Joslyn Castle to Detroit - Thursday, October 10, 2019

Up early and down to breakfast followed by a load up of our luggage onto the bus. We then motored a scant two blocks to the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) for a relatively short tour. Our guide sped us through the museum, pointing out some highlights and beautiful works of art, culminating with a stop in the huge gallery holding the Diego Rivera frescoed murals. This work is a stunning site in itself, and when coupled with a lecture explanation of all the panels and the various themes that Rivera was communicating, you come away with a much better understanding of this artist and his times. The DIA encompasses over 650,000 square feet with over 100 galleries and a collection of over 65,000 pieces of art. The scope of the institute is mind boggling. The real treat is that, due to non-stop flights from Detroit, one could fly to detroit, take a cab from the airport to the museum, spend a few hours enjoying and tasting its offerings, and then back to the airport and on to your ultimate destination. A great day trip with non-stops to cities all over the world.

We then lunched at the DIA cafeteria and boarded our bus for our last home of the trip - The Edsel and Elaine Ford home, in Gross Pointe, a mere ten miles from the city. This home, set on over 175 acres along the Lake St. Clare waterfront, is a superb example of Alfred Kahn’s Cotswold cottage architecture and the vision of the Fords. This is a true family home with a subdued scale, especially considering the wealth of the owners. The home is designed to be lived in by a family, this one which had 4 lively and engaged children, all of whom went on to some renown. The grounds are particularly stunning, designed by Jens Jensen, the same landscape architect that is reputed to have lent his design hand to parts of our own Joslyn Castle. After a walk of the grounds and a stop in the gift shop, we loaded up the coach for our final stop of the day.

We headed back into downtown Detroit, along the Detroit River to the Pewabic Ceramics studio.

The building built in 1906, is the home of the world famous Pewabic Pottery works. The name Pewabic is from the northern Michigan copper mine area and was picked by its founder, Mary Chase Perry Stratton. Ms. Perry Stratton became a world famous potter and eventual leader of architectural ceramics use throughout the world. We toured the facility, learning of its history, its workings and the way in which the tiles are created, formed, fired and glazed. There was time for shopping in the retail area and a number of pieces are now in Omaha homes.

At 6:00, we left for our drive to the airport, sorting out of the bags, travails with boarding passes and TSA, quick meals, and finally, at 8:45, our flight leaves for Omaha. We arrive home at 9:40 Omaha time and head home, educated about Detroit, our appetites whetted for another trip to this amazing gem of a City with Architecture, Museums and 300 years of history embedded. It was not what we thought it would be and also more than we though it would be. Well worth a future visit.

Joslyn Castle to Detroit, Wednesday, October 9, 2019

We awake today to clear skies and temperatures in the upper 50’s - boding for a great day. Our group meets in the lobby breakfast room for coffee, scrambled eggs, toast, pastries, juices and other goodies. All were well satisfied with the breaking of the fast. Most slept well, although one claimed to have fallen from a great height out of bed! (No witnesses, but she is a credible person!)

We mount our coach at 9:30 for our drive north to Bloomfield Hills and our day’s visit to Cranbrook Art Academy. This 300-acre campus includes elementary, middle and high schools currently enrolling approximately 1,600 students. In addition it enrolls college graduates in its world famous arts disciplines, leading to post-graduate degrees in painting, metal-smithing, fabrics, ceramics, woodworking and architecture. The Cranbrook Institute of Science features exhibitions, planetarium, observatory and native plant garden.

There are also the Cranbrook Art Museum, Christ Church and historic houses and gardens. Easily a multi-day destination which we are going to skim in a mere 8 hours. Cranbrook is the creation of Elaine and George Booth. The Booths were the scions of the Detroit Free Press paper and the Booth Newspaper chain. They were fabulously wealthy and very intent on giving back to their community. They purchased the original 175 acres as a retreat from the city for their family and enlisted architect Alfred Kahn to create the Cranbrook Booth home. Soon they decided to add some schools and asked Kahn to design more structures. Kahn demurred as he was busy designing factories for Henry Ford so he recommended Eliel Saarinen, Finnish architect who was lecturing at Michigan University. Saarinen accepted, moved to the property and began designing, teaching and building. Thus begun one of the great partnerships in art history. Saarinen, together with his wife, Textile Artist Kjola Saarinen began teaching and training. They created a campus of buildings, museums and workshops unmatched in the U.S. We started with a stroll from the peristyle of the Museum building, through the gardens and eventually to the Saarinen House, which he created to serve as the home of he and his wife and, as he served as the President of Cranbrook Academy until his death in 1950, the home also served as the home of the president. You might recall that Eliel and Kiola’s son Aero Saarinen was himself a famous architect, designing the St. Louis Arch and the TWA terminal at LaGuardia airport among other commissions.

