Tag Archives: Small American museums

2023 Road Trip-Part 6

20 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill LItes

Day 6 – July 20:  After breakfast this morning, I said my goodbys to Brian and Karen and headed north for about an hour on I-41/94 to visit the Harley-Davidson Museum located in Milwaukee, WI.  I had visited this museum on another Road Trip, but I can never see enough antique motorcycles to be satisfied.  However, today I arrived an hour before they opened, and that wait would mess up today’s museum schedule, so I just took this photo and was on my way.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Having missed that great museum, I continued northwest on I-94 & I-41 for about a half-hour to visit the Harley-Davidson Factory located in Menomonee Falls, WI.  I wanted to visit this factory since I had spent almost 15 years riding Haley-Davidson motorcycles, and wanted to get an idea of how they were put together.  However, it was not to be, as there were no factory tours today.  I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to get to see any museums today.  So, I took this photo and continued  northwest on I-41 to find the next museum.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

That next museum turned out to be 45 miles northwest on I-41 where I visited the Galloway House Museum located in Fond du Lac, WI.  This museum turned out to actually be a historical village.  The village has 30 restored homes and business buildings arranged on 15 acres, that represent a typical residential, commercial, and farming community in this area during the mid-1800s.  Many of these structures have been moved to this location over the years to form a living village.  The original 1870s Galloway log cabin was used as the “Summer Kitchen” after the Victorian mansion was finished in 1880.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Leaving Fond du Lac, I headed north about 20 miles on I-41 to visit the Military Veterans Museum located in Oshkosh, WI. This small museum displays military artifacts and memorabilia honoring all U.S. Military personnel from all branches of the U.S. Armed Services.  Many of the 20 restored (mostly U.S. Army) vehicles are operational and are used in special events at the museum and at other locations.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Oshkosh, I visited the EAA Aviation Museum located just a few miles north of the Veterans Museum.  As it turned out the annual EAA Oshkosh AirVenture event was scheduled to begin on the coming weekend and several private antique and warbird airplanes had arrived at the museum early.  This was a great opportunity to get photos of these planes and talk to the pilots.  This large museum (one of my favorites) displays more than 200 home-built, general aviation, and military airplanes as well as replicas of airplanes of all sizes and descriptions dating from the first Wright Brothers airplane to modern air racers.  Interactive exhibits, antique artifacts, and aviation memorabilia could easily keep a person captive in this museum for days.  But, I had other museums to visit today so, after reviewing as much of that eye candy I could handle for one day, I moved on.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Heading northwest out of Oshkosh on US-10/41, my next museum was to be the Motorama Auto Museum located in Aniwa, WI.  But I never made it to the museum.  After about an hour on US-10, I turned north onto I-39 at Stevens Point, WI and was making good time, when all of a sudden, I heard this “ding-ding-ding” and glanced at the dashboard to see the temperature gage pegged out on “HOT.”  I panicked, and  asked myself, what in the world could this be?

Image Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/ overheated+car+engine

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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2023 Road Trip-Part 2

25 Aug

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 2 – July 16:  I began today’s activities with a visit to CSS Hunley Museum located there in North Charleston, SC.  The CSS Hunley was a one-of-a-kind Civil War submarine that was the first combat submarine to sink a warship (USS Housatonic) on 17 February 1864, but sank shortly after the historic engagement killing all eight crew members.  The H. L. Hunley was lost on the bottom of Charleston’s outer harbor for 100+ years, before finally being discovered by E. Lee Spencer in 1970.  However, it was another 30 years before the historic submarine was raised from its watery grave, in 2000, for investigation and its preservation.  It is now submerged in a special tank of a sub-critical water solution where the iron structure is being neutralized before it can be exposed to the open air for all to see and touch.  The photo below is of a replica of the H. L. Hunley on display there at the museum.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I had planned today’s activities so I could end up spending as much time as possible with some good friends in North Carolina.  So, after leaving the Hunley Museum I headed northwest on I-26, by-passing Columbia, SC (I had visited Columbia’s museums on my last road trip) and continued northwest to visit the Sigal Music Museum located in the old 1930 Cocoa Cola Bottling Plant in Greenville, SC.  This museum (formerly the Carolina Music Museum) has recently been expanded with the addition of the Marlowe A. Sigal collection.  The museum displays a variety of musical instruments dating from the 17th century and interestingly has recordings of many of those instruments for their visitors to hear in their special listing rooms.  The museum’s library also has a collection of over 1000 individual rare record albums and sheet music.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I wanted to visit the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum while I was in Greenville, but I got to the house where Joe Jackson lived and died too late to visit the museum.  However, Wikipedia tells me that Joe’s house (also the museum) was moved to its present location in 2006 and given the number 356 Field Street in honor of Joe’s lifetime batting average (.356).  It also informed me that Joe got his nickname in 1908 at the local game between the Greenville Spinners and the Anderson Electricians when he removed his new spiked shoes that were hurting his feet; and after hitting a home run, he ran the bases in his stocking feet.  As he headed for home plate, an Anderson fan yelled, “You shoeless son-of-a-gun!” and the name stuck. Joe Jackson (1887-1951)

