8/31 - Day 18 - Music and Boone's

Today started off cloudy and the day stayed a little gray until the afternoon, but we still had a great time on our last tour of the caravan.  We started at the Music House Museum(http://www.musichouse.org/), which houses an incredible collection of instruments and "music machines" from early phonographs and nickelodeons to full-sized pipe organs.  We had a very informative and entertaining tour, and all left with a greater appreciation for this genre of entertainment devices.

This upright paino was quite an interesting introduction to the collection; it's in the lobby.

The exhibits celebrate local history, like this "general store" area, not just musical machines.

This disc contains indents and stops that trigger various sounds when rotated inside one of the early music machines.

This one is a hand-cranked organ.

This Wurlitzer was used during the silent film era.  They still show them here during special exhibits.

Yes, it's a little loud,,,

This pipe organ was donated from a local church.

These bells are tied into the sound effects from the Wurlitzer.

A "player grand".

This self-playing violin was fascinating.

Later in the morning, the carpool caravan headed out the Old Mission Peninsula for a driving tour, culminating with a picnic lunch at the local lighthouse.  We saw quite a few interesting "cottages" (actually huge homes) and passed numerous orchards and vineyards on the Peninsula as we returned to Traverse City.

We're right at the 45th Parallel in this area.

This lighthouse guided navigation around the two "arms" of Traverse Bay.

Picnic lunch!

Everyone had a chance to rest and freshen up in the afternoon, and then after "social hour" we carpooled to our "final dinner" at Boones Long Lake Inn (http://www.booneslli.com/), famous locally for their Prime Rib dinners.  Many of our group took that recommendation, although others reported excellent Whitefish and Walleye preparations, and the T-Bone steak had a few takers as well.  Everyone enjoyed the great food and company.  Nancy Wolfe presented Steve and Andi with specially-selected gifts and mementos of the trip, and everyone hung around after dinner to compare notes on travel plans and destination for the future.  Friends old and new alike made plans to catch up "down the road".

We couldn't believe we were heading to our closing dinner!

No caravan would be complete without recognition for the great leaders!

Thanks!