images. According to Sherry, all the fancy camera equipment in the world won't help your photos if you fail to keep a few fundamentals about composition in mind as you compose your shots. Simple ideas like The Rule of Thirds, looking for leading lines in your scene and perspective can greatly improve your photos. Read all about this, and see some great travel images, at Ott's World.  

August is a popular time for travel among many folks as many have and try to get some last trips in returning to school or work. I find myself with an out-sized list of travel stories to share this month, so check back here next week as I post a second list of Midwest travel story links for August!

Meanwhile, I always like to hear about any other favorite Midwest stories or blogs you think I might like to check out!

Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!

Midwest travel links for May 2016

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

20 great spring drives-I love Beth's round up of scenic drives throughout the Midwest. I have fond memories of traveling along the North Shore of Minnesota, where we visited Gooseberry Falls many years ago, and the Illinois section of the Lincoln Highway, where we managed to get as far as Joliet a few years ago during some heavy construction. The list concludes with the suggestion of traveling through northwestern Michigan with a stop at the Mission Point Lighthouse, a stop we've made many times ourselves. Check it out at the Midwest Weekends blog.

 

 

A Little Swedish Utopia on the Illinois Prairie-Scandinavian immigrants have a rich history and presence in parts of the Midwest like the Swedish enclave of Bishop Hill, which is about 150 miles southwest of Chicago. Terri finds plenty of great food, learns about the history and culture of the Swedes and enjoys some quality time with Pippi Longstocking! Check out her story on the Off the Beaten Page blog.

20 years of Pasty Central and the Pasty Cam-We're lucky enough to have a great, and pretty authentic, pasty place a couple of miles from our home in metro Detroit (Barb's in Clawson). If you want to learn more about these hearty meat-and-vegetable pies that are pretty much the official food of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, check out this story by Farlane at the Michigan in Pictures blog and see some of the UP miners who helped popularize pasties here in Michigan.    

30 Things to do in Columbus, Ohio-We've driven through Columbus several times, but we've definitely missed a lot by not making time to visit Columbus itself! I think touring the Ohio state capitol and stopping by to see the manatees at the Columbus Zoo or, if its hockey season, taking in a Blue Jackets game to see if any players I remember from our old Plymouth Whalers days (like Jared Boll or Sonny Milano) take the ice for Columbus would be fun. Read Karyn's story at the Sand and Snow blog.

Weekend Getaway Guide: Athens, Ohio-We loved visiting Athens, home to Ohio University. The college campus isn't far from the Hocking Hills area, and it's a beautiful place to visit as a photographer. Ohio history, early 1800s architecture, a thriving foodie scene and more...what's not to like? Check out Heather's story at the Ohio Girl Travels blog.

 

 

Detroit Agate: Auto Factory Paints Accidentally-People who me well, know about my affection for wearing jewelry made of unusual "rocks". Check out this story of an especially intriguing variety of Detroit "rocks"-Fordite! I've wanted a necklace made from a piece of Fordite for ages (Tim-yes, that's a hint for Christmas). Meanwhile, check out this Urbanist-authored story about Fordite at the Web Urbanist blog. 

Why you don't want to miss an Early Morning Walk at Maumee Bay State Park-I enjoy walking the boardwalk trail at Maumee Bay State Park. The easy terrain along the two-mile trail is accessible and a great way to see the meadows, swamp and marshes at this Toledo-area nature center while viewing the birds, deer, butterflies and other wildlife along Lake Erie. Check out Tonya's story about this trail at The Traveling Praters blog. 

National Center for Nature Photography at Secor Metropark-We loved visiting the National Center for Nature Photography at Toledo Ohio's Metropark when it reopened after a lengthy closure for renovation a couple of years ago. The center has plenty of rotating exhibitions and displays images that continue to inspire others and educate aspiring nature photographers. Check out Bob's story about the center and its current exhibits at the TrekOhio blog.  

 

 

Top 15 Best Architects in Detroit History-Detroit's architectural wonders never cease to amaze me, and it's great to see so many of my favorite Detroit architectural gems in Dale's round-up story at the I Love Detroit Michigan blog. Check out this article to learn more about architects Albert Kahn, C. Howard Crane, Eliel & Eero Saarinen, Minoru Yamasaki, Louis Kamper and others beloved by fans of classic Detroit architectural history.

