Henry Ford Museum

Veebyes wrote:
Rainy day time killer planning next summers trip. July to early November.

Even early November might be a bit late.
Many campgrounds close in October (some even close end of September) and Greenfield Village is only open on weekends in November.

Rainy day time killer planning next summers trip. July to early November.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:
I would go to Camp Dearborn in Milford. It's probably not the closest but it's a very nice place to spend a few days all by itself. ... Only about an hour drive to Greenfield Village or the Henry Ford Museum.

Assuming you don't hit rush hour traffic or snow. Add those 2 and it can be 2 hours !

Well seeing as it is only 40 miles and about 90 percent freeway, I would suggest one not travel in snow during rush hour traffic when travelling the 40 miles between Camp Dearborn and Henry Ford Museum. Wait for a day when the roads are not snow covered and it's after 9:00 a.m. At least that's the way an intelligent person would do it.

What time of year are you going? Campgrounds are not likely to be open this time of year and Greenfield village is currently closed as well. It doesn't usually open again til mid April. Henry Ford Museum is inside and open year round. If possible, time for when the village is open. Both are great, but I prefer the village.
Camp Dearborn is a very nice campground but traveling on the expressway at rush hour to/from those places will make you insane.

nickthehunter wrote:
I would go to Camp Dearborn in Milford. It's probably not the closest but it's a very nice place to spend a few days all by itself. ... Only about an hour drive to Greenfield Village or the Henry Ford Museum.

Assuming you don't hit rush hour traffic or snow. Add those 2 and it can be 2 hours !

drsteve wrote:
One day is sufficient to tour the museum, but plan on another day to see Greenfield Village.

A lot of things in Greenfield Village are closed for the winter.

Veebyes wrote:
Thanks. Between those two ought to do it. Don't need the fluff. Just a safe clean place for a few nights.

Walmart.

There is 1 in Dearborn. It is probably okay. Very close to the museum.

There are 2 in Livonia. The one in north Livonia is a bit off the freeway (<5 miles) but it is safe and quiet. You need to verify that they allow overnight parking.

Veebyes wrote:
I'd be interested in the factory tour however, driving a Chevy do I have to park way out in the outfield somewhere or do I get prefered parking in order to win over non Ford driving visitors?

Really enjoy the factory tours.

Not to worry - you park at the museum and take a shuttle bus to the factory. Highly recommend the tour, one of the best we've ever done. Plan your time so that you're there when they are running the line (morning or after lunch). There is an introductory part with a fabulous multimedia presentation and some exhibits. The meat of the tour is walking around an overhead catwalk in the final assembly area for F-150's, pretty much self guided and take as much time as you want. Fascinating watching how they build to order and match up the major subassemblies (cab, bed, chassis) at the end. I think we spent a couple of hours at that part alone.

Henry Ford is definitely one of our favorite destinations and way bigger than you might imagine. If you stop and look at everything you can easily spend 3 days or more doing the museum and the village, particularly if you do the factory tour. If you're there in the summer, they have an old-time baseball team that plays against others in a league, great fun to watch how it was done in the 1800's, way different than MLB now. Check the schedule for dates.

We've camped at the fairgrounds, nothing special but convenient and clean enough. Agree that parts of Dearborn/Detroit are pretty dodgy (and we're from Chicago!) but the areas around the museum and fairgrounds are fine.

Veebyes wrote:

I'd be interested in the factory tour however, driving a Chevy do I have to park way out in the outfield somewhere or do I get prefered parking in order to win over non Ford driving visitors?

The Henry Ford museum has a parking lot for all makes and models of visitors vehicles.

The factory tour leaves from the museum on a shuttle bus and returns to the museum after the tour of the F150's being made.

You may change your mind about your Chevy if you test drive a Ford with the 3.5l Twin Turbo engine. :)

drsteve wrote:
One day is sufficient to tour the museum, but plan on another day to see Greenfield Village.

Stayed at Detroit Greenfield. Would stay again!!
I agree, two days to see both.
I spent a lot of time around the steam locomotives and really needed 3 days.....
Pat