NOTES FROM THE BURROW

NOTES FROM THE BURROW

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Hey, I dare you to throw your sandwich at the bus driver.

Pictoral Report of Christopher's Field Trip to Michigan State Capitol and History Museum.

Left Smith School at 9:00am and rode to Lansing on a charter bus.

Christopher on bus.

Arrived at the Michigan State Capitol building at 10:30. The Michigan State Capitol is a National Historic Landmark and only one of 11 other state capitols on that list. It was completed in 1879 and is beautiful inside with extensive and ornate artwork. Some of the flooring is made out of glass. When you walk under or over it, you can see shadows of people on the otherside.

Glass floor from underneath.
Glass floor from above.

Beautiful carpet in the capitol.

Interesting artwork in the capitol.
Laying on the ground and looking up into the dome.
Flags flown and carried during the Civil War.
Gerald Ford was ravaged by wolves today...
The glass floor from above.
The government in Lansing might not be perfect but they know which team to root for!

I enjoyed our tour of the state capitol. The tour guide was funny and related well with our 4th graders and was an expert on everything Michigan State Capitol. I love the state capitol because it is where I first felt the flutterings of love for my husband. We went there for something fun to do in our pre-dating stage. We walked around and looked at everything and then we got to the governor's office. This was pre-911 so all the doors were open and he walked right in to the governor's office and said he was Chris Vos from Plymouth, MI and was the governor in. The governor was not in and I don't know what would have happened if he had been but I fell in love with that boldness of Chris'. I loved that he wasn't afraid to go in there and ask for the governor. He is the same today, often fighting my battles for me when I am too afraid. I love him for that. Anyway...on with the tour.

We then took the bus over to the Michigan Historical Museum.


Some of Michigan's first inhabitants. Very cool exhibit that shows the native inhabitants of our state and also the explorers from Europe who "discovered" Michigan.

Huge wall sculpture of Michigan.
Diorama that has grass in front and back is mural but looks real.
Very interesting Civil War exhibit. Over 90,000 men from the state of Michigan fought in the Civil War and 14,753 gave their lives for the cause. Michigan was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. The above picture is of actual flowers sent from State of Michigan displayed on President Lincoln's casket.

Christopher in front of the sawmill display. In addition to a very interesting lumber display, there was also a copper and iron mine display.

The final display that we saw was Michigan in the 1900s, highlighting the automobile industry and it's impact upon our state. There was a large picture of R.E.Olds, the founder of Olds Motor Works and for whom the brand "Oldsmobile," is named for. It reminded me that my uncle has an old REO car that belongs to my sister and I need to reread "The Peacegiver."
This advertisement for Grape-Nuts cereal says "Children Fatten like Little Round White Pigs when fed on cream and Grape-Nuts." Thought it was funny. Anyone would fatten like a pig eating cream.
These dishes were on display as items you could get from a Green Stamps Catalog. We had these dishes growing up and I wish I knew where they were. They were pretty neat.

It was a fun field trip and I'm really glad that I got to go. Michigan is a state full of interesting history and I'm proud to be a citizen.

3 comments:

Stacie said...

Thanks for the tour! Looks like it was fun. My grandma still owns some of those dishes that she used while my mom and aunts were growing up.

Anna said...

You should do an "I am Detroit" commercial.

Suzy said...

That actually looks really cool. So who had more fun??? You or Christopher? And what happened with the sandwich?

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