Following Saarinen House, we traveled further to the Booth Cranbrook House and Garden. This original home of the Booth family is modeled on a Cotswold Tudor style home. Booth ancestors were from England, and originally from a small village called Cranbrook, which means field of the crane. Hence the name of the estate. Our group toured the house and then sat down in the huge dining area (formerly the library) for an afternoon “high tea” of sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jam and petit-four desert treats. Following lunch we strolled the gardens of the home and took a quick look at the gift shop (underwhelming.)

We then headed to the Inn on Ferry Street and back to our rooms for a slight rest before reconvening in the lounge for a cocktail and then onto the bus for a drive to our evening restaurant, Rock City Eatery, only a short drive away. We were joined at dinner by our son and daughterin-law, Jake and Audrey Covert, who live in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Ridge. We enjoyed our hamburgers, mac & cheese, salads and other typical pub fair. Plus conversation and review of the days sites and activities. We were back in our beds, safely tucked in by 10:00, preparing for our final day tomorrow.

JCT Detroit October 8, 2019

Our group of 15 friends and acquaintances, all supporters of Joslyn Castle Trust of Omaha, gather at 8:30 AM at Omaha Eppley Airfield for their Delta Airlines flight to Detroit. Bags are checked or not, boarding passes are distributed and we depart at 10:30 for Detroit. The flight is smooth with clear skies. We arrive about 5 minutes ahead of schedule, collect our 16th member arriving from Houston 3 minutes after our arrival and head to the carousel to pick up the checked bags. All bags arrive intact and we traipse out to the parking area to meet our bus.

We motor into downtown Detroit and stop at Jimmy John’s to pick up our preordered sandwiches and collect our Detroit City Tour Guide, Karen, and proceed on a tour of the city while we wolf down our sandwiches, chips, cookies and bottles of water.

Our first stop is at GM Renaissance Center and riding the elevator to the top of a garage where we viewed a rooftop garden and beekeeping facility. This gave us an overview of this 300 year old city and a glimpse of the buildings that populate this area. We stared across the Detroit River to the City of Windsor, Ontario, looking directly south to our Northern neighbor Canada.

Leaving the interior and winter garden courtyard (right) of the Renaissance Center, we head for a unique structure, The Z Garage, one of a number of buildings owned by Dan Gilbert, the CEO of Quicken Loans and the initial driver of the current Detroit Renaissance. This garage has artwork on every floor, and from the the 10 floor level, we could see all around the area, including a recent painting of Stevie Wonder on the side of one of the buildings.

We leave the garage and walk through an adjoining pedestrian alley whose adjoining walls are covered in art and graffiti. The area is lined by small shops, bars and restaurants. At the end we reboard our motor coach.

Next we head towards the Guardian Building, constructed in 1928 as the headquarters of the Guardian Bank. This phenomenal structure has the entire former first floor retail banking floor now converted to shops and stores. The 5 story tall lobby area is topped by a faux tile ceiling actually made of canvas and horsehair padding to reduce sound. There is no echo here.

On next to the Fisher Building. This 28 storey building was built by the Fisher Brothers, as headquarters for the Fisher Coachworks corporation. It is across the street from the former GM headquarters, now the Cadillac Place building, housing government offices. The Fisher Building is a work of art, designed by the architect Alfred Kahn. The lower exterior of the structure is granite, and then the upper storeys are marble. Inside, the lobby is polished brass, marble and art work everywhere.

From here we drive to MoTown for a look at the houses that formed the original Motown record label founded here in Detroit by Barry Gordy. We did not tour the museum, but did step out to listen to the music being played and for photo ops on the front porch.