On Magee Marsh's Famous Boardwalk, I Spotted Warblers, Blackbirds and Kenn Kaufman-We've enjoyed visiting Magee Marsh multiple times ourselves. Check out Betsy's report on this northern Ohio wildlife refuge and this year's Biggest Week in American Birding activities at her beesfirstappearance blog.

 

Quirky Attraction: The Indianapolis 500 Museum-Regular readers of Midwest Guest know that we love visiting car museums, so I loved seeing Scott's story about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. We went to an Indy 500 race many years ago, and I have memories of the parades, venturing into the crush of the infield and the streaks of color zooming by as cars circled around the track, but the museum looks like a great place to more fully appreciate the history of the iconic race and cars through the years. Check out the story at The Quirky Travel Guy's blog.

One of the best Places to Visit in Minnesota for Savoring Gourmet Cheese-Shanna takes readers to The Cheese Cave in Faribault, Minnesota. Sandstone caves under the hills near his southern Minnesota city started out by housing beer and barley for a German beer making business starting during the 1850s before Prohibition put a stop to that operation in 1919. Subsequent owners repurposed the caves as a place to age cheese. Check out Shanna's story about it at A Midwest Travel Companion blog.

Be sure to also check out Shanna's recent guest post at Midwest Guest about some of her favorite places to visit, shop and eat in Grand Marais on Minnesota's north shore along Lake Superior!

Tuesday Trivia: New Navy Pier Ferris Wheel Statistics-Chicago's new Centennial Wheel debuted last month. I remember the outsized Ferris wheel being pretty impressive when we saw it more than half-dozen years ago, but the new Centennial Wheel looks even more impressive these days if the list of stats I saw for it is any indication. Check out the story about it at the Chicago Architecture blog.

8 Ways to Celebrate Vernors' 150th Birthday-Vernors is an iconic and uniquely memorable Detroit ginger ale. This snappy yet sweet soft drink is definitely one of our favorites! Vernors is the oldest continuously produced soda pop in the country...isn't it time to give it a try? Check out Heidi's story at the Experiences in the D, Visit Detroit's blog. I'm pretty fond of an ice-cold Vernors simply on the rocks, but I admit having a special place in my heart for Boston Coolers (a Vernors-and-vanilla-ice-cream drink!).  

That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?

Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!

© Dominique King 2016 All rights reserved

Discover Cruising Classics in Ohio

Growing up in the Detroit area, and the fact that Tim and I both spent many years of our professional working lives working for companies related to the automotive industry and suppliers, means that we love visiting classic car collections and museums as we travel throughout the Midwest.

We hear a lot about the old abandoned Packard plant in Detroit, but did you know that Ohio has not one, but two different museums dedicated to the classic Packard cars in production during earliest years of the 1900s through the late 1950s?

We visited America's Packard Museum in Dayton last spring and visited the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio just a few weeks ago.

Check out the story of those two museum visits in my latest post for the Ohio Tourism Division's blog.

Want to learn more about these classic cars and their Ohio background? Check out Packard Motor Car Company by Evan P. Ide or Packard: A History of the Motor Car and the Company by Beverly Kimes.

Check out Detroit's Spectacular Ruin: The Packard Plant by Theresa Welsh to find out about the company's plant and history in Detroit...where the building still stands (sort of), although the future of the building remains shrouded in doubt.  

You can also check out the story I did about America's Packard Museum in Dayton at Midwest Guest last spring.

© Dominique King 2016 All rights reserved

Midwest travel links for August 2015

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

A Tale of Two Lighthouses: Crisp Point and Whitefish Point-I've been to a number of Great Lakes lights, but this breathless account of Sally's adventure at two remote lighthouses in Michigan's Upper Peninsula reminded me that, while we've visited Whitefish Point in the past, visiting Crisp Point is still on my bucket list. Check out her story at the always entertaining Unbrave Girl blog.

Whitefish Point

Classic American Road Power-Uke's Harley Davidson-This Harley dealership/museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin is definitely on our bucket list! Keith Ulicki opened the first Uke's in 1930, and his family still owns the dealership, Wisconsin's oldest. Check out Tony's story about this motorcycle enthusiasts' Mecca at The Walking Traveler blog.

