My Favorite Daughter came in for a visit, she did give me the dates, but then I never heard from her again.  Then I saw a post on a social media site from a granddaughter and she said that she was in Detroit, which surprised me.  Then My Favorite Daughter called me and slotted us in for the last day.  It turned out that she figured that it might be her last family getaway, as her brother (our son) was moving back, and she would have no one to watch her menagerie.  Not only did she bring her children, she brought her nephew and niece (more grandchildren) and their friends as well, so she was herding ten teenagers; almost like herding cats.  Upon arriving, they immediately drove south to Sandusky, Ohio to see Cedar Point Amusement Park.  Cedar Point is the second oldest amusement park in America and has seventeen roller-coasters; the third highest collection.  If that wasn’t enough, they all attended a Detroit Tigers baseball game, and then they all went to a party that was tossed for my daughter.

Dear Old Dad, was channeled into the time slot between hotel check-out and flight home.  She had wanted to go see Greenfield Village, but it was so hot, that she chose the Henry Ford Museum instead.  They left 120ºF (49ºC) and dry, and came here to 92ºF (34ºC) and almost 100% humidity, and they complained that it was too hot.  Which was fine, as the museum, besides having their usual displays also had a special exhibit of “Dinosaurs in Motion.” An interactive life-size metal dinosaur display utilizing recycle material, kinetics, biomechanics, and robotics.  The creatures were made by sculptor John Payne of Asheville, North Carolina who did consultations with paleontologist Dr. Mark Norell for accuracy.  I am not sure if the ten teenagers were having more fun with the pulleys and levers controlling the robotics, or the grade-school age children that were doing the same things.

We also took everyone out for lunch while we were at the museum, and they have a restaurant/market operated by Plum Market. I quickly grabbed a glass of Black Star Farms Arcturos Sur Lie Chardonnay Michigan 2022 and went and staked out tables for all of us to eat at together. Afterall, Michigan is the seventh largest producer of table wine in the United States of America.  Black Star Farms is rather unique in that it has vineyards and tasting room facilities on both peninsulas, so that they are kind of surrounding Traverse City which is kind of the focal point for all of the wineries in the area.  In 1998 Black Star Farms purchased Sport Valley Farm which was a one-hundred-twenty-acre equestrian facility, and the stylized black star was part of the architectural décor in the main house.  In their Twentieth year, they were honored to receive the 19’th Annual Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC) -Best Wine of the 2018 Challenge and only the second time an American wine came out on top.  This is a non-oaked style wine, which I presume to mean that it is produced using Stainless Steel vats.  This particular wine carries a Michigan appellation, and hence it could be from fruit from both peninsulas (Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau Peninsula).  The wine had a beautiful soft-gold color with lush floral notes.  On the palate tones of citrus, apple, and pear in a medium bodied wine with a short finish with a subtle mineral tinge.  My Bride and I have membership at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, so we got a discount for all the lunches (except for my glass of wine).  She looked at me and smiled and said that we have had bigger lunch tabs; also, everyone wanted to take advantage of our membership cards to buy souvenirs.  It was a great afternoon for us and wonderful to see the grandchildren and My Favorite Daughter.