From here we headed to our hotel for the rest of the trip, the Inn on Ferry Street. This collection of early 20th century mansions located a block from the Detroit Institute of Art. We take over one entire mansion and its adjoining arraign house. After a quick curt case drop, we convene in the lobby of the mansion which serves as the restaurant and office for a cocktail. We then walk a block to our restaurant, Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails. Meals included Scallops, Merguez Sausge hors d’oevres, potato dumplings, chopped salad, twice cooked egg salad, basil ricotta tortellini with shrimp, short rib and Babette Steak. A few desserts followed.

We walked back to our mansions to rest and recuperate from our busy first day in Detroit, retiring around 10:00 and looking for an exciting second day.

Joslyn Castle Tour Day 4 Thursday, October 11, 2018

Our final day - awakening to rain forecast to last all day. Today will be a full day. Breakfast as usual, the powdered eggs the driest yet, so glad to back up with a hard boiled egg - bacon returned to the menu. Due to today’s lengthy travel times back into New York State, we have ordered Subway sandwiches for the troops; our leader directs the factotum to strike out in the rain across the highway to pick up the 22 sandwiches, 22 cookies, 22 bags of chips and 20 bottles of water.

Off we head about 9:15, all bags loaded on the coach and all rain gear on board as we will likely need it today. Our first stop is the home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, known as Steepletop, located in Austerlitz New York. ESVM and her husband Eugen built this small clapboard home on the site of a former berry farm. Millay lived here for the last 25 years of her life, eventually dying in the home. It was bequeathed to her sister Norma who lived for an additional 36 years in the home, then setting up the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society for the preservation of the home and grounds.

This is a small, obviously lived in, and loved home. Again, all the furnishings are as Millay left them, so moving around in our group was a challenge, particularly as this is a small home. The rain deterred much walking around on the grounds (except for a hardy few) but the home left such a feeling of personality that it was worth missing most of the surrounding area. The Society maintains a small gallery and gift shop on the property which did get some patronage.

Sad to report that this Society is struggling and they may close this year due to lack of funding. They do own the literary rights to Millay’s works and own some 200 acres surrounding the home, but they have already sold off a large chunk of the ground to the State of New York as a forest preserve. Many of us have been to the Red Cloud area and seen the marvellous work and preservation of the Willa Cather Foundation. When comparing that to the Millay Society, one hopes their Trustees can see the way forward to maintain and grow another great American author’s legacy. Both were towering American literary figures, Pulitzer Prize winners and strong female advocates

We re-board the coach and head eastward towards the village of Hudson, New York. Enroute the sub sandwiches and chips are handed out as the coach rocked back and forth like a ship at sea; then silence rains down (just like outside) as we dine in quiet contemplation. Our destination is Olana, a New York State Historical site. This is the home of Frederic Edwin Church, a towering figure in the Hudson River School of painters, who specializes in large (like 8’ x 10’) landscape paintings.

Church designed this home after his around the world honeymoon tour. The home sits on a hilltop with commanding views of the Hudson River Valley and the Catskills mountains. The home, completed in 1870, was designed by Church and decorated in a Phoenician / Arabian motif. Again, most of the furnishings are original to the home so we received the by now, standard lecture to not touch, lean or sit on anything. We were admonished not to even touch the doors, as they were stencilled by the artist and so were works of art.

Although the home was chocked full of eclectic articles from church’s travels and hung through out with paintings, both of artists he admired, and some of his own studies and paintings, some of the true beauty here is the setting of the structure and the dramatic vistas. Although the rain continued to pour, the fog and cloudiness eventually lifted enough that we could get a feel for the views Church so admired and which he immortalized in some of his most renowned work.

We left Olana and headed back towards Albany and the airport for the last leg of our journey. We arrived at the airport around 4:15 and were checked in and sitting in the bar for a last gathering and discussions of the trip prior to our 6:30 departure. All flights were on time, even Chicago was not a hassle, and we landed back at Eppley at 10:30, 15 minutes behind schedule. After luggage and drop offs, we finally returned to our own beds by 12:45, a long day but a most fulfilling trip.