Photo Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/Shoeless+Joe+Jackson+Museum

Heading pretty much west out of Greenville, I soon briefly crossed the border into the northeast tip of Georgia before crossing the border into North Carolia.  I was looking for the town of Otto, NC where my friends Mike and Alta lived, and some of those winding mountain roads could make a person dizzy.  The roads got narrower and steeper till I finally had to stop and call Mike for directions.  Come to find out, I was within 500 yards of their driveway and Greta (my Garmin) didn’t know it.  We had a great visit and ended up going to one of their favorite Mexican Restaurants in Franklin where I had a Chili Relleno & Enchilada plate with yellow rice and refried beans.  Yummm!  Back at their house, after dinner, Mike and Alta regaled me with their black bear story.  That’s kind of a scary bedtime story, but the cool mountain air put me right to sleep.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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2022 Road Trip-Part 2

24 Aug

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 2 (5/17/2022)

This morning, after breakfast, I headed northwest on US-98 thru another 60 miles or so with not much to see.  I passed thru Andrews, Fanning Springs, Cross City, and Salem, on my way to check out the Iron Horse Mud Ranch located just south of Perry, FL.  The main gate was open, but down the road a way another gate was closed, so I took this photo and was on my way. No mud-bogging today.

Photo Credit:Bill Lites

On the outskirts of Perry, FL I saw a roadside sign for the Forest Capital Museum State Park and stopped to see what it was all about.  It turns out to be a museum dedicated to the Florida longleaf pine tree and the 5,000 products manufactured from those trees.  There are relocated and restored ‘Florida Cracker’ houses and buildings on this 35-acre park, depicting the early 1800s Florida forestry industry and how the early settlers lived and worked in that fledgling industry.

Photo Credit:Bill Lites

The drive thru Perry was quick, and it was another 30 miles northwest on US-19, seeing nothing much of anything.  I turned north on US-19 at Capps, FL (wide place in the road) and then it was another 20 miles to Montecillo, Fl where I was informed the city was filled with everything historic.  Well, I didn’t see anything even worth taking a photo of other than the County Courthouse, and I’ve visited many` more historic courthouses on past road trips.  So, I continued north on US-19, across the border, looking for Hubs & Hops in Thomasville, Ga.  I was looking for a bicycle museum, but it turned out to be a restaurant and taproom that collected bicycles of all types.  I didn’t spend much time there.

Photo Credit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hubs&Hops-ThomasvilleGA

Heading west on US-84 about 15 miles I visited the Cairo Antique Auto Museum located in Cairo, GA.  This museum consists of three buildings filled with a huge collection of antique cars dating from 1920s, trucks & fire engines dating from 1900s, as well as antique motorcycles and bicycles dating from the early 1800s.  You never know where a gem of a museum will turn up.  Who would have ever guessed, in Cairo, GA?

Photo Credit:Bill Lites

It was another 25 miles west on US-84 to Bainbridge, GA where I had planned to visit the Decatur County Historical Museum, but it was closed.  So, I kept going northwest another 60 miles on US-84, across the Chattahoochee River (border) into Alabama, where I stopped to check out the Landmark Park & Farm located on the outskirts of Dothan, AL.  This park is a 150-acre living farm that provides visitors with a historical representation of an 1890s farm, in this south part of the Alabama region, with restored homes, buildings, a store, and a church, all decorated with period furnishings. 

Photo Credit:Bill Lites

It was only a short drive to where I visited The Waddell House there in Dothan.  Built 1898 by Bud Bush, the house was purchased by Leska H. Waddell in 1906 and remained in the Waddell family until 1978 when it was donated to the Dothan Landmarks Foundation.  The Waddell home was the first structure to be relocated to the Landmark Park & Farm property and restored as part of that 19th century attraction.

Photo Credit:Bill Lites

That pretty well wrapped up my travel experiences for the day, so I gave Greta (My Garmin) the address of the motel there in Dothan.  She had no trouble finding the motel.  After getting checked in and moving my things into my room, I warmed up my leftover Liver & Onions from the 19/98 Grill last night and enjoyed that delicious meal again.  What a treat that was!  I did enjoy one of the pictures in the motel tonight.  It was a collage of license plates in the form of the United States.  I think I will adopt that photo as my visual slogan for my travels.  Since there wasn’t much of anything I wanted to watch on TV, I recorded my day’s activities and went to bed early.

Photo Credit:Bill Lites

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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