2020 Tours
Tour #1
EDSEL & ELEANOR FORD HOME & THE FORD PIQUETTE PLANT TOUR!!
& OTHER FORD STUFF!!! (9:00-4:30) $55 (313-922-1990)
1. APRIL 30, 2020-The Edsel & Eleanor Ford Tour-
The home is an authentic witness to the past. It inspires, educates, & engages visitors through exploration! The home is located at 1100 Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Shores. It stands on the site known as “Gaulker Point” on the shore of Lake Shore Drive. The home became the new residence of Edsel & Eleanor Ford in 1928. Previously they had lived in the Indian Village Area. They had their first home at 2171 Iroquois less than a block from Stewart’s home at 2136 Seminole. Their second home was on the site of the UAW Solidarity Home at Jefferson & VanDyke. You can see a structure just to the right of the UAW House. That used to be the place where Edsel & Eleanor kept their boats! Today it is a storage place for the UAW!! Now, back to Eleanor & Edsel Ford’s wonderful home. The architects were Albert Kahn & Jens Jensen. Jensen was a Landscape Architect. The Architectural Style is English Cotswold. With our guide, we will walk around the grounds, TOUR THE HOME, & enjoy the BEAUTY!! Edsel & Eleanor had four children: Henry the 2nd, Benson, Josephine & William Clay.
Stewart has been in the GP (Grosse Pointe) Home many times. When you enter, it is like GOING TO EUROPE!! There are many impressionist & post-impressionist paintings in the home. They include– Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, & Matisse. You do not want to miss this trip. Please READ BELOW FOR ANOTHER SURPRISE! April 30-THE PIQUETTE PLANT–BIRTHPLACE- OF THE MODEL T*
(9:00-4:30) Your $55 dollars also includes the PIQUETTE PLANT!!!!!
The Piquette Plant is a former factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area in Detroit. (about 4 blocks from the Fisher Building).The Ford Piquette Plant in Detroit is “considered one of the most significant automotive heritage sites in the world”. Built in 1904, it was the second center of automobile production for the Ford Motor Company. Ford’s first factory was on the north side of Mack Avenue near Bellevue. At the Henry Ford Museum, there is a replica of the first Ford Plant. (however, it is half the size)
Visiting the (Piquette) Ford Plant is a unique experience.—-it is the oldest auto plant open to the public ANYWHERE!! The Piquette Plant is now a MUSEUM— FULL OF ANTIQUE CARS!! See the only complete collection of early Ford “alphabet” cars on display. Another interesting thing is to see the world map & notice all the different countries people are from who visit the Piquette Plant. Next, the Piquette Plant is all about the VOLUNTEERS!! So much HARD WORK!! And finally, the PIQUETTE PLANT may have not happened if it was not for Dr. Jerrry Mitchell!!!!**& MANY OTHERS!! PLEASE ENJOY THE DAY!!!! *” The car that put the world on wheels”. THE MODEL T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**As a matter of fact, when Dr. Jerry Mitchell heard of the possible razing
of the PIQUETTE PLANT he dropped out of the Wayne State Medical School where he was a Professor in Medicine. He believed that the PIQUETTE Plant was the NUMBER ONE BUILDING in the WORLD in its importance!!!!!!!!!!
Tour # 2
May 21 Detroit Celebrity Home Tour– $45
(9:30-5:00?)
ITINERARY- (Participants–Please be very careful and
on time!!! SAFETY is very important!! The 73 people listed
below once lived in Detroit. We will see about 35 of these homes as
we TOUR DETROIT! Lunch on your own on Canfield!!!
