Day 26 - to Detroit

Day breaks early in the big city of Chicago.  

A quick peek out the window reminded us the El train network was already up and running -  rattling and creaking over the rusty overhead rail network of the inner city.

We departed the central city, looking for the location Preston Tucker manufactured his 51 Tucker cars back in 1948.   As far as we could gather, the site of his factory, which at the time was the largest building in the world, is here - at the Ford City Mall on S Cicero Ave.

This isn't the best part of town but we did stop and take a picture of a very colourful mural prior to linking into the Interstate again.

We were planning to visit three Tucker cars today.  The first was part of a private collection but our timing didn't fit with the owner's meeting schedule, so we missed out.  The second Tucker of the day was at the La Porte Historical Museum, however it was closed due to an election campaign of sorts.  Two down, one to go.  Recognising we had a little bit of time up our sleeves, we thought we'd visit the Air Zoo at Kalamazoo, Michigan.  This place is awesome!  It's a very well laid out air and space museum, with lots of flight simulators, a 3D movie theatre and interactive stuff for the kids.

There are some very rare aircraft on display, including this weird-looking thing with its propeller at the back of the fuselage.  It's a Curtiss XP-55 Ascender - the sole survivor of three made.
 

The aircraft were displayed extremely well, with carefully-controlled lighting, period costumed figures and murals adding to the atmosphere.  There were only six ever made of this WACO VPF-7.    

Here's a nicely painted B-25J Mitchell bomber from 1940.  One of around 10,000 made.  

And to maintain an equal balance of Axis and Allied craft, here's a WWII German V1 flying buzz bomb.

 A lot of you will be familiar with the A4 Skyhawk.  This one had Aussie markings on it - if they played their cards right, they could have picked up a Kiwi A4 for a bargain.
 

But this was the star of the show, from my perspective.  A Lockheed SR-71-B Blackbird - the fastest aircraft propelled by air-breathing engines made by man.  It's capable of reaching speeds of 2200 mph (over 3500 kmh).  Thirty-two of these amazing stratospheric jets were built and this is the only 'B' (two seater) Blackbird in the world.

We crossed yet another time zone today, however we weren't initially aware of the fact.  So when it came time to leave the Air Zoo, due to the one hour time difference in crossing the time zone, we realised we had very little time left to visit Tucker # 3.  We actually arrived at the Gilmore Car Museum, just outside of Kalamazoo about ten minutes after they closed but the kind staff let us in and went as far as unlocking a building so we could see the Tucker inside.  Here it is...
  

This is the 47th of 51 tuckers made and the third we've seen on this trip.  This one even smells like an old car!  It's completely original.
 

Unfortunately we didn't have time to have a look around this museum but I'd love to go back some time and spend a good half day there.  The museum is spread over a large area, with quite a number of buildings displaying what will have to remain mysteries for now.  As we walked out the main door, I took this picture of some of the gorgeous old cars close to the exit...There's a 1935 Duesenberg, a 1929 Rolls Royce and what's that in the middle?  Might be a Packard - not sure.

Onward to Detroit.

The roads around here were really lovely.  Narrow roads with trees linking overhead forming a natural arch above us.  On the way, we stopped off at one of the many small lakes shouldering I-94 East.  This one's called Lake Beadle.  It's not all that straight-forward getting down onto the lake-shore here, as most of the land is privately owned and you run the risk of wandering into someone's back (or front) yard.
   

Which is what we did to take these photos.

We stopped at the western side of Detroit for dinner, not-coincidentally at the place called Ypsilanti. This happens to be where you can find Preston Tucker's house.  And here it is.

We got talking to one of the neighbours and the story is, Tucker's house has been empty for around ten years.  There's a large factory in behind the house and its owner (who also owns the land Tucker's house is on) intended using the house space for offices.  The local historians were none too happy about this for an idea and managed to get the factory owner to leave the house as is.  So as is, it is.

We had dinner at an old and well-known restaurant called the Sidetrack Bar and Grill.  It should be no surprise, therefore that the eating house is located right beside the railway line.  We just missed a train steaming by during our meal but apparently, the building shakes, rattles and rolls for the duration.  It would have been particularly impressive for us, as we were the only hardy souls dining outside.

I noticed there was a car museum right across the road from the Sidetrack.  Upon investigation, it was a museum dedicated solely to the display of Hornet cars and paraphernalia.  The place was shut by the time we got there but here's a peek in the window, of a Hudson Hornet painted up to look like Doc Hudson from 'The Cars' movie.  Cool, eh?

Talking of cars, I've been meaning to mention we've seen a higher proportion of VW Beetles here, Helen. You'd be in good shape over here with yours.  Older cars (I'm not suggesting yours is in this category, Helen) command quite a high price here.  We stopped at a small town for lunch and chatted with a mechanic in an equally small garage.  He had a 1969 Mini that he reckoned was worth USD6900!  He'd have a field day in New Zealand, that's for sure.

Oh - just for the record, Chris, here's the food picture I promised you.  A home-made burger with a locally brewed beer called Ypsi-Gypsy.  A bit too hoppy for me but it went down just fine.

We're crossing the border into Canada tomorrow - hopefully they have WiFi up there...

See you.  PF