After Christmas, we headed back to Ohio to spend some time with Oma and Papa.
We got in a lovely walk around the Ohio University campus. It was so quiet there were a bunch of deer grazing in between buildings, not a student to be found.
Of course, we had to hit up Little Fish brewery, since our #1 brewery fan was with us! Tasty food and drinks; glad they are still in business! (H and I came in 2023.) They were good enough that it warranted a shirt to add to the collection. Lisa was trying to hide from the photographer, but we got her!
The weather was pleasant enough that the tetherball was calling our name.
We were enjoying wearing jackets and hoodies enough that we took another spin around the neighborhood. Owen played Tarzan. It was mild, but a cold front blew in on our last day that dropped the temps by about 30 degrees with fierce winds and snow flurries.
I had a crazy notion to drive up to Michigan to get our 40th state on the map, so we drove a few hours to check out Ann Arbor for a couple of days. Brr!! Nothing like Michigan in late December! That front was intense on our walk down Main Street. It was in the teens and windy, but the trees still looked cozy and festive. We popped in to the Rally House to warm up, but didn't buy anything since UT was about to play UM in the Citrus Bowl.
The next day we drove to Dearborn to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. What a fascinating place! It's amazing what a little money can collect under one roof. Where to begin...?
They even had a Lego city built with some iconic Detroit buildings, holiday touches, and a Batman Santa scavenger hunt.
We spent a lot of time in the automotive section (go figure!) of the museum. They have an impressive collection of planes, trains, and automobiles showing the evolution of technology through the years. Some of our faves were the presidential limos, race cars, and the super big boy steam locomotive.
We took a timeout to go on a tour of the Rouge Factory. No pictures were allowed, but it was a pretty amazing factory where the F-150 is made. Unfortunately, they too were on holiday, so the assembly line was not actually making anything, but we got the idea even without the frenetic productivity.
We were starving when we got back to the museum, so we got some lunch specials in the 1946 diner, complete with Detroit's own Faygo soda, or liquid sugar as I like to call it.
After lunch, we were feeling the time crunch already. So much still to see! We sat on Rosa Parks' bus, watched wing walkers, toured a Dymaxion house, saw George Washington's cot, boarded early passenger planes, and walked through massive machines.
As we pulled into Ann Arbor, we sought out Zingerman's Delicatessen on Lisa's (AA native) recommendation. It was yummy and full of personality.
We had a few hours to kill before our flight the next morning, so when in Ann Arbor... Why not check out the University? It was a snowy, quiet New Year's Eve morning on campus, and nothing was open (not even the bathrooms!). Thankfully we made it to Joe's Pizza NYC just as they were opening for the day, so we used the facilities and got some tasty slices before our walk back to the car.
As we were walking around, we noticed these leaf clusters stuck in the bare branches, but on closer inspection it was actually these super-fluffy, chubby squirrels! They were pretty cute and content in the snow.
Luckily, the pilots in Detroit are no strangers to flying in the snow. We had a pretty uneventful flight home (after the wait for de-icing) just in time for New Year's Eve countdown! Happy New Year!