Classic Car Collection: Kearney, Nebraska-With more than 200 vehicles, there is plenty to see at this classic car museum in Nebraska. Cool cars make for a cool and interesting stop if you're driving along I-80 says Sara. Check out her story about the museum at the Travels with Sara blog.

Lincoln Highway provides history and sites and Iowa-We love the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States, and enjoyed exploring it through Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and parts of Illinois and Pennsylvania. I especially enjoyed parts of and a few notable stops in Iowa like the hometown of actress Donna Reed and the historic Harrison County Courthouse. Check out Tim and Lisa's story about this legendary road at The Walking Tourists blog.

Short original brick section of the Lincoln Highway in Indiana

A Perfect Weekend in Indianapolis-We enjoyed our visit to Indianapolis earlier this summer, but Maya and Michael offer a few ideas for more things we should check out next time we visit Indy. I particularly liked seeing images of the city's cool vintage Indianapolis Central Library, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame and this couple's picks for local shopping. Check it out at the VisuaLingual blog.

What I Found in Indy-I like Max's approach to seeking out some of the more hidden treasures like the Slow Food Garden in Indianapolis' White River State Park and cool urban initiatives like a booth allowing visitors to send a postcard from Indy free of charge! Check out his story at The Urbanologist blog.

Slow Food Garden, Indianapolis

Downtown Wooster: A City Full of Surprises-I like nice surprises, and the small town of Wooster, Ohio looks like a good place to experience pleasant surprises. We've driven through Wooster, but we've yet to visit it and stay a while. We hope to remedy that and experience some surprises on our own soon. Meanwhile, I enjoyed getting a peek at the town and the nearby Lehman's Hardware store, which several people have suggested as a must-visit for Tim and me. Check out Tonya's story at The Traveling Praters' blog.

The white squirrels are (almost) everywhere in Olney, Illinois-Albino squirrels are everywhere you look in Olney. Their images adorn police cars, city welcome signs, trash bins, shops and more in town, but Scott had a little difficulty in finding a real, live white squirrel in town. He finally achieved success in his search after reminding himself to "Think like a white squirrel!" (hey, the same tactic sometimes works for me when I'm searching for a misplaced item--"if I were a set of keys, where would I be?"). Check out Scott's search and success story at the Quirky Travel Guy blog.

That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?

Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!

Midwest travel links for July 2015

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

Illinois State Capitol: Take the Tour-Join Connie on a tour of the State Capitol building in Illinois. I love vintage state capitol buildings like this because they offer so much in the way of history, art and architecture. This post reminded me of our tour of the iconic state capitol building here in Lansing, Michigan. Check out Connie's story about the Illinois capitol tour at her Midwest Wanderer blog.

Quirky Attraction: The Studebaker Museum-It's no secret that we love visiting museums with classic car collections like the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana, and to reflect Tim's experiences as a returning motorcycle rider, classic motorcycle collections. I enjoyed seeing Scott's take on the Studebaker Museum. Check it out at The Quirky Travel Guy blog. Meanwhile, do any of my readers know about any other good Midwest automobile or motorcycle museums we need to visit?

Entry to the Ford Rouge Plant-Charlie finds the most interestingly obscure sports during his two-wheeled adventures around the Motor City! Check out this small park he found in front of Ford's huge Rouge plant just downriver of the city. The park has historical markers telling the story of the plant and labor history in Michigan. I especially enjoyed seeing the plaque dedicated to the female factory workers during World War II (a.k.a. "Rosie the Riveters"). Check it out at the Bikes, Books & A Little Music blog.

Know Nebraska: Scottsbluff National Monument-Do you think of Nebraska as totally flat terrain? Muriel says "think again!" as she tours the scenic bluffs at this National Parks area in Nebraska. I found it especially interesting to learn that the Civilian Conservation Corps built some of the tunnels and other man-made features to make the park more accessible during the 1930s. Read about it at the Nebraska Outback blog.

