impedimento non mi piega: Greenfield Village

As part of my company's work initiative, they have formed a local commmittee to plan fun things to do to bond with colleagues. The first event was scheduled today at Greenfield Village. My company picked up the cost of the tickets for the family and paid for a wonderful buffet-style lunch. We had spent a GREAT afternoon there. The weather was perfect again: Sunny, mild, without a cloud in the sky. I had not been here in over ten years, so I was curious to see what it looked like now. I was really pleased and VERY impressed with the improvements and updates that have been done.

There were so many things to see and do like riding on the oldest operating train, riding in a two horse-drawn carriage, and visiting the houses of some of America's greatest luminaries:

- Harvey Firestone's childhood home: Tire magnate ... and great-grandfather to Mr. Bill Ford.
- Robert Frost: He lived in Ann Arbor!
- Noah Webster: Yes, he of Dictionary fame.
- Thomas A. Edison: Inventor (duh!) and a close friend of Henry Ford. Pretty amazing man!
- The Wright Brothers: From Bicycles to Airplanes!
- Of course, Henry Ford's childhood home and other fantastic buildings were open and available for viewing.

We were in a house from 1750 Connecticut (- the one by the windmill from Massachusetts -), and the woman who was in period dress described the types of chores that kids Yummers and Minnie would be doing. The woman concluded with "watering the garden" to which Yummers quickly interjected and said, "Oh, I do that already. I water our garden everyday!" to the sounds of amused laughter. Oh geez. ;O)

In another room, there were two other women who were in period dress who were washing dishes. I asked them if the herbs and spices that were drying were from their garden. After replying "Yes", Yummers asked them if they had any "Basil plants" which were her "favourite type of garden plants." They had plenty of basil plants that were already harvested which seemed to satisfy Yummers curiousity. :O)

Heading into the Village. This is actually about 15 minutes from my office in Dearborn.

Sir John Bennett's clock was brought by Mr. Ford to Greenfield Village. This clock rings on the hour. Unfortunately, we did not have a chance to watch this happen.