Joslyn Castle Tour Day 3 Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Once again up and breakfast at Yankee Inn. Today sausage instead of bacon, but otherwise all the same. Deb enjoys her bagel and peanut butter while I add a hard boiled egg to the mix. All 21 of us seem to have survived the evening and are rarin’ to go at 9:30 for our penultimate day of the trip.

We head out on a sunny morning towards Naumkaeg, the family home of the John Choate family, located in Stockbridge. Choate was a very high powered attorney and eventually Ambassador to England at the turn of the 20th century. He was received in Great Britain by Queen Victoria, attended her funeral and also the coronation of Edward in his diplomatic position. His brother was the founder of the famous Choate boys school.

This shingled cottage was completed in 1903 but it’s current state, both of the home and the fabulous gardens, were the result of the care of his daughter, Mabel Choate. She owned the “cottage” for 38 years and is responsible for all the preservation. She had the foresight to deed the property over to trustees prior to her death in 1958 and her bequest included all the furnishings and contents of the home, together with the grounds and a $1,000,000 endowment.

Consequently, this home is preserved as it was left in 1958, including all of Mabel’s collections from her world travel and all the decorative touches and furnishings she treasured. All is well preserved, and the home looks as if it is still occupied. Quite a feat. The grounds and gardens are also stunning, being designed by Mabel and her garden designer Fletcher Steele. Steele actually served on the Board of Trustees for years following Mabel’s death and so was able to preserve his designs for posterity.

We leave Naumkeag and stop at a Brewery/Restaurant for a lunch of a burger and a pint and then head into Lenox to view The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home. Wharton designed this home herself and it was completed in 1902. Whereas Naumkeag was a 44 room shingled “cottage”, The Mount is a balanced whitewashed stone mansion somewhat reminiscent of a balanced federalist style home.

In this instance, Wharton only lived here for 11 years before moving to France and living the last 26 years of her life there. As she sold the home and it was eventually tenanted by a girls school, all the furnishings and appointments on view are recreations. Even so, it is a marvellous, light filled mansion of unusual layout. Again the gardens and grounds are stunning, even though the season is changing. The view over the lawns to the pond is dramatic, and a walk through the garden “rooms” very delightful.

We hop back into the coach and return to the Yankee Inn for a clothing change, a cocktail in the bar (which the hotel opened just for our group as it is normally not open except on the weekends) and then back into Stockbridge to dinner at the Red Lion Inn. This hotel and restaurant has been on site at this coaching corner of Stockbridge since 1797. Although not the original structure, due to a fire in the late 19th century, it continues as a prime example of Berkshires /Adirondack hostelry. There is a wide porch surrounding the 100 room structure with rocking chairs filled with guests.

The restaurant was very good, and meals such as braised lamb on rice, mussels on wild Indian rice, scallops with Fargo large and peppers, and trout on a bed of rice. Wine was fine and evidently the desserts were a treat. We assemble again for the quick trip back to Lenox and Yankee Inn, sated, sighted and ready to rest for our final day.

Joslyn Castle Tour Day 2 Tuesday, October 10, 2018

A beautiful but slightly foggy morning here at Yankee Inn in the Massachusetts Berkshires. A breakfast reminiscent of a Hampton Inn - scrambled eggs (probably powdered) bacon, bagels, banana or hard boiled egg, cereals and a waffle machine. Could be worse I suppose, but the coffee is good.

We climb aboard our oversized coach this morning at 9:30 for the short trip to Stockbridge and the Norman Rockwell Museum. The museum is everything Rockwell, hundreds of his original paintings, all of his 300 Saturday Evening Post covers on display, plus a significant number of other works, War Bond posters, Boys Life covers, advertising pieces for Ford, General Electric, California Raisins and others.

A current show on display is a mounting of a number of the artists and illustrators who were teachers and inspirations to Rockwell, together with a lot of information on his life and family, his children, his three wives and his ancestors.

