2025 PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY ADVENTURE - GERALD FORD PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM

 

Even though I stopped short last night and didn’t make it as far I a thought I could, after looking at what’s on the schedule for the next couple of day, I think I am pretty Much on schedule and may be ahead of schedule by the end of the day.

 The Holiday Inn near the University of Michigan was a very good choice. It was clean and the employees friendly. It’s always a good Holiday Inn Stay when the Pancake Roller is working for Breakfast.

One thing that always gets to me are unsupervised kids. Even though the parents are right there they provide no supervision. This was the case at breakfast. This one kid, maybe 8 or 9 years old, was just standing at the pancake roller pushing the button watching the pancake roll out. The pancake roller produces two small pancakes at a time. This kid just kept pushing the button. As I was standing behind him waiting my turn, I counted 8-cake already on his plate and two more on the Roller.

I finally brought this attention to the breakfast attendant who did say something to the kids’ mother who was just standing by watching. The mother, just laughed and said that “He is just fascinated with it and like to watch them come out.”  To make matters worse she just threw the 12 pancakes into the trash. What a waste of good food. The kid was a total brat that had never had a day of discipline in his life. Mother on the other hand is a complete waste of humanity.  People like her have no business reproducing.

I was really pissed but I did manage to hold my tongue and not say anything. I managed to get four pancakes before the machine ran out of batter.  Rant over.

By the time I finished breakfast and packed up it was close to 9 a.m. when I checked out of the hotel and hit the road. My destination for today is Grand Rapids, which is only about 130 miles away, so I am just going to take my time.

My first stop of the day took me through the backroad through the small towns of Stockbridge and Williamston, Michigan. Near Williamston, I stopped at Mount Calvary Cemetery to visit the grave of one of the biggest heels in professional wrestling.

The GPS Coordinates on Find-A=Grave were off and it took me a few minutes to find the grave of Edward George Farhat, better known to professional wrestling fans as “The Sheik.”

The Man Wrestling Fans knew as “The Sheik” was born on June 7, 1926, in Lansing, Michigan. After serving in the US Army during World War II, he started wrestling in the Midwest and soon became one of professional wrestling's biggest box office attractions. In the late 1960s, he wrestled regularly in Canada where he was undefeated for 127 matches going into the early 1970s.

He went on to become one of the biggest stars of the WWE, being billed from Iran, the Shiek appeared in Arabian dress and would enrage the fan by throwing fire in to the face of his opponents. He was one of the most hated wrestlers in history.

He retired from active wrestling in 1998 but continue to make appearance from time to time as a manager. When Sabu joined World Championship Wrestling in 1995, The Sheik accompanied him as his manager. During Sabu's match at Halloween Havoc, The Sheik suffered a broken leg, which forced him to retire.

In retirement The Sheik returned to Michigan, living quietly here in the Williamston Area. On January 18, 2003, He suffered a heart attack and passed away and was buried here in the Mount Calvary Cemetery just outside of Williamston.

After leaving Mount Calvary Cemetery, I headed over to Michigan’s Capital City of Lansing. The drive over from Williamston to Lansing took only about 30 minutes.  Now, my original plan was to make a couple of quick photo stops at the Spartan Stadium and the Breslin Center, home of the Michigan State Football and Basketball Teams. But there was a massive amount of construction going on around the stadium and I couldn’t get anywhere close to it.  I was only able to do a drive by of the Breslin Center and snap a couple of quick photos out of the window of the car.

Next on my list was to drive into downtown Lansing and visit the State Capitol. I wanted to get my State Capitol Passport Stamp. Last night I had looked on the map to see where I could find available parking near the Capitol Building.

But when I arrived in downtown Lansing I was once again greeted by closed streets and construction. I could not figure out how to get to one of the parking lots that I had marked and when I got to the parking garage that I had used as my second choice, I found that it was full. Some times things just don’t go as planned and you have to move on.

Not wanting to waste any more time I decided to get out of town and head west toward Grand Rapids. My original plan was to get to Grand Rapids late in the day and then Tour the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum first thing in the Morning. But now,0 Google Maps says I will be arriving shortly after noon so I will have the entire afternoon to spend at the Museum.

It took me just about an hour and a half to make 100-mile drive to Grand Rapids.  I was able to quickly find parking in the free dedicated lot located adjacent to the Museum. There is a free parking lot right next to the museum. 

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is located right on the banks of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. As you walk along the path along the river you get an awesome view of the downtown skyline. 

t was 12:30 p.m. when I purchased my ticket and began my self-guided tour of the museum. Most presidential museums are also home the the presidential library where all of the presidential papers are stored and available to researchers. 

Grand Rapids is only home to the Ford Presidential Museum. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is located on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which was President Fords alma mater. 

Gerald R. Ford was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. Ford assumed the presidency after the resignation of President Richard Nixon, under whom he had served as the 40th vice president from 1973 to 1974. He was appointed Vice President following the resignation of  Spiro Agnew.. Prior to that, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973. He is the Only person to serve as President and Vice President not to be elected to either office. He did run for reelections as president, but was defeated by Jimmy Carter..

The Ford Presidential Museum does a great job highlighting the life of our 38^th President, from his Birth as Leslie King in Omaha, Nebraska, his long service as a congressman, to his becoming Vice President and Then President.

In 1963, then congressman Ford Served on the Warren Commission, which was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the assassination of President John Kennedy. Later as President he led the nation following the Watergate Scandal. While at the time many people criticized President Ford for the way he led the Notion in the post Watergate era, especially the Pardoning of Richard Nixon. But today most people think he provided sound leadership during one of our nations most troubling times. My Personal opinion some 50-years later, President Ford was exactly the right person to “End our Long National Nightmare,” and lead out nation in the Post Watergate.Era.

The Museum is also the final resting place of President Ford and his wife Betty. After finishing my tour of the museum, I made my way down a path that runs along side the Grand River to the graves of the President and First Lady.

President Ford chose Grand Rapids as the site of his Presidential Museum and final resting place because he considered Grand Rapids his hometown even though he had homes in Vail, Colorado and Palm Springs, California. He represented the Grand Rapids Area in Congress for more than 25-years before being appointed Vice President. 

After paying my respects to President and Mrs. Ford it was time to wrap up my visit and head to the Hotel.  I had considered staying at the Holiday Inn Right Next door to the Museum but there is a Drury Inn located in East Grand Rapids about 10-miles away. I actually passed it on the way into town. 

It took me only about 20 minutes to make it back to the Drury Inn, arriving just a few minutes after 3:30. This is earlier than I had planned on ending the day but since I basically had to skip everything in Lansing, I and now ahead of schedule.

According to the National Archives there are 13 active Presidential Libraries and Museums that are under their control and administration. Of those 13, I have visited 10. The only ones administered by the National Archives that I have not visited are Kennedy Museum in Massachusetts, and the Nixon and Reagan Museums in California. I have also visited the Rutherford B. Hayes Library and Museum Yesterday and plan to visit the Lincoln Museum on this trip. But they are administered by Private Foundation and not the National Archives.

Well, this turned out to be a short but really good day.  I was able to scratch a bucket list site off my list with my visit to the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. I didn’t have to leave the hotel for supper as I took advantage of the 5:30 kickback here at the Drury Inn.

Today, my drive from Ann Arbor to Grand Rapids covered only 155 miles, which brings the total miles for this adventure to 721.

Tomorrow will most likely be a trave day as I head west and make my way around Chicago. Something that I am not looking forward to.