Just outside Detroit sits one of my favorite museums in the U.S. – The Henry Ford Museum has a little bit of everything and I always find something new and exciting with every visit. So I would think it obvious, if you are into cars, you can find a few here. From an original Model-T to new concept vehicles. Race cars, record setting cars, luxury cars, family cars, military vehicles, and then some. More into planes? There are plenty of those too! Trains? A whole room full – and when I say room, I mean ROOM. Sized to fit a 600 ton Allegheny Steam Engine – one of the largest locomotives ever built, along with several other trains, coaches, cabooses, and trolleys. More into history? How about taking a seat on the bus that played an important role in the civil rights movement? In fact you can board and sit in the same spot where Rosa Parks helped changed history back in 1955. Want to see the rocking chair from Ford’s theatre on which Abraham Lincoln was seated when he was struck by the assassin’s bullet? It’s there. George Washington’s bed and camp chest from the Revolutionary War? It’s there too. And this is does not begin to touch on the many areas and items on display at the Henry Ford Museum. Agriculture, popular culture, industrial machines, electric power generation through the ages, numerous Presidential vehicles (including the infamous Lincoln in which President Kennedy was shot will riding through Dallas), and an entire ‘village’ of historical buildings (Wright Brother’s bicycle shop, Edison’s Menlo Park Labs, Noah Webster’s home) that have been moved and/or re-built on site. So, all that in hand – you’ll want to grab as much time here as you can. An hour is awesome, but a day is even better.

The museum is about 20 minutes outside downtown Detroit, 40 minutes from Ann Arbor.

SAS Score: 5