Dossin Great Lakes Museum

With the boys' current obsession with ships, particularly the Titanic and the Edmond Fitzgerald, we've been searching for resources that might help them explore their newfound passion.  Living in Michigan and surrounded by the Great Lakes, we figured there's got to be a wealth of things to see and do right here at home.  Sure enough, Jon managed to find out that the actual anchor from the Edmond Fitzgerald is on display at the Dossin Great Lakes Muesum on Belle Isle in Detroit- a museum dedicated to Great Lakes boats and ships!

I can't recall with any certainty the last time I was on Belle Isle, nor can Jon.  When we got there, we felt a touch of shame that we have lived so close to such a place for so long without having any idea what it was nor having ever gone there.  When we first crossed the bridge onto the island, a giant barge was passing by so we quite literally jumped out of the car to let the boys run to the water's edge to watch it.  You would have thought we let them loose in a candy store!!!  Forget the museum, we can just go to the river and watch the ships go by- the boys would be entertained for days on end!

But the Dossin Great Lakes Museum turned out to be more spectacular than we ever could have imagined.  It was recently taken over and renovated by the Detroit Historical Society and is only open on weekends, but it's totally free!  Incredible!!!  The boys got to touch the anchor from the Edmond Fitzgerald, play on an old Coast Guard ship, build their beloved Titanic with ship blocks, balance cargo on a barge, check out scaled models of the Edmond Fitzgerald, and see the view from inside a ship as the entire front of the museum is designed to replicate a barge in the water- it literally hangs over the edge of the river so it looks like you are in the water.  There is also a computer kiosk that keeps track of the incoming and outgoing ships and barges with the ships' names, point of origin and destination, type of cargo, and the exact time it is expected to pass by the museum.  We spent nearly two hours exploring the museum before spending another half hour outside watching the ships go by.  The boys were in heaven :)  I have a feeling we will be returning to Belle Isle for many Sundays to come!

Watching the American Courage go by

The anchor recovered from the wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald- the boys were AMAZED!!!

Their favorite ship!

Playing on the old Coast Guard boat outside- a perfect little playground for ship lovers!

Steering!

ICEBERG, RIGHT AHEAD!  Nevermind that they are in a Native American canoe!  LOL!

Awesome set of building blocks!

Model of the Edmond Fitzgerald

ICEBERG, RIGHT AHEAD!  Doesn't matter what kind of boat they're in, they gotta say it every time! LOL!

Watching more ships go by

Outside the museum the boys found a crab apple tree and were inspired to recreate this dish from on of their favorite storybooks- so we collected crab apples and helped them cook this up when we got home :)