Trip to 8 Mile

Well, not exactly. I mean, I wasn't going it Eminem style or anything, but I did take a business trip to Detroit and stayed somewhat close to 8 mile (we stayed at West 12th mile). However, if you talk to Heather, you'd think that we should be ducking and driving with just our eyeballs peering over the steering wheel. In fact, she actually told me to have Michael Chapman drive and for me to duck (Sorry Michael, guess you know which friend Heather would miss) :P

It was quite fun. This is my second time to Detroit for business and I enjoyed this trip much more. We went out to dinner as a team the first night we were together, and received some unique awards. We went to a Greek restaurant where I tried something called "flaming cheese", where they light your cheese on fire and then sit it in front of you. It was funny because Cristill and I would jump every time someone would order it. She thought that her hair was going to catch on fire, and I was just...well there is really no excuse for me.

The next day was some organized fun at the Henry Ford Museum. I had never been before, so it was quite an experience. They had some really cool things there, like the car that JFK was driven in when he was shot; the bus that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in, as well as the chair Lincoln was assassinated in. In addition to the more serious things, they had some rather quirky things to like the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile, some replicas of old hotel rooms (which frankly looked a little bit like ones I have stayed in today), and Thomas Edison's last breath caught in a glass (although I did not see this one, Michael swears that it is there).

Take a look at the size of the people compared to this engine...it was HUGE!

The restored bus where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat

I think my favorite thing there was the Rosa Parks bus, and not just because of what this amazing woman stood for, but because we had some school children that were there for a field trip. They all came on the bus and sat down. We listened to a recording of Rosa talking about that day and her experience. At the end a song started playing and all of the kids (unprompted) started clapping to it and singing "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine". I was so impressed at the level of respect they had for this experience and for what Rosa Parks did for civil rights. I am still in awe sitting her typing this, and was touched to be able to experience that with them.

Another cool thing about this museum is that they had a rather eclectic collection of different pieces of American history. For more info, visit their website at http://www.thehenryford.org/.



We had to take some silly pictures:
Of course we took some silly pictures too:
Me pretending to be asleep on a plane with drool (I was parched so I am sans drool) :P
We had to take a picture with a Wright brother. Lynne volunteered
Hey, whose the pilot?
Greg thought he would introduce himself to the locals



Of course what is a trip to the museum without a little competition. I mean, it can't all be educational right? :) Michael organized a scavenger hunt of sorts in which we were broken out into two teams and told to take "creative" pictures with different exhibits at the museum. My team was Greg, Lynne, Kim and myself. While the other team consisted of Cristill, Carl, Mike W. and Michael C. We were told to go around both the museum and the "village" and take pictures at certain places. Creativity is key as we would be judged on that. Both teams ran around taking pictures and hiding from each other. Who won you ask? Well I will let you be the judge.

Here are some of the pictures that were entered into this competition. Please judge on creativity: