Things I Miss In the Mitten State

Dear Reader,

This last segment of my adventures in Michigan is basically just a bunch of random awesome things I miss. Like Molly, for instance.

She was so sad that we put her in the cage. She couldn't figure out why we would do that to her.

The most delicious Japanese bakery in the Detroit area. It reminds me of my childhood.

Delicious pastry filled with custard.

And delicious bread filled with bits of cheese. O man. That takes me back 18 years.

The Irish pub in downtown Plymouth, Sean O'Callahan's. This made me miss London. A lot.

Downtown Plymouth. I love it!

Every school year my mom makes a school bus cake, and she's done this since my oldest brother started school. The number on the side of the bus is how many cakes she's made (this year is the big 23!).

Anyway, that's finally all I have from Michigan. And it's about time. I've only been back in Utah for like 2 1/2 weeks already. . . . But what can I say? I've been busy.

Changing Seasons

Dear Reader,

One of my favorite seasons in Michigan is the fall. The best part is picking apples, pumpkins and eating donuts and apple cider. Last year I tried my hardest to find a pumpkin patch in Utah where I could fulfill any or all of those requirements. And what I found was a huge disappointment. Luckily, I was home in Michigan for labor day weekend when the orchards open for the fall! It was wonderful.

We had to ride a tractor to get to the place where we picked the apples.

Our loot.

What a pumpkin patch should look like, Utah. Don't advertise picking a pumpkin at a pumpkin patch if you plan on just putting a bunch of pumpkins together in a pile. It's really not that exciting.

A corn maze.

There was a part of the cider mill that was for children. I'm going to say it was at least ten times more exciting than the children's attractions at the place I went to in Utah. I mean, seriously, Utah. A box filled with corn kernels? That doesn't exactly scream fun to me. Michigan's cider mill had a bounce house. I'm just saying.

This was the most delicious donut I've ever eaten. I am now ready for fall to begin.

Greenfield Village

Dear Reader,

I've been really busy lately, so I haven't had time to post all of my adventures in Michigan yet. So I'm going to do this in installments.

Today's Michigan featurette: Greenfield Village. The story behind Greenfield Village is, essentially, Henry Ford decided to build a historic village in the middle of Dearborn. He rebuilt actual houses that at one point belonged to famous people in history, as well as houses that exemplify certain time periods. Some houses are just recreations of what the actual houses looked like, but for the most part they're all legit historical buildings.

Sheep. Very important parts of history.

Model T. As Henry Ford said: "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." Well said, Mr. Ford.

The Wright brothers' bicycle store. There's a part of an airplane in the back....

At a hat store.

Thomas Edison's house.

Southern plantation.

The oldest windmill in the country.

The kitchen of a Connecticut farmhouse in the 1800's.

Cotswold cottage, from England. Basically, I'm in love.

Webster's house. Interesting fact: This house is from the same time period as the 1800's farm kitchen two pictures up, and both homeowners made the same amount of money. The farmer just put his money in his crops, while Webster, living in town, put money into his house to make it nice for his neighbors.

Robert Frost's house in Michigan. Did I say Michigan? Yes I did! Apparently he lived in Michigan. See for yourself:

I know, sorry, the font is tiny. But I promise it says that he lived in Ann Arbor.

The home of the grandson of a freed slave (originally owned by the freed slave).

The kitchen of the freed slave's home in the 1930's.

My favorite part of Greenfield Village is in this little square. This is the crafty part of the village, where they have weaving, tin making, printing, and, my favorite: glass blowing. It is so cool. We watched them make a bowl. We also got frozen custard and rock candy. I can't leave Greenfield Village without getting rock candy. It's tradition.