Little K and I had the privilege of walking through the newest revamped exhibit of Driving America at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn the other day…and boy was it fun!
Those of my readers who are local may remember the exhibit as the section in the museum with a sloping sidewalk of sorts walking visitors down a memory lane of cars, starting with vehicles from the mid-1800’s. When I brought my nephews last year, it was one of their favorite parts (besides the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile), being the little car fanatics that they are.
While it was cool before, now it is super sweet – complete with all the tech gadgets and fun upgrades that will keep kids from tots to teens amused while perusing the 80,000 sq. ft. collection.
Some new features families will find especially interesting (some descriptions taken from the press materials):
– The Explore Our Collections app brings The Henry Ford’s collections right to visitors’ fingertips, allowing them to actively engage the collections of the museum, both those currently on the museum floor and those in storage.
– There are now 18 interactive 42-inch touchscreens offering thousands of additional details, images, videos and my favorite – 12 different fun games such as:
- Test-Drive the Model T – Start a virtual Model T, and then complete a series of real-world driving challenges to earn a driving certificate.
- Car Tunes – Popular music and the automobile share a long history. Listen to songs about cars and the freedom of the road dating from 1900 to today.
- What Car Are You? – Ever wonder how your choice of car reflects your personality? Take this quiz and discover what that car is.
- And my favorite (which I failed with flying colors) Talk Like a Trucker – You are a car driver who has just purchased a new CB radio. Race to Lamy’s Diner for a piece of apple pie using special CB trucker language to get there before the pie sells out.
– Kids ages 4-8 will love diving under a replica car to check fluid levels, change tires, slide under the carriage on a creeper and more.
– A brand-new theater experience complete with a new film that examines how the automobile has transformed our world and highlights the choices that lie ahead.
– Kids will get a kick out of a display of car seats through the years. (Moms, don’t some of those look scary?!)
– Lamy’s Diner, the neat little diner parked in front of the collection, will now serve diner-style comfort food.
To see my entire gallery of fun photos from the exhibit, visit my Facebook page.
For more information, visit www.thehenryford.org. Driving America will open to the public on January 29, 2012. Museum admission costs $17 for adults, $15 for seniors (62+), $12.50 for youth (5-12) and children 4 and under are free.
And who wants to buy me this little beauty? {A 1955 Bel-Air} They just don’t make ’em like they used to!
If you could have any vehicle, what would it be?
This looks like such a fun place to take kids.
It’s a GREAT place for kids of all ages 🙂
Excellent walkthrough of the new exhibit and great pictures too. I went there for lunch today and ate at Lamy’s diner. I’ve been wanting to do that for years. 🙂
I was going to write a post on my blog, but didn’t really have time to get into everything Driving America had to offer. Look forward to doing that soon.