Haunted Iowa: Places to Visit-Looking for ideas for planning a ghostly road trip? Check out Deb's list of suggested haunted places in Iowa, which includes an "An Ax Murder House" and a couple of haunted bridges. She also suggests reading The Iowa Road Guide to Haunted Locations by Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk. Check out her story at Just Short of Crazy. I've also posted a couple of ghostly stories here that include Is Ohio's Everett Road Covered Bridge haunted? and A ghostly tale in Elmore, Ohio about reported sightings of a headless motorcycle rider!  

Ohio's Everett Road Bridge

Bob the Bridge-Join Adam as he visits the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge and learn what it means to "Bob the Bridge". The bridge, which straddles the Mississippi River at Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa, allows visitors to stand with one foot in each of the two states at the same time! Read the story at the Visit Flyover Country blog.

Explore Geneva-on-the-Lake-We visited this Ohio State Park several years ago, and it was fun to virtually re-visit is with Mike on his Ohventures blog. Situated along the Lake Erie coastline, the area near the park initially gained fame as "Ohio's first resort" and remains popular for family fun, its proximity to great Ohio wineries, hiking and biking trails and a number of covered bridges.

Vincennes' Red Skelton Museum-I vaguely remember seeing Red Skelton's show on television when I was very young. The show went off of the air by the very early 1970s, but there is an Indiana Museum dedicated to Skelton's work as a much-loved comedian. The museum at Skelton's hometown of Vincennes, Indiana and Kayleen found it impressively interactive and modern. Check out her story at the Indiana Insider blog.

The Wallpapers in Paul Laurence Dunbar's Dayton Home are as Lovely as his Books-When I spot someone who can make an interesting story about wallpapers, I know I've found a blogger after my own heart! I enjoyed reading about Betsy's visit to poet Paul Laurence Dunbar's home in Dayton, Ohio. We learned a bit about the poet and his connection to Orville Wright during our recent visit to Dayton, and his home is now on our bucket list for a return trip to the city. Check out the story at beesfirstappearance blog.  

Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh: Sunset in the City of Bridges-Tim's sister and her family live in Pittsburgh, and I especially enjoyed seeing the city's bridges when we visited there. His sister, knowing of my love of bridges, made sure we walked across the Smithfield Bridge, telling us it was one of her favorite spans in the city. I can understand the appeal of this bridge and enjoyed learning of its connection to famed bridge builder John Roebling (who was also responsible for one of my favorite bridges in Cincinnati, Ohio). Check out Karyn's nice sunset scene at the Sand and Snow...and Everywhere in Between blog.

That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?

Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Midwest travel links for June 2015

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

Burlington Bees: An Evening at the Ballpark-Connie likes seeing Minor League Baseball games when she travels for some of the same reasons I'm a big supporter of taking in Minor League games when I travel--the ready availability of teams to see in the Midwest and the fact that the games are affordable, family-friendly fun. Her story at Midwest Wanderer shows that her recent experience at a the Burlington Bees' ball park in Iowa to see the team play Grand Rapids Michigan's Whitecaps played out much as our recent visit to see the Indianapolis Indians...the game was a rain-out, but we had a great time anyway!

At a Grand Rapids Whitecaps game

Navy Pier Ferris Wheel to be Replaced with Bigger, More Modern Version-I loved the huge Ferris Wheel on Chicago's Navy Pier, and it seems so iconic that I found it surprising to learn that the city plans to replace it with a taller and more luxurious ride (can you say year-round climate-controlled gondolas? Check it out at the Chicago Architecture Blog.

10 tourist traps to love-Speaking of iconic sites like Navy Pier with its Ferries Wheel, this list includes the pier and Ferries Wheel, as well as nine other must-see quirky Midwest sites. I've seen several places on this list like South Dakota's Corn Palace, Michigan's Mackinac Island and the Michigan Upper Peninsula site that fully embraces its identity as a tourist trap, Da Yoopers Tourist Trap and Museum. Check out Beth's story at the Midwest Weekends blog.  

No Wonder Birds Flock to Gene Stratton-Porter's Limberlost Cabin-Looking for something a little more educationally inclined? Gene Stratton-Porter is an Indiana author, photographer and naturalist who enjoyed immense popularity during the early 20th century. We've visited Gene Stratton-Porter's "cabin" near Rome City, Indiana, and Limberlost (also in northern Indiana) appears like it has many of the same sort of construction details, gardens and nature-friendly features that distinguish the Limberlost North home we saw. Check out Betsy's story about Limberlost at the beesfirstappearance blog.

