Music, Lakes and Dunes

Thursday, September 8, 2016

What a full but fabulous day! After having breakfast at the Quality Inn in Traverse City and then checking out,  we headed to the Music House Museum just a couple of miles away in Acme.

Before joining the bus group already on the guided tour in the huge barn area, the person collecting the admissions showed us this very unusual piano.  It is called a giraffe piano because of its height. But is sounds like a grand piano and even sort of looks like a tall grand (if you were to raise the back part of a grand upwards that is).  Only four were made.

The guided section is filled with a variety of elaborate and unusual automated musical instruments - many of which our guide played after giving us some history and stories behind them. Two were nickolodean pianos, one with a continuous roll with 15 songs on it.  These play ragtime type music

This next very beautiful instrument played a different type of roll hidden behind cabinet doors providing a beautiful sound.  The keyboard keys did not move.  In fact, the company decided that a cheaper way to build one of these was to just eliminate the "piano look" and just put it in a cabinet.

 So the later offerings looked more like this still giving not only a piano sound but drum and xylophone too.

Another company came up with this musical instrument that provided violin music.  It was intriguing to watch how all the mechanics worked providing all of the string sounds as well as vibrato.

This mechanical organ was used in an amusement park to draw people to its music provided right by the rides.  Of course, those hearing it would then want to get on the rides.  It didn't use a roll but rather what looked like the original computer punch sheets that were continuous and in a rectangular shape.  Several different instrumental sounds came out of this including drums, cymbals, and horns.

A peak behind the facade revealed a better look at all the contraptions that helped provide the music.

This theater organ used to sit in the Cinderella Theater in Detroit providing background music for silent movies.  We were treated to a short silent while this instrument provided the necessary sound affects.  FUN!

But the major treat was hearing this huge "player" organ was used in Belgium to provide music for dancing in a dance hall.  It had a huge variety of instrumental sounds.  WOW, what a sound!! As you can see it just barely fits in the loft of this barn like building.

At this point our original tour guide encouraged the bus group to go visit the other galleries on their own and check out the shop.  Meanwhile all those of us who had come in after that tour started were led by another guide who went back to the beginning of the tour.  This works out as a very well planned continuous led tour for those coming in and various times.

We were then treated to several wonderful old music boxes one of which used a disc that was 15 inches in diameter.  All that size and all you got was 2 minutes of music!!!!!!  How things have changed in the last 100 + years.  

Player pianos, one similar to one that we had and now our youngest daughter has, were also on of a different type and ability to produce music.  This one with its gold leaf trim was in the Fisher Mansion for years.  It had the ability to provide the dynamics of the music and we had an opportunity to hear Rhapsody in Blue as it would have been played by its composer as it was created from a recording made by him.  Beautiful!!!  It took over 5 years for those at the museum to bring it back to its full glory after it had been placed in a college where kids pounded on it at all times of the day and night.

There were displays of a variety of juke boxes,

a great variety of record players

and even roll recorders such as Edison first created.

 In fact, there was even a large display of recording rolls for those machines.

After our long tour along with visiting the other areas with collections of musical machines and plus doing a bit of shopping in the interesting little shop, we drove to Glen Arbor to visit the Cherry Republic Shops (they offer loads of food and drink items all from cherries) and enjoy some lunch.

My chicken salad (with dried cherries mixed in) was on slices of cherry bread and served with cole slaw that had cherries in it.  I had a cherry drink with it. Kens salad also had dried cherries in it and he had a cherry cola.

Just about a mile away is the cottage where Beth, Dean and the boys love to vacation.  It sits on Glen Lake.  From there we drove the short distance to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore and did the driving tour through the park getting out for some view of the beautiful sand dunes and views of Glen Lake and Lake Michigan.  The sun actually did come out and provide us with a bit of blue color for the water though the high humidity and heat caused a mist to rise off the water so we couldn't see very far out.  Much the same affect as we had yesterday when we were at Mackinac Island.

At this stop we could look out at both Big and Little Glen Lakes

And here was Little Glen Lake in the foreground with Lake Michigan in the background.  The dunes here are covered with vegetation.

But when you look off to the left of this spot you do see exposed sand areas as well

There are many many trails in the area including one you can see here that takes you over the dunes to Lake Michigan.  Most of the dunes now have loads of trees growing on them helping to anchor them in place.  I can remember when I was younger visiting here and seeing mostly sand that was always on the move and known to "swallow" cottages and other buildings as it moved.

Probably the prettiest spot to visit provides a short walk though the woods to a boardwalk that takes you up the hilly dune to some gorgeous lookouts

At this point where I'm standing you can climb another 600 feet up the sand hills for another viewpoint but because of my bad back we chose to just relax and enjoy the view we had over 400 feet above Lake Michigan where the dunes take a huge drop down. In fact, this is the sign at the edge of one dune that drops at a very steep angle.

This is the first time I've ever seen that hill minus people who ignore the sign and make the trek anyway.  I often wonder how many wish they hadn't done it once they get part way down.  We understand it costs hundreds of dollars if rescue is necessary.  

Around 4:30 we finally decided we really must head for home so we waved farewell to the beautiful dunes and Lake Michigan and climbed in the car for the four hour trip back to our RV at Groveland Oaks.

What a beautiful three days of travel!!!!