Alcatraz Island-San Francisco, CA

The infamous Alcatraz Island where Al Capone was held prisoner. To be honest, I had vaguely heard of or remembered hearing about Alcatraz before we visited. It was pure luck that we got into San Francisco and to the Pier at the perfect time to get on the ferry. 

The Island has had an interesting history being a military prison, first maximum-security minimum-privilege penitentiary, Indian Island, and now a National Park.

After purchasing your ticket at the pier you are then transported to the Island on a ferry. You land and walk around the Island till you get to the prison, and once inside you can take an award winning audio tour that tells you about the prison from the point of view of correctional officers and inmates. This is one of the best audio tours [although I haven't done many] because you don't hear some random person tell you about events that happened there and they just read about it. I'm guessing here, but the audio tours must be in all different orders so each area isn't crammed with people trying to see at once. I went with 3 people and we would pass by each other, at different spots and we all started at the same time. 

This one of the places that I could write about and tell you about the Battle of Alcatraz and how some prisoners tried to escape, but this is just a place you have to experience for yourself. Something to also keep in mind if you are a bird lover or bird watcher the island is a bird sanctuary. Parts of the Island are closed from February to September to breeding birds can nest.

The Henry Ford-Dearborn, MI

When we decided to visit The Henry Ford Museum I really had no idea what I was in for. If you didn't know I am a huge Ford fan (yes, I do drive a Chevy but beggars can't be choosers). My dream car, well cars, are an '84 F-150, SVT Raptor, Shelby GT 500, and a 60s Mustang Coupe or Fastback... le sigh. Back on subject though, this museum is amazing!

I was expecting to just a history on Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company and different vehicles from the line. I was highly mistaken. This is an American history museum.

Declaration of Independence

You can see everything from Heroes of the Sky, Dymaxion House, Made In America, Presidential Automobiles, With Liberty and Justice for all, and more. I was most impressed with the American history items they had on display.In their collection they have one of the exact copies of the Declaration of Independence that Congress authorized to be produced. Only about 30 exist today. It was hard to contain my excitement... I mean, how cool is this? I have yet to see the original in D.C. yet. 

One of my favorite parts of American history is when Alice Paul and others fought to get women the right to vote here in the U.S. I was so happy to see this, and that people can inform themselves on this important time in history.
I can't include all the pictures I took in this blog post, but to truly see everything you need to block out a couple of hours and check it out. I thought we would be there 1-2 hours but I think we ended up spending close to 3-4. We went during the Christmas holiday and the day we went we couldn't do the factory tour. Hopefully next time. 

Other things to check out while in the museum is the Presidential vehicles, the huge train car, the Exploded Model T, the chair Lincoln was sitting in when assassinated, the bus Rosa Parks rode on, and pretty much everything else!