Limberlost North

Visiting the Mankato Minnesota Houses Where Betsy and Tacy Lived-The Maud Hart Lovelace penned series of books about Betsy, Tacy and Tib were another childhood favorite for me, and I'd love to visit the Mankato, Minnesota area where these stories based on the author's life at the turn of the twentieth century happened. Check out Terri's story at the Off the Beaten Page Travel to learn more about these books and the stories behind them.

Positively Classic Cars-Where can classic car fans can check out unique vintage vehicles like a legendary Tucker, the infamous Edsel, a classy Auburn, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car or something that looks suspiciously like the car Jed and Granny Clampett drove during the 1960s camp-classic television show, The Beverly Hillbillies? Check out Maureen's story about the Classic Car Show at Oakbrook in Chicago, Illinois to find out more!

Lighthouses of Door County-I've visited many lighthouses along the eastern side of Lake Michigan, but I've yet to explore as many of the light stations along the lake's western shore in Wisconsin. Beth offers a nice list of Wisconsin lights I'd love to see! Check out her story at the Midwest Weekends blog.

13 Fascinating Facts about Michigan City and the Old Lighthouse-Some folks are surprised to find that Indiana has a lighthouse, but Indian's scant 45-miles of Great Lakes coastline is home to a very nice pier head lighthouse and a lighthouse museum housed in the old keepers' residence. I've always loved this light and the story of Harriet Colfax who served as the keeper here for an amazing 43 years! Check out Connie' story about the light, Harriet and more at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Brandywine, Blue Hen and Buttermilk Waterfalls-We've been to this park a couple of times and enjoyed visiting the park's Brandywine Falls, but we've yet to visit Blue Hen or Buttermilk Falls. Thanks to Bob's story on TrekOhio, I can get a glimpse of those two cascades and make plans to make the trek out the them next time we're at the park!

Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (Or "How to do Sleeping Bear Dunes without wanting to die a billion times.")-So, I think nearly every Michigander does the dune climb at least once, but as Sally encouragingly points out, it's much easier to get to the top of the dunes by taking this scenic drive. Check out her story at the Unbrave Girl blog.

Torchbearers Detroit trip finds a city on the upswing-We're hearing a lot of positive things about Detroit these days, and it's a welcome change from the diet of doom and gloom and ruin porn photos that seemed to dominate the media just a few years ago. Check out this story by Michael and Christa about a group of young visitors who found a lot to like in the Motor City. Check it out at the akronist.com blog.

That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?

Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Visiting the Citizens Motorcar Company, America's Packard Museum, in Dayton, Ohio

I remember reluctantly selling the first car I ever owned, and every once in a while, I still fantasize about somehow finding that car and purchasing it again.

But one Dayton man made his father's similar fantasy about a favorite Packard automobile he formerly owned in the 1930s come true!

Bob Signom Sr. owned a 1928 Packard Six Cylinder Convertible Coupe. He loved that car, and he was heartbroken when he had to sell it with the onset of the Depression during the 1930s.

His son, Bob Jr., knew of his father's love for that car when he spotted an ad in the New York Times offering a 1928 Packard Six Convertible Coupe for sale.

The car amazingly appeared to be the exact same vehicle that his father had to surrender more than a half-century earlier!

Bob Jr. bought the car, and it became the start of a collection of elegant Packards, unusual military vehicles and all sorts of original Packard parts, equipment and other memorabilia related to the Packard company and its history now displayed at America's Packard Museum in downtown Dayton at the corner of Ludlow and Franklin Streets.

Signom kept his collection in several Dayton warehouses over the years until he acquired the museum's current home in 1992, a former Packard dealership called the Citizens Motorcar Company housed in an early Art Deco-style building designed by the great Detroit-based industrial architect Albert Kahn.   

The Citizens Motorcar Company sold Packards in Dayton beginning in 1908, moving to the then-new Kahn building in 1917.

A young Ohio engineer named James Ward Packard founded the car company with his brother William in 1899. The duo from Warren, Ohio envisioned their automobiles as prestige vehicles and priced them accordingly.