1-Dennis Archer 2-Florence Ballard 3-Jerome Bettis 4-Ivan Boesky
5-Sonny Bono 6-Jerry Bruckheimer 7-Ellen Burstyn 8-Ty Cobb
9-Francis F. Coppola 10-John Dodge 11-Dave DeBusschere
12-Carl Levin 13-John Delorean 14-Wayne Dyer 15-Sonny Elliott
16-Henry Ford 17-Aretha Franklin 18-Melvin Franklin
19-Marvin Gaye 20-Marla Gibbs 21-Stevie Wonder
22-Lynn Goldsmith 23-Berry Gordy Jr. 24-David Allen Grier
25-Spencer Haywood 26-Jimmy Hoffa 27-Mike & Marion Illitch
28-Jackie Kallen 29-Peter Karmanos 30-Greg Kelser
31-Eddie Kendricks 32-Gladys Knight 33-Sebastian Kresge
34-Ron Leflore 35-Phillip Levine 36-Charles Lindbergh
37-James Lipton 38-Malcolm X (Little) 39-Marshall Mathers (M&M)
40-Marvin Mitchelson 41-Elijah Mohammed 42-Harry Morgan
43-Ted Nugent 44-Ray Parker Jr. 45-Mrs. Rosa Parks
46-Benny Parsons 47-George Peppard 48-Gilda Radnor
49-Martha Reeves 50-Walter P. Reuther 51-Smokey Robinson
52-Diana Ross 53-David Ruffin 54- George C. Scott
55-Tom Selleck 56-Betty Shabazz 57-Tom Skerritt
58-Edwin Starr 59-Frank Tanana 60-Danny Thomas
61-Rudy Tomjanovich 62-Lilly Tomlin 63-Robert Wagner
64-Mike Wallace 65-Veronica Webb 66-Chris Webber
67-Jack White 68-William Otis 69-Paul Williams
70-Jackie Wilson 71-Mary Wilson 72-Jerry Glanville 73-Casey Kasem
Sign up early for this trip as it may be a SELLOUT! Call Stewart at 313-922-
1990 or e-mail him at stewart@mcmillintours.com –website
—www.mcmillintours.com–Cell-586-218-9042—CALL OR E-MAIL ME SOON!!!
Childhood home of Diana Ross bought for $1,800.— Now Valued at $132,500!!!!!!!!!
Tour #3
June 8– Detroit Celebrity Tour– The June 8 trip will be the exact replica of the May 21 Trip, except it will be on Monday, June 8. Please look at the May 21 Tour on the website and all of that will be on the June 8 Tour!!!!! (9:00-4:30) ($45)
Tour # 4
Frankenmuth Tour-
July 7 $50 each person-(9:00 AM-7:00)
WILLKOMMEN! In German that means WELCOME! I cannot believe that I have never taken a group to FRANKENMUTH! As you can imagine, that is about to change!!!!! Of course, the FOOD is the thing that most of us think of when I say FRANKENMUTH. To save time & SPACE I am going to use an F when I say FRANKENMUTH!!! So, let’s get started!!!
An amazing coincidence is going to happen now. I was listening to WJR & Frank Beckman in 2019 (9-12 on weekdays) when he was talking about an Event at a Michigan Heroes Museum in F. It so happened that I called the F Motel for our group to stay on July 8, 2020. Guess what is right next door to the F Motel? The Heroes Museum that Frank Beckman was talking about! So I called the F Motel & the man I spoke with said YES!! A Heroes Museum is right next to us!!! Enough said. I hope you did not get too confused with me using an F for you know what???? ( another story later*)
The trip begins in Eastpointe at a Military Museum. Frankenmuth started in 1845 by a group of 15 German-Lutheran missionaries to teach Christianity to the Chippewa Tribe. Lots of history follows THIS TRIP!!
The first thing we are going to see is the F Historical Museum ($2.00) or FREE time. When you have enough HISTORY we will walk down Main Street & eat at Zehnder’s or to the Bavarian Inn to EAT!!!! I am now going to list some of the places we may see in the next two days: Glockenspiel Tower, Bronner’s, Silent Night Chapel, Heroes Museum, etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
INFO -Call or e-mail me. 313-922-1990- or stewart@mcmillintours.com
Tour #5
July 23-26 Washington D.C.-Harriet Tubman Museum in Maryland-
& African American Museum in Wash. D.C. Etc.!!!!!!!!!
COST-Single $629-Two people each-$399-(3 people-$343) (4 people $320)
3 people sharing the room the cost would be $79 for two nights (Wash.
4 people sharing the room the cost would be $56 for two nights Hotel)
On Thursday, July 23 educational Videos will feature watching BLACK HISTORY
DVD’s making the ride driving to Maryland a VERY DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE!
See the bottom of this page for some of the videos we will be seeing on the bus!! We are lucky to have HENRY–the BEST BUS DRIVER IN THE WORLD!! Please bring your lunch so we do not have to stop to eat! We will stop every 2 hours for a potty break & to EXERCISE! We will check into a new Day’s Inn & Suites in Cambridge, MD.
On Friday, July 24 we will see the Harriet Tubman Museum in Maryland.We will be overwhelmed with what the Musuem has to say about Harriet!!! What a brave, fearless & incredible WOMAN!!! We will then travel to Washington D.C. We will go to Arlington Cemetery in the afternoon.We could spend about 3 hours in Arlington. Stewart is paying $11 per person for this FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE!! We will relax in the evening after checking into our Holiday Inn Express for the next two nights!!! MY BEST
MOTEL EVER with a group!!
