Monday, June 22, 2015

Adventure Caravans Traversing Michigan Tour June 22, 2015

Chelsea and Ann Arbor, MI Tour 

Today, we boarded a bus to go sightseeing in this part of Michigan.  First was a tour of the Jiffy Milling Company, home of the Jiffy Mix collection of baking mixes.  The Jiffy plant in Chelsea is the one and only place that produces Jiffy Mixes.

Earl and I (Fran) posed with the Jiffy Box Mascot outside the entrance.



They have many elevators that hold the various types of grains used to produce the many flavors of mixes.

We started the tour of the plant by watching two movies, then we had to "dress" for the walking tour through the plant.  They gave us hair covers and beard covers as demonstrated by this couple.

We were able to see how they make everything on site, from the boxes the product goes into, to the milling of the grains that are used, to the mixing of the ingredients for the particular baked goods, to the packaging and shipping of the items to the stores, restaurants and institutions around the U. S. A. and the world.  No photography was allowed in the assembly line area, so no pictures of that to post.  It was all very interesting.  We even got some samples and a goody bag of items at the end of the tour.  As we were getting ready to get back on the bus to leave, a very large semi-truck was arriving to get a load of Jiffy Mixes to take around the country.

Chelsea has a very old clock tower.  It has been refurbished, but the clock, itself, was not working when we saw it.  There are some reflections on the window that I was taking the picture from, but I think you can still see the clock tower.


From Chelsea, we traveled to Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan.  The tour of the stadium that we were supposed to take was cancelled because the new football coach (Jim Harbaugh formerly from the San Francisco 49ers) wanted his team to be on the field for practice.  This is as much as we got to see of the U of M Stadium.


We rode around campus.  Here are a couple of the buildings.  


This is the Medical Center Campus.

The Michigan Theater was our next stop.  This is an original theater that has been historically preserved and is still in use.  Back in the early days, before TV and radio, people got all of their news and entertainment at the theater.  There were many theaters in Ann Arbor, as well as other cities and towns of the time.  Each neighborhood had one where the people would gather.  Over time as other means of communication were developed and became popular, the theaters gradually had to close.  This is the Marquee for the Michigan Theater.

The lobby.  The concession stand was added later

Half of the grand staircase.  The other half would be to the left of the picture. 

Close-up view of the ceiling under the area at the top of the staircase.

Then we went into the main theater.  It is the very original theater.  This photo is taken from the front, looking back at the balcony and ceiling.

There was an orchestra pit with a live orchestra, in the beginning.  Then the organ was developed and replaced the live orchestra for the silent movies and newsreels.  This is the organ.  The pipes and instruments were hidden in the wall behind the window-like grill.  We had a short demonstration of the organ.


Currently, the theater is used for various kinds of performances and a newer theater addition is used to show movies, independent films and documentaries daily.  The seats are plush and a rosy pink.

The wall on each side is painted with a mural depicting several of  the old theaters that were in Ann Arbor during its early days.

This was a busy day of touring.  Tomorrow is going to be another touring day, this time in Detroit.


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