Henry Ford Museum

Visiting the following and would like ideas where to stay:  Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan:  Pro-football HOF Canton, Ohio, Washington DC area, Golf HOF in St Augustine, Fl.  I have a 26' TT, thanks.

We visit the Detroit area often and stay at Detroit Greenfield RV Park.  It's the closest RV park I've found.  If you have a toad be sure to take it because no matter where you stay you're going to do some driving to get anywhere in the area.

I have found rvparkreviews.com and Good Sam as handy reference sources when researching parks in an area.

I would like to tour the Henry Ford Museum in mid Jun in Dearborn, MI.  I have a 26' TT and need to know where is the best place to stay that won't break my bank account. How about overnight at Wal Mart?  Will the museum allow me to park my rig in their lot while I tour the museum?

DANG! Wish I could remember the campground I stayed at in Brighton when we visited the Detroit Zoo. About a half hour drive to Dearborn from there. Cheap but not too exciting. Just a place to park.

The Henry Ford Museum is great place to visit. If you like automotive history, you'll enjoy it.

If you Google RV parking at Henry Ford Museum you'll find leads to both campgrounds and parking.  There aren't many campgrounds close by.  We usually stay in Ypsilanti at the Detroit Greenfield RV Park which is west toward Ann Arbor and probably a 30-minute drive away.  I saw one reference that said the museum parking lot is huge and should accommodate your trailer but that overnight parking is not allowed.  The best way to confirm that is to call The Henry Ford and ask.  I have the impression that surrounding communities do not allow overnight street parking.  And I'm not at all sure that overnighting at WalMart would be a good idea.

If you've not been there before, you can get a package rate that includes the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and the Ford Rouge Factory tour.  Each one is worth a day.  Expect to walk a lot too, especially at Greenfield Village.  When I was in college I was a tour guide in the Village and I remembered the museum itself as being a dusty, dull and boring place.  No longer!  It's now a bright, cheerful, and fascinating place that easily can take days to explore.  Don't miss the early camping vehicles!

If you get into downtown Detroit, the river front has been upgraded significantly.  We spent a delightful day there last summer and took a really good river boat tour that went over to the Windsor (Canada) side, under the Ambassador Bridge, and around Belle Isle.  The narration was excellent.  The tour boat is near the Renaissance Center.  You also can take a monorail ride around the downtown area.

Another interesting place is the Tuskegee Airmen Museum which is at old Fort Wayne.  The fort is in bad shape but one of the buildings houses the museum which is dedicated to the first black pilots who flew missions during World War II.  The museum has quite a few artifacts but the most interesting thing is the video of interviews with the airmen.  Their stories tell about life in a segregated Army Air Force during the war and what it was like returning home.  There are only a few of these brave airmen left so the narrative about the era in which they lived is fascinating.  [Note: As an Army Brat in the same era, I can attest to the truthfulness of their stories.]

ArdraF

bobbyg2013 said:

I would like to tour the Henry Ford Museum in mid Jun in Dearborn, MI.  I have a 26' TT and need to know where is the best place to stay that won't break my bank account. How about overnight at Wal Mart?  Will the museum allow me to park my rig in their lot while I tour the museum?

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I grew up in Dearborn and have a pretty good knowledge of the area, I live about 15 minutes from Dearborn now. The campground being referenced in Brighton could be Bishop lake or Brighton recreation area. These are about 45 to 1 hour minutes from Dearborn. Closer would be Haas lake campground in New Hudson. Haaslakepark.com .Beyond that the Michigan state park website has other options.

I think the Greenfield KOA is the most popular in the area,, State Fairgrounds may also offer RV parking but I DO NOT RECOMMEND.

I have some special boondock sites I can use but.. alas, I'm cleared for 'em, you are not. (company secure parking, ex employer).

I know when I had to track down a couple RVers who had come to visit the Village and museum Greenfield KOA was my first.... and last... call.

Finally... In the village there is a building, Once a  one room school house, and built with the half brick/half wood construction they used then (outside is all wood but inside of the walls the bottom half is brick lined for insulation) then a Doctor's office.. When I was there last the Docent told how the doctor often diagnosed patients as they approached, and was very rarely wrong.. (kind of like the Doctor Sir Arthur (Dolye) Studied under, same Teacher it seems)

Well when I was a child I passed that building every day on my way to school.. I remember where it was originally built.

John From Detroit said:

I think the Greenfield KOA is the most popular in the area,, State Fairgrounds may also offer RV parking but I DO NOT RECOMMEND.

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No longer a KOA, it's now Detroit-Greenfield RV Park.

ken

We were there 5 years ago and had no problem parking in the parking lot with trailer on, lots of room and no hassels. The "old" KOA was good and close and not to expensive back then who knows now?

See the Greenfield Detroit RV Park rates at http://www.detroitgreenfield.com/rates-policies-reservations.html

ArdraF

You're right but there aren't many any closer.  It's an easy drive on the freeway for most of the way.  That's where we stayed last spring to visit the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, his Library in Ann Arbor, the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, the Rouge auto plant, downtown Detroit, and Fort Wayne.

ArdraF

In St Augustine I like the Stagecoach RV Park.

Ardra reminds me...

If you love old cars, a short trip to Auburn IN, north of Ft Wayne is a must.  It is home of the Auburn - Cord - Duessenburg Museum in the former ACD factory showroom.  It blew me away!

Another nice stop is the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana (west of Elkhart).  It has examples of Studebaker's entire history starting with horse drawn carriages through the last car produced in 1963, including the WWII military vehicles built by Studebaker. 

https://studebakermuseum.org/

You can take a driving tour of South Bend that includes viewing the remains of the Studebaker assembly plant.

http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/studebakerplantphotos.htm

Have lunch at the Bonnie Doon Drive-In in neighboring Mishawaka, the last survivor of that popular 1950s chain.

https://www.facebook.com/thebonniedoondrivein/

If you like Vintage Aircraft.. The Yankee Air Force is HQed at Willow Run airport (Just west of Detroit in Ypsilanti)  I do not have much info... I do know that some years (About a decade and change) ago they had a fire that did MAJOR damage..  And I know they have a Radio Shack Scanner that can pick up aircraft band and has no problem doing AM (Yup, used to be mine) but alas that's all I know about 'em at the moment.

They do fly those planes from time to time.

There is also a Space Museum in Jackson, MI (Been there) and another Aero-museum in Kalamazoo (Never been there) but that's over 100 miles west of Detroit.

Back to Detroit, the Detroit Science Center is a hands on Museum

And if you like good music..  Detroit has multiple music halls including the Max Fisher center which is built around Orchestra Hall, home of the Detroit Symphony.

The DSO is a "Top ten" Orchestra world wide.. by that I mean they are ranked like #6 or #7.  (in the top 10) I know a few of the folks who sit on that stage.  Served one of 'em coffee for about 3 years.

Radio: 90.9 FM WRCJ  "We R Classical and Jazz"  Classical 7a-7P, jazz 7p-7a

Lots of other options too

The TV was running a new "Michigan tourism" ad last night, and covered the Ford museum.
There was a cut showing a Corvair on display.
Anyone know why a Corvair is on display at the Ford museum?

Maybe showcasing competitors bad ideas? ;D  Actually, one of my brothers had a couple of Corvairs, and I thought they were a neat car.