Packard styling was generally conservative, but the brand gained a lot of cachet from customized cars created by a number of designers using Packard chassis.

Heads of state, moguls and celebrities often gravitated to the luxurious cars that sold for $2,500-plus as a time when Henry Ford was finding his success offering cars costing as little as $450 to working class customers.

Packard merged briefly with Studebaker during the 1950s in an effort to keep both companies going, but Packard soon split from Studebaker and disappeared from the automotive scene by the end of the decade.

The dealership building lay vacant for many decades until Signom acquired it.

The 20-foot-tall neon and porcelain "Packard" blade sign that hung on a front corner of the building's exterior until the early 1940s was in the building's basement, so Signom re-installed it back to its original position. He also restored the interior to closely resemble its original appearance and configuration with a car showroom and a service department with working hydraulic lifts behind the showroom area.

The museum has more than 50 Packards dating from the very early 1900s through the 1950s, as well as the military vehicles, engines and experimental aircraft that kept Packard going through the World War II era.

There are many beautifully restored cars here, but there are also cars here with original paint and unrestored finishes, with many of them in working condition (we visited the museum as workers prepped the venue for a charity event saw them get behind the wheel of several cars and start them right up in order to move them around).

The building has a large collection of period office furniture, equipment and Packard advertising material, making it feel like you've entered a circa 1920s dealership to kick a few tires.

Ohio's Montgomery County Historical Society recognized the museum with an award for restoration of a commercial building in 1993.

In 1998, Car Collector Magazine named the museum as one of the Top Ten automotive-related museums in the U.S.

In 2004, the Society of Automotive Historians gave the museum the James Bradley Award for its efforts to preserve motor vehicle resource materials, one of only six museums in the United States to receive this recognition.

The museum rents space for events, accommodating parities as large as a sit-down meal for 200, a 250-person cocktail party or a party for up to 300 people if you include a pavilion and courtyard added to the building in 1936.

The museum opens from noon until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It is open year round, closing only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year Day.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $4 for students, although the docent let us in for half price the day that we visited because of the charity event set up). 

It's worth noting that there is also a National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio, which is a few hours away from the Packard Museum in Dayton and reportedly organized in a more conventional manner with formal exhibits. Sounds like another place to add to our Midwest Bucket List!

Want to learn more about the Packard Motor Car Company? Check out The Packard Motor Car Company by Evan P. Ide, "Ask the Man Who Owns One": An Illustrated History of Packard Advertising by Arthur W. Einstein or Packard: A History of the Motor Car and the Company by Beverly Kimes.

Check out Visiting Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana for more about the Packard-Studebaker merger or Visiting Detroit's William Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse on Belle Isle to learn about another unique structure designed by architect Albert Kahn.

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Midwest travel links for May 2015

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

Missouri Family Vacation Ideas-Adam shows folks plenty of family-friendly ideas for kid-pleasing fun in the Show Me state, ranging from world-class museums to outdoor activities to dining ideas and more! Check it out at his Visit Flyover Country blog.

88 Counties in Ohio=88 Things to Do!-Check out this killer list of things to do in Ohio that includes one fun attraction, dining option or historical site for every one of the 88 counties in the Buckeye State. Check out the list at Mike's OHventures blog. Mike even helpfully reproduces the list arranged by region of the state.

Dining at Tony Packos in Toledo, one of 88 Things to do in Ohio

Capturing the Colorful Holland Tulips of Spring-Aaron shares a sure sign of spring in Michigan with images of the colorful tulips in Holland in the western part of the state. Check it out at the Awesome Mitten blog. Also be sure to check out Aaron's coffeehouse and travel adventures on his own The Adventures of elATLboy blog.

Magee Marsh during the "Biggest Week in American Birding" 2015-We've visited this birder's paradise on several occasions to simply take a walk or capture a few images of the wooded boardwalk trail near Lake Erie in Ohio, but we've yet to venture here during the legendary Biggest Week in early May. Deb captures the beautiful birds and the crowds that they draw to this northern Ohio spot on the TrekOhio blog.

Golden Spike Tower: Visiting the World's Largest Rail Yard-This site in North Platte, Nebraska marks the midpoint for the Union Pacific trains running from Chicago to Salt Lake City or from Denver to Omaha, but it's so much more than simply a place for rail buffs to spend hours on end watching the trains. Join Connie as she visits the site to learn about the trains and their history. She also captures a few bird's-eye-view images from atop the observation tower. Check it out at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Positively the Jewel of Joliet-I love classic old theaters like the Embassy in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the Warner Theater in Erie, Pennsylvania that have great histories as vaudeville, movie and live performance houses, and I loved Maureen's story about the Rialto Theater in Joliet, Illinois. Built in 1925 and justly called the "Jewel of Joliet", viewing the theater's opulent interior reportedly had Liberace saying "...finally, a theater to match my wardrobe!" Seeing the Rialto is going on my Midwest bucket list! Check it out at the Positively Tuesday blog.

Ephemeral City: Marbles-Check out John's story about a memorable marble championship in Kansas City, Missouri. Imagine a city-wide marbles contest that drew a crowd into a municipal arena and featured contestants with monikers like Stinky, Knucksy and Mouse. It all happened in 1941, and you can read about it at the Paris of the Plains blog.

At Your Leisure: Summertime Cruisin'-Cruisin' is pretty big here in the Detroit area, especially during the weeks leading up to the Woodward Dream Cruise, an event billed as a one-day celebration of car culture that inevitably turns into weeks of weekend cruising along the Woodward strip. It appears like Indianapolis had a similar cruising culture complete with drive-in restaurants like The Tee Pee, which served Big Chief burgers (our version on Woodward was called the Totem Pole and served up...you guessed it...Big Chief burgers!). Check out Jeff's story on the Historic Indianapolis blog.

55 Reasons Why Locals Love Grand Rapids-Here's another handy list post, this time about Grand Rapids in western Michigan. We've done a number on the list like the visiting the Grand Rapids Public Museum and watching Whitecaps' baseball games as we visit GRap fairly regularly to visit some of Tim's family, plus we stay there for a few days each fall to take in ArtPrize. Looks like there are a few more things on the list that we need to see one of the next times we visit. Meanwhile, Check out Melody's post on the My Experience Grand Rapids blog.

Crash the River Rascal, Whitecaps' mascot

That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?

Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: Sunburst, camera club winner

We love visiting car museums, and I especially love capturing images with my camera during those visits.

I like shiny things. What can I say?

 

 

This image is one I captured during a visit to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg in Auburn, Indiana, and it was one where I just wanted to experiment with zooming my camera lens as I made the image.

This image placed first in the Digital Photo (Color Creative Category), Beginner Division for March 2015.

Check out a previous Photo Friday post here that features this image, as well as several others I captured that same day.

To learn more about the museum and its great Art Deco-style architecture, check out my story Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum draws car buffs and Art Deco lovers to northern Indiana.

Want to see more Midwest car museums? Check out part one and part two of a series I did about Midwest car collections and links to car collection stories from other Midwest travel bloggers.

To learn more about these classic cars, check out Cord Automobiles Photo Archive, Duesenberg Racecars & Passenger Cars Photo Archive, or Auburn Cord Duesenberg Racecars and Record-Setters Photo Archive, all by Jon Bill.

Check out the Motor City Camera Club's Web site, or connect with the Motor City Camera Club on Facebook.

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Check out these great Midwest car collections! (Part 2)

I love visiting automotive museums, and it seems like I'm not the only one who loves checking out cool car collections here in the Midwest.

I recently thought it might be fun to post a collection of car-related story links from my own Midwest Guest archives, and decided to ask some fellow Midwest travel bloggers if I could share some of their car collection story links in my list as well.

There was, as I suspected, a number of great posts about Midwest car collections, and I ended up with a list of links large enough to do two posts!

Here is the second part of my list of Midwest car collection story links:

Visiting Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana-A trip to Fort Wayne was enough excuse for me to drive on across Indiana to check out the National Studebaker Museum in South Bend. I especially loved the glamour and style of the 1950s-era cars here featuring their bullet-nose profiles and sherbet-colored paint jobs. Other highlights for me included seeing the brand's earliest horse-drawn vehicles and the famous "Muppet car" (a specially-adapted bullet-nosed Studebaker used in the 1979 Muppet movie). Check out my story at Midwest Guest.