On Saturday, July 25 most of us will be going to the African-American Museum. Make
sure you LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE AFRICAN
AMERICAN MUSEUM!! I need to know by May 15, 2020!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is our 3rd Trip to D.C. & many of you have already decided what you are going to do this day. There are about 20 Buildings in the Smithsonian!!!! That is my suggestion!!! They are all FREE!!! Use the MAP that I gave you. Also, the Washington Monument is now open after being closed for about 10 years…
On Sunday July 26 we head home after seeing some other sites in the area.
Stewart has many wonderful videos that will help those miles go by ——- coming &
going to Washington!!!!!!!! Some of the videos include———-
1-The Africans-Many Rivers to Cross-by Henry Louis Gates.(on PBS in 2017)
2- Underground Railroad- Hosted by Alfre Woodard
3- Uncle Tom’s Cabin- by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Starring Josiah Henson)
4-Unfortunate Blackness-The Rise & Fall of Jack Johnson. Film directed-by Ken Burns.
5- AMAZING GRACE- THIS IS THE BEST!
6-William Still Story-Pres.UGRR- President of the UGRR in the East.
7- Maya Angelo–”And Still I Rise” (The Better Hour) -Legacy of William Wilbeforce
8- The Civil War & Reconstruction–Henry Louis Gates-2019
Meals are on your own, except for breakfast! It is FREE!!
On the last day of the trip we plan on visiting some of these places: The Mall, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Pentagon, Iwo Jima Memorial, WWII Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, etc.
However, if you love HISTORY, the SMITHSONIAN (19 museums total),
Washington D.C. AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY, the White House, The Mall, the
Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Monument, the Washington Monument, the Martin
Luther King Jr. Monument, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, the
Pentagon, ARLINGTON CEMETERY, Iwo Jima Memorial, the Pentagon, WWII
Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, etc. I could keep on going, but, you get the idea.!!!!
Please FORGIVE ME for places I have left out! Happy Traveling!!, Stewart
Tour #6
Aug. 8-9- Canada UGRR Tour
Double Room—$139 each
Single Room—$239 *Underground Railroad
Tours leave from Eastpointe, 16600 Stephens (Stephens is the equivalent of 9 & one half mile-1 block from Gratiot). Tours conducted by Stewart McMillin from Indian Village. He has led Black History Tours of Detroit for 54 YEARS. Please mail checks or money orders to Stewart McMillin -2136
Seminole, Detroit Mi.-48214. The EARLIER the BETTER for CHECKS!!
Stewart McMillin at 313-922-1990 or e-mail stewart@mcmillintours.com
SATURDAY– August 8, 2020- Tour leaves at 9:00 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9:45-10:15–See & Discuss the UGRR Marker near Casino
10:45-l1:45-Tour the Sandwich First Baptist Church including SECRET
HIDING PLACES for the fleeing slaves to hide.!!!!!!
12:15–1:30- Lunch at your choice of restaurants in Amhurstburg
1:45– 3:00–Visit Freedom Museum in Amherstberg
3:00-4:00-Drive to North Buxton
4:15–5:15- 1-Museum 2- Home of the 19th Century 3-School 4-Barn
5:30- 6:30- See Chatham-John Brown & Fredericks Douglas etc.
6:30-7:15 – Go to Super 8 & Check in–
7:30-9:00- Eat at choice of two restaurant.
SUNDAY–AUGUST 9, 2020-
8:30——–We leave our Super 8 Motel. (Breakfast free at motel!!)
8:40-9:00–We are going to cover what we missed yesterday???
10:00-12:00-Visit Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Josiah Henson was “Uncle Tom”!!!
12:15-1:45—Eat at your choice of 3 or 4 restaurants.
1:45-3:30—Drive to John Walls Site
3:30-5:00—See John Walls Site.
5:00-7:00—Drive to Windsor & take Ambassador Bridge to th USA!!!!
PS-Obtain CANADIAN DOLLARS in a bank in the USA. (Chase & other banks have Canadian money, but, they have to order it. Leave enough
. time.) Get enough money for 3 meals. US dollar is 30% more than than the
Canadian dollar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GET CANADIAN MONEY!!!!!
PS!!!— GET ENHANCED DRIVER LICENSE OR A PASSPORT!!!
TOUR # 7
Sept.25-27-Mackinaw City & ISLAND!