The museum sits on some hundred acres of rolling wooded countryside abutting the Housatonic River, and includes a stone “cottage”, formerly owned by the Musgrave family which now serves as the headquarters of the Norman Rockwell Foundation. Also on the grounds is the small red barn structure that served as Rockwell’s last studio, fitted out as if he had just stepped away for a moment. The grounds are very well maintained and planted. The Museum itself dates only from 1993 and was designed by Robert A.M. Stern. The studio building was moved to the site from its original location in the village of Stockbridge. A very interesting stop, although the Foundation headquarters building was not open to the public.

We left Stockbridge at 12:30 and motored back to Lenox for our luncheon and appointment at Ventefort, a 28,000 square foot Jacobean style “cottage” built in 1903 by Sarah and George Morgan. Sarah was the sister of J.P. Morgan and her husband was a 7th cousin, so she was Sarah Morgan Morgan!

We were served a very pleasant lunch in the dining room or on the front porch, overlooking a lawn down to the Housatonic. As our tour is sponsored and a function of the Sarah and George Joslyn home, we were very interested in our tour of this home. Our general impression is that the Joslyn home is further along in its restoration than the Morgan home. Ventefort was sold a few times and finally was in the process of being stripped of its paneling and parts in anticipation of being demolished to make way for a senior living home prior to its being saved by a fundraiser and assigned to the Historic Trust, there has been and continues to be a lot of restoration needed, both interior and exterior.

The parallels with Joslyn are numerous, the methods used for funding, such as Designer Show houses, use as a wedding venue, staging of mystery plays, were familiar.  This home is larger than the nearly 20,000 square foot Joslyn home, and sits on 11 acres of ground versus our 5+ acres, but otherwise much the same as of its age and times. This home is of brick, features three floors (although only the first plus 1/2 of the second are now available for viewing) but both have a bowling alley in the basement, and are struggling to maintain a flavour of the age. I will say that the Joslyn grounds are in much better shape, with its gardens and plantings. This emphasis is missing at Ventefort.

We leave here at 3:30, some of the group returning to the hotel for a rest, and the majority trouping off for a walkabout in historic Lenox, stopping in at art galleries, looking at clothing stores, and stopping for a drink at outdoor patios along the way. Back to the Yankee Inn and then off to an Italian restaurant for our satisfying meal. We are back in our rooms before 9:00 and a chance to rest after a busy day.

Joslyn Castle Tour - Day 1 - Tuesday, October 8, 2018

This morning we depart Omaha for Albany, New York with our group of 21 friends (old and new) for a 4-day tour of western Massachusetts with friends and supporters of Joslyn Castle. We meet at 9:30 at Eppley Airfield for the first leg of our trip, headed to Chicago for a plane change.

As usual, full flights with all the tender handling that only U.S. carriers can provide. Although the instructions were to avoid checking a bag, not only to save the group possible time but to avoid $25.00 checked baggage charges, it was unavoidable that a few (eight) would check bags.

We depart on time and arrive in Chicago eight minutes ahead of schedule - great start. Unfortunately, no room at the gate - a stumble. We are only three gates away from our next departure - again a good sign. One of our party requires a wheelchair ride to the gate - not a good sign. The next flight is totally packed but we manage to get on and depart only 20 minutes behind schedule and wing eastward in the fiendish skies of United towards Albany.

An uneventful flight and again we arrive right on the dot. As our tiring crew struggles towards the baggage claim, Deb suggests that I sprint (not a pretty sight,) to grab the checked bags off the carousel. All arrive (passengers and luggage) without mishap and we flag down our 48 passenger (larger than expected) coach for the trip eastward to our eventual destination of Lenox Massachusetts.

With a stop at the bus barn to replace the microphone for the on-board sound system, we arrive at our destination around 7:00, the Zinc Bistro restaurant for our meal. Once we are settled at our table and the cocktails arrive, the party perks up. We enjoy a wonderful meal, renew or make new acquaintances and end the meal 2 hours later in a convivial and jovial manner. Back on our coach and on to the Yankee Inn, our home for the next three nights.

A long and tiring day, especially for our ever faithful leader, guide and organizer, the love of my life, Deb. She “done good” today and deserves her rest before the next three days of cat herding. The weather was good, the flights on time, no bags were lost and only one of the group took a fall - that was at the very end of the day, with no damage. (No, it wasn’t Deb!) Onward for another adventure.