Looking for information, experiences, and opinions on campgrounds in the Henry Ford Museum,and the Greenfield Village area. Also experiences on the museum and the village would be appreciated. Having started my working years as a mechanic with a Ford dealership in 1959, and finishing my last ten years of work, in 2001, working as a Parts Manager with another Ford dealership, numerous fond memories of my working within the Ford system for those many years, leads to the wanting to visit this point of interest.

I would recomend HarborTown RV Resort in Monroe, MI. It is a very nice campground about 25 Miles South of Dearborn/Detroit, exit 11 on I-75. It has pull thru sites, a beautiful clubhouse, a very nice pool, and for the traveler; Easy ON/OFF to I-75.

http://www.harbortownrv.com/

Butch, I can't help you with campgrounds in the area, but once your in the village you have to have dinner at the Eagle Tavern which is in the Main Street part of the village.

It's as if you step back in time to the mid 1850's (except for the prices, lol)...but the tavern is set up as it was then where every one ate at common long tables and their menu is what you would have had back during that time...we had the baked Walleye with lemon butter sauce and it was the best fish I had ever tasted...you also get two vegetables and huge basket of different types of breads, rolls and muffins. They also have alcoholic beverages to wet your whistle or they have effervescents (soda pop) which is served with a long tubular macaroni...which is what they used as a straw back in those days.

The whole village and museum is incredible and please leave yourself a few days to visit everything.

Have Fun!

Michigan campgrounds in the Detroit region are few in number, and for one reason or another, do not fit our needs. To those who responded, I say, thank you, your information/experiences are most appreciated. Just an additional question, has anyone used the Canadian campgrounds in the Windsor Ontario region, namely "Wildwood", ( no reviews listed), to visit the points of interest in the US, Ford museum, Greenfield Village, etc ? Was crossing the border twice a day at Windsor/Detroit a problem ?? We will more than likely have our passports by then, I hope. Travel from our home, in New York, from Buffalo to Detroit, is fewer miles traveling through Ontario Canada than by the US routes. Just a thought. Thanks.

Hi Butch,

I can't help you with personal experience about Wildwood RV and Golf Resort as my own camping experience in the area is limited to Wheatly Provincial Park, about 30 miles east of there. I checked it out on the Ontario Private Campground Owners website and they have 4 1/2 stars on 5 for facilities and recreation. The OPCOA is a serious association and their ratings are generally trustworthy.

http://www.campinginontario.ca/index.cfm?member=519-726-6176

I also checked it out with the satellite photography feature of Google maps and it is situated in the fields, with no industry, railroads or noisy interstates close, but it looks like there is little shade.

Depending on the number of days you want to spend in Detroit it may not be practical to stay on the Canadian side. (I do not know how close any good campground on the Michgan side is from Greenfield) Wildwood is about 20 miles from the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, and this could be a problem as there are sometimes long delays for crossing the border. You have to know that the Ambassador Bridge alone carries as much bilateral trade between our nations as the whole trade between the USA and Japan. For info on the delays you can check the US CBP that gives wait times for entry into the US or the Canadian BSA that gives wait times in both directions.

http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/index.asp
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/times/menu-e.html

If you like good wine, try a little detour to Kingsville, about 30 miles southeast of Windsor. There you will find Pelee Island Winery. Their vineyards are on Pelee Island which gives them a growing season two weeks longer than on the mainland, and their plant is in Kingsville. Their red wines are not very special, but their whites are as good as anything from France or Germany.

http://www.peleeisland.com

If you want to stop overnight in the area between Buffalo and Windsor and you don't mind getting by with 30 amps/no water/no sewer for one night I can recommend Long Point Provincial Park and Rondeau Provincial Park. The camping area in Long Point is nothing special, but for the beach you will have a hard time to believe you are at a lake and not at the ocean. Rondeau has beautiful vegetation, a nice campground and a good beach. For more info and reservations:

http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/index.html

This summer, you do not need a passport for coming into Canada or going back to the US. The earliest a passport is needed for land crossings is January 2008, and even this is far from sure. There are many smart people on both sides working very hard to reconcile the need for security and the need to impact cross-border traffic as little as possible. Nobody in the tourist industry in our two countries has any interest in impeding free movement of harmless tourists. So if your passport has not arrived before you trip, no worries, just come in.