Single $239 Double $139 each person
TOUR # 8
Oct. 21-Chelsea (will not know what play it is until July??) & DEXTER (Oldest Cider Mill in Michigan!)($60)
TRAVEL INSURANCE-ccc.axatravelinsurance.com-1-855-327-1441
Tours leave from Eastpointe, 16600 Stephens (Stephens is the equivalent of 9 & one half mile-1 block from Gratiot). Tours conducted by Stewart McMillin from Indian Village. He has led Black History Tours of Detroit for 53 YEARS. Please mail checks or money orders to Stewart McMillin -2136 Seminole, Detroit Mi.-48214. The EARLIER the BETTER for CHECKS!!
Stewart McMillin at 313-922-1990 or e-mail stewart@mcmillintours.com
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TRIP TO OHIO
& KENTUCKY-April 16-19, 2021-I am going to begin this letter
by talking about the MONEY.!!!!About Thanksgiving of 2020 I will begin receiving the checks. ALL MONEY must be to Stewart by Feb. 1, 2021!!!!!! I need 40 people!!!!!!!!
2020-(Sgl-$659) (Dbl-$375-each) During this fabulous 4 day, 3 night adventure we will either visit or learn about the following Ohio Cities: Wilberforce, Springboro, Cincinnati*, New Richmond, Point Pleasant, RIPLEY, , Wellington, Oberlin.& Sandusky. Kentucky cities will include, Maysville, Washington, & Mays Lick.Two homes with slavery will be in Mays Lick!!!.
AUGUST 2- FRIDAY- The beginning of our “WOW ADVENTURE” happens at 9:00 AM from the Military Museum in Eastpointe. As we drive south on I-75 we will introduce ourselves, go thru Stewart’s handouts, watch relevant videos & have lunch on bus. Please bring your own lunch for the first day. Stewart will have plenty of soft drinks, water, snack stuff, apples and “sweets’ for your pleasure. When we come to Dayton we will learn about Paul Lawrence Dunbar (he grew up here).Near Wilberforce we will learn about some of the UGRR history in this area..We then drive thru Wilberforce University Campus & see historic markers & visit the Wilberforce Museum. (our 1st stop) This is the oldest private historically black college in the USA! After visiting the Wilberforce Museum. we will see the “Cry Baby” Bridge & then the home of the 3rd Black Man who went to Westpoint–Charles Young! (our 2nd stop) (the home that he was born in is in Kentucky) I have seen it once in Mays Lick, Ky.
Our 3rd stop will be Springboro, where we will visit a B & B which once served as a “station”on the UGRR. In that home we will see a secret hiding place where fugitives could hide if necessary. Springboro once had over 20 homes that were on the UGRR!!! We will see many of them.(outside only). We will eat at a choice of restaurants before we check into our Super 8 Motel. We will be spending two nights here. .
AUGUST 3-SATURDAY–Our 1st highlight today will be driving near the beautiful Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati(“Cinci”) (2nd largest Cemetery in the USA) where we will learn about the final resting places of two very famous abolitionists—Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase & Levi Coffin—a former “President” of the UGRR. Our 1st stop today will be the home where Harriet Beecher Stowe stayed in “Cinci. “ She wrote the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This experience at her home will be a REMARKABLE VISIT!! Our next stop will be lunch at a choice of restaurants in downtown “Cinci”.. The area is called “The Banks”. In the afternoon we will see one of the HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP:—The fantastic FREEDOM CENTER on the banks of the Ohio River in Cinci.(1:30-5:00) You will never forget the sight of the SLAVE PEN! etc. After the museum, we will walk near the Ohio River reading historical markers. We also will look across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky. A very sad UGRR incident occurred near here. We will learn about the horrors suffered by Margaret Garner (& her children) on their attempt to gain freedom.Dinner will be at a choice of places in “The Banks.
AUGUST 4–SUNDAY-In the AM we will drive along the Ohio River. seeing romantic, historical, & relevant towns in Ohio associated with the UGRR. These include Richmond, Pt. Pleasant, Moscow, & RIPLEY. Ripley, Ohio along with John Rankin, John Parker and a host of other brave people escorted or gave directions to thousands of people on the UGRR. In Ripley we will climb FREEDOM HILL (optional). This is a steep walk where fugitives in the 19th Century escaped slavery in Kentucky & sought refuge at Pastor John Rankin’s home at the top of the hill in Ripley. We will have a tour of John Rankin’s home. You will have a breathtaking. view of the Ohio River & Kentucky