Grand Rapids Things to Do

I enjoyed walking around looking at the different small buildings on the farm at Meijer gardens. I remembered the milkhouse my father had and the big milkcans. I still have one for a remembrance.

We also had a smokehouse made from brick and a chicken house, a pig sty and a huge wooden carriage barn. There was also a corn crib, a silo of course and for folks who lived there in the "olden days" an outhouse.
A three holer if I remember correctly.
This farmhouse at the gardens had all of the things we had.

This is quite similar to the inside of the barn we had on our farm in Michigan. It is a little smaller, perhaps to match the 3/4 scale of the farmhouse. On the side beams many farm implements and tools are displayed.
I can't really remember my father doing this but it seems a natural place to store tools.
Most barns in Michigan have a double wide opening at the top floor and they are open to the bottom part on the opposite side for the cows to come in and out for milking.

I grew up on a dairy farm in Michigan and it was so much fun to go in this barn and reminisce about the fun I had as a kid, especially during the summers. We had all kinds of places to play in the barn. When it was full of hay upstairs we would climb over huge stacks of baled hay.
I took a picture of the inside of the barn and it turned out quite well.
There are sculptures of animals around the barn in their respective places on a farm.

This 1880's farmhouse was built to 3/4 scale of Lena Rader Meijer's childhood home.
The Michigan farm display is reminiscent of a 1930's family farm. The wrap-around front porch has rocking chairs to sit and rest and to escape the summer heat. Even though there is no entry to the house, near the porch there are toilets and drinking fountains.

The barn was moved from its original site and received the "2005 Barn Award" of the year. Around the outside of the barn are different sculptures of animals in their pens.
A great way to see the animals and not have to keep up their care or bother with their smell.

This is definitely the # 1 sculpture to see in the gardens. It is 24 feet high. You can get some perspective if you look down by the left front foot of the horse where my husband is standing. Quite a magnificent sight!
This horse was sculptured from Leonardo DaVinci's sketch.

The final stop on the US tour of Petra: Lost City of Stone is at Calvin College in Grand Rapids running through August 15, 2005. This exhibit was as well laid out and comprehensive as an exhibit that we would see at the Field Museum in Chicago on a similar subject and is worth a stop should you be in the area.

The exhibit features 200 artifacts from Jordan and US collections, a short movie on the history and importance of Petra as a trading post and it's decline. There is also a collection of more modern photographs and Jordanian clothing.

There's a nice little gift shop accompanying the exhibit (I did have to laugh at the inclusion of Jordan almonds) and there is a cafe where you can try middle eastern dishes.

Closed on Sunday

One of the largest zoos in Michigan, with over a 1,000 animals. It's cageless exhibits and the tons of trees make the park/zoo a nice place to spend an afternoon. Open daily 10-6 May-Labor Day. 10-4 rest of the year. Admission $3.50. Free Dec-Feb

Well-laid out and comprehensive museum of regional history for Western Michigan, with special focus on its forests and its industrial development. Lots of displays about the development of the furniture industry, once very important here. (Grand Rapids is still headquarters of Steelcase, the leading office furntiture manufacturer.)