Henry Ford Museum in Michigan

Cape May,

A native guide here (actually a refugee from the east coast megopolis).
A decent (now) camp ground is the Wayne County Fairground. It is as close as you can get and even the FHU is not expensive. Just don't be there in early August as that is fair time. Break the rig there as parking at the museum is not good for RVs.

The Henry Ford Museum is good for a day just by itself. Get there at opening and wear comfortable shoes. It is 18 acres under one roof.

Greenfield Village is just as much, but watch the weather as it is a village and requires miles of open air. It is now scooter friendly.

Will a day do either? Yes, but you have to keep moving. I volunteered there and DW was a docent and we can still kill a day there with great ease at any time and when there is an event....

There may be other stops you should make. If you get back to me, I can rattle on a while and it might be worth your while. Just tell about other interests and I will shake some books.

You will be at least 12 road hours getting here, As we have not run that route in recent years, I cannot suggest a good place for a mid- travel break.

Matt

If you are a car guy you will want check out the Gilmore Museum in Hickory Corners, a bit west of Detroit. Full day of old cars there.

The Gilmore was great! Hubby went back for a second day.

A day each the first time. Growing up there, I visited the village maybe 10 times, a whole day each, over 15 years, and have been back for a whole day another 5 times in the past 30 years. I've been to the museum at least five times, some of those being guided "theme" visits into areas not usually seen by one-time visitors with just a day. You cannot see everything in the open collection in one day, but you can likely have a quick look at everything really of interest to you.

Both parts of The Henry Ford are constantly changing, and special events are frequent during the summer season, special exhibits from time to time. I still have family in the area, and some of them maintain memberships and visit both places several times a year.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. At least now I have a general idea of where to start. We have been watching the Saturday a.m. TV show "The Henry Ford Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca" for a while and the museum has certainly peaked our interests. We will probably aim at 3-4 days.

When we went we tried to do both in 1 day. Could have easily spent 8 hours in the museum and not seen all of it. The village you can do in 2 hours or less, it is not significantly different than any of the re-enactment villages you see at many federal and state parks. When I go back, and I intend to do so, it will be museum only and I will spend all day.

It depends a lot on how you do museums. If you just buzz up and down the aisles like you're at a trade show you might be able to do it in a day, but you'll be missing out on one of the best collections tracing the history of technology and how it shapes our lives around. Three day minimum, and if you do the Rouge Factory Tour (HIGHLY recommended) four would be better. A full day at each site, a half day at the Rouge, and the remaining time to catch what you missed the first time through. Try to plan your Rouge tour either first thing in the morning or right after lunch break so that you can see the line in operation. The factory floor part is self-guided on a catwalk above the final assembly area - we found it easy to kill 2 hours just watching that. Great place.

We stayed at the Wayne County Fairgrounds and found it convenient and decent enough - we're normally state park campers but for a destination trip like this it's fine.

I scheduled 1 full day for each, but have been back 2 more times in 10 years. It's one of those places that you can spend more than a day at, but basically get tired. Love it there.