holiday spirit, the michigan way.

     To get into the holiday spirit, Mom and I planned some activities for the four of us to do as a family. On Friday December 21st, we headed to Greenfield Village in Dearborn. On this freezing night, we walked around the village and took a peek inside the 19th Century as we entered historic shops and homes.

     Greenfield Village contains many transplanted buildings like Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, Noah Webster’s home, and a courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The workers were so good at staying in character and when asked a question, they would always answer as if we were in the 1800s. We hurriedly walked from building to building to get out of the cold.

Staying cozy inside

     One of our favorite shops we explored was a hat shop where there were original hats from that period and some that were more recently made. Jason and I each chose a hat we liked and tried them on. Another shop we enjoyed was an Emporium which had some toys and candy that sparked our inner child. We also had fun taking a brief ride in an authentic Model-T.

In our 1800s hats

Kids in a toy store

     Our dinner was at Eagle Tavern, just inside the village. Here we were served a 5-course meal as if we were guests at the taverns owner’s home. The experience was really the best part of our visit with the singing, candle light, and of course, the food. For dessert, we were split into groups to sing the Twelve Days of Christmas and we all had fun singing our part as the four colly birds.

Our dinner at Eagle Tavern

     The following day, the four of us took a short visit to the German town of Frankenmuth. In all of my years of living only an hour away from Frankenmuth, I have never been.  We started with a German meal at the Bavarian Inn where the waitress dressed as milkmaids and the waiters dressed in lederhosen. Everyone in the family got an actual German meal but me. I know, I know Jason is usually the picky one, but I didn’t have to try schnitzel and sauerkraut to figure out if I liked or not. Jason told me as long as I ate his fries with Heinz ketchup that it counted.

Eating at the Bavarian Inn

     It was fun walking on Main Street and popping our heads into a few shops. Jason and Mom had their way in the Frankenmuth Fudge Shop collecting a bag of Salt Water Taffy. We also went inside the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus and tasted chocolate cheese samples. Jason and I took pictures next to a gorgeous holz brucke or wooden bridge covered with snow.

Walking around Frankenmuth

     After hitting a few more stores, we made our way to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland which is the world’s Largest Christmas Store. The store was seriously huge and had every Christmas bulb you could imagine or decoration you could imagine. After looking hard, Jay and I bought a Christmas ornament of New York, our first ornament in hopefully a large collection of places we’ve been.

Our Christmas Ornament

Jason wanted this one