 

 

Studebaker Museum, South Bend: From Carriages to Automobiles-Connie put a story up about her experience at the Studebaker museum after I already finished assembling links for this series, but I figured I could squeeze a link to her story here. Check her take on the museum at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum draws car buffs and Art Deco lovers to northern Indiana-We originally discovered this museum after seeing a billboard along the highway during a long-ago ride back home after attending an Indy 500 race. I particularly love the museum's Art Deco-style architecture and its collection of 1930s movie-star-worthy cars. We've returned to this museum several times since discovering it more than 25 years ago. Check it out at Midwest Guest.

 

 

Pontiac Oakland Museum, Pontiac Illinois: Auto Nostalgia along Route 66-What do you do when your classic car collection is too large to store at your home? Open a museum, of course! Connie tells the story of a couple who opened a museum featuring vintage Oakland and Pontiac automobiles, along with other automotive memorabilia in (most appropriately) Pontiac, Illinois. Read about this museum, which is just southwest of Chicago, at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Photo: Connie Siokos Reed, used with permission

Peoria, IL: Wheels O' Time Museum-Adam takes readers on a tour of this fun museum near Peoria, Illinois that includes some cool classic cars as well as trains, farm equipment to toys of bygone years. The vehicle collection, housed in several different buildings, includes kid-pleasers like big, red fire trucks and curiosities for the adults like Hugh Hefner's limo. Check it out at the Visit Flyover Country blog.

Photo: Adam Sommer, used with permission

Effingham, IL: My Garage Museum-Adam also visited the My Garage Museum in central Illinois, where he and his family found a collection of VWs that included several versions of the beloved Herbie the Love Bug used in the Disney films featuring the cute car as well as some cool Corvettes and race cars. Check this story out at the Visit Flyover Country blog.

Photo: Adam Sommer, used with permission

National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky-Speaking of Corvettes, Nedra takes readers to the National Corvette Museum. I first read about this museum when I saw news reports of a 60-foot sink hole that opened up below part of the museum and damaged some of the vintage vehicles housed here. Check this story out at the Adventure Mom blog. It was sad to see images of the damaged vehicles at Nedra's post, but you can check out the latest news about the museum's work on filling in the sinkhole and creating new display space on the museum's Facebook page.

Photo: Nedra McDaniel, used with permission

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum-Katy checks in from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum where she shared her young daughter's fascination with wheeled vehicles and indulged herself with fantasies of wearing some of the beautiful Tiffany trophies on display as oversized jewelry! Check it out at the Indy with Kids blog.

Photo: Katy Mann, used with permission

Gilmore Car Museum expands and reopens for the season-I wrote this story several years ago after touring the museum and its beautiful campus in western Michigan. I understand the museum's expansion and improvements continue, and it's definitely on my list of places I'd like to return to check out again soon. I liked learning about the automotive companies that once called Kalamazoo home, seeing the story of Alice Ramsey (the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States) and stopping by the vintage diner on the museum campus for a snack. Check out the story at Midwest Guest.

 

 

Here are a few other Midwest Guest posts featuring big Detroit-area automotive events we've visited over the years.

The annual North American International Auto Show always offers opportunities to see some of the latest automotive developments and car models. Check out my NAIAS stories from 2011 (Photo Friday: 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit Michigan) and 2009(Cars star at North American International Auto Show).

 

 

I've always thought that one of the most enjoyable ways to view classic cars is to see them at an outdoor show during the summer, and one of the best shows happens about a mile away from my home. Check out Photo Friday: Enjoying classic cars "Down on Main Street" in Clawson, Michigan for a story about this yearly event.

 

 

Check out one of the first stories I did at Midwest Guest six years ago about an event that continues to draw over a million folks to what organizers describe as "the world's largest one-day celebration of classic car culture", the Woodward Dream Cruise. Most of us who live here will tell you that the event unofficially spreads over the entire summer (if you want to count all of the unofficial pre- and post-Dream Cruise classic car cruisers and spectators along Woodward during the warmer months). Let's face it, this town is truly Car Crazy!   

 

 

Be sure to check out part one of this two-part series of Midwest car collection posts.

So many ideas for great future road trips, don't you think?

© Dominique King 2014 All rights reserved (unless otherwise noted)