Just make sure you fill your gas tanks before crossing into Canada. For example, today in southern Ontario Flying J sells gas for 0.99$ CDN per litre or 3.28$ US per gallon US, Diesel for 0.89$ CDN per litre or 2.93$ US per gallon US.

Butch,

No help on RV park but the museums were some of the best we have been to in a life time of travel. You could spent a week in that place and not see it all. I found items that we have never found in other places. The old steam power machines date back to first ones used in England. Fords first car or (gas powered wagon) was on display. Enjoy the tour.

A word of thanks to wprigge and John Blue, your info and experiences are greatly appreciated. wprigge, We are a little gun shy crossing the Canadian Border, as we had a not so nice experience with a female Canadian border officer crossing from Lubec, Maine to Campobello Island, New Brunswick. We have not been to any part of Canada since. Upon arrival home, I sent an e-mail voicing my displeasure about the incident, but never heard a word or acknowledgement from New Brunswick. All this occurred at least eight or nine years ago. Hope you can understand our concern and caution, as that was our reasoning for obtaining the passports. In our thinking, that the passports may make the crossing easier, and without all the problems, if in fact we do make the trip. We do understand that, at this time, the world has changed, and crossings are not taken lightly by either country. All in the name of everyone being safe; a good thing. Again We thank you both, and the others who responded.

Butch> We stayed at the Sterling State park when we visited the Ford Museum. Located at I-75 exit 15 and about 30 minute drive to the museum.

Full hook ups, 50A, PTs, and on the lake. Nice campground that accommodated our rig nicely. However, I wasn't happy that Michigan state park system charges an extra entry fee for a "motorized" tow vehicle. Meaning that if you have a TT or 5W, you don't. Hmmmm??

Spent the day at the Ford Museum and The Village next to it. Very enjoyable.

Rick

Butch,

I understand what you mean. A borderguard on a powertrip is a sure way of messing up your appreciation of a country. The funny thing is, on our last trip through the same bordercrossing from Maine to Campobello we also had a less than stellar welcome, also by a female official. I wonder if it was the same person. This was quite a while ago, I think it was in 1998. I have been through quite a few borders in my life, luckily no major problems so far, and no official yet that expected to get a bakshish. In my experience the worst borderguards are the ones just out of training. They need to prove themselves and do everything by the book and then some. The older ones that do not like their job and think the public is a nuisance are no fun either, but in my experience the vast majority are just trying do do their job within the parameters they get from their governments. I hope you get a decent welcome this time if you decide to take the shortcut through Canada.

As for the passport, it is still the best proof of who you are, so it is no mistake in having one. On the other hand, right now people are trying to make driver's licences more secure so they can be used at the Canada/USA border as crossing documents. There is no need to hassle harmless tourists, and the hospitality industry on both sides of the border creates a lot of jobs and money. There must be a better way to screen out the undesirables without putting off friendly retired couples on a trip for example. Given the size and coastline of our two countries and the length of our common border 100% safety is not attainable, so we must balance out all the different factors. After all, even the Berlin Wall was overcome by some truly determined people who wanted to flee the communists.

If I remember right, in one of your earlier posts you mentioned that you prefer country roads to high speed interstates. In case you do come, Highway 3 from Fort Erie to Windsor would suit you fine. It is a good road with very little traffic once out of the immediate Niagara/Fort Erie region. The stretch from St. Thomas to Windsor was originally settled by Dutch, and although this was several generations ago, they still take very good care of their properties. Very prosperous farms with well-kept buildings.

I saw you are interested in the history of the automotive industry, so you might be interested in the oil industry as well. The first commercial oil well in North America was sunk in the tiny hamlet of Oil Springs, some 100 miles north-east of Windsor, in 1858, one year before the first US well in Pennsylvania. There is a museum on the spot with a reconstruction of the well, some well pumps driven from a central powerplant via jerker lines, old railroad buildings etc. For more info you might check this:

http://www.lclmg.org/lclmg/Museums/OilMuse...14/Default.aspx

Have fun on your trip!