|
TOURS AND
ACTIVITIES IN WESTERN MICHIGAN
NOTE:
All tours commence after programming of Friday, September 19, 2003.
The
tour of the Meyer May House-Frank Lloyd Wright House has been canceled.
Tour
Brochure and Registration Form
Tour #1
Downtown Walking Tour and Museum Crawl
Grab lunch downtown, then join us for a ten-block downtown walking tour
(less than ¾ of a mile) and visit the museums on Museum Row. You'll
start at the Van Andel Museum and spend some time in the past. See the
history of the "Furniture City". Then you'll cross Pearl St.
(a.k.a. Museum Row) to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, with its
full-scale reproduction of the Oval Office. You'll continue your walk
through Ah-Nab-Awen Park across the Grand River where lumber was sent
to sawmills and furniture factories. You'll walk past many historic buildings
for short architectural stops and then go to the Grand Rapids Art Museum
(GRAM). If you wish, you can add an additional stop at the UICA (Urban
Institute of Contemporary Arts).
Cost: $20 (includes all museum admissions)
Tour
#2
Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
If gardens and art are your "thing" then you'll really enjoy
this premier botanical garden and sculpture park. You'll see several plant
environments in the greenhouses and around the outside areas of the park.
The most famous sculpture is Il Cavallo, designed by Leonardo da Vinci,
and sculpted by Nina Akamu. This amazing piece of art is one of the main
attractions of this intriguing garden park. Start your afternoon at the
Gardens Café and enjoy a gourmet lunch for around $10.00.
Cost: $20 (includes admission, tram, and transportation to & from
the museum)
Tour
#3
Saugatuck/Douglas Lakeshore Trip
Often called the "Cape Cod of the Midwest" you will love wandering,
shopping and eating in this trendy, artsy, community. There are a multitude
of galleries, antique shops and lakeshore activities to tempt you. This
will be a walk-about tour, with a drop-off point and meet point at the
end of the afternoon. About a 40 minute trip south west of Grand Rapids,
you can pick up a boxed lunch as you head out for your day of adventure
on the lakeshore.
Cost: $25 (includes transportation, boxed lunch)
Tour
# 4
Voigt House
Victorian Museum
The staff of
the Voigt House Victorian Museum, located
in the Heritage Hill national historic district, has graciously offered
to host
a luncheon in the home's exquisite dining room and a tour of the house.
They
can accommodate up to 20 guests. A brief tour of the Heritage Hill
neighborhood, including an exterior tour of the Meyer May House, will
follow the
Voigt house visit if time permits.
A little about
the Voigt residence: built in 1895, the house bespoke the
prosperity and social status of the Carl G.A. Voigt family, who were the
only
family to reside in the house. It is filled with the original furnishings,
household goods and a myriad of family members' personal possessions and
papers,
and the interiors have changed little since the turn of the last century
despite
the passage of time. It is now a property of the Public Museum of Grand
Rapids,
and is a symbol of Grand Rapids' Victorian heyday. More information on
the
house and pictures can be found at
http://www.grmuseum.org/voigt/vhistory/index.htm
Because of
timelines, we ask that you express your intention to sign up for this
tour by Friday, August 8. The cost will remain at $20 and include
transportation, lunch, and the house tour. If there is not sufficient
interest,
we will not offer the tour, but need to make that decision on August 8.
Please respond
directly to me, valeria.long@vai.org. I will also be more than
happy to answer any questions regarding this or any of the other tours.
Tour
#5
Choose Your Own Adventure
For those of you who wish to explore other wonders of Southwest Michigan's
shops, beaches, breweries, wineries, and other delights, we will have
a table with brochures, directions and advice from locals so that you
can set off on your own - perhaps even on your way home. Check our website
for the links to www.visitgrandrapids.org where you can get more ideas,
as well as links to sporting venues and theater or musical offerings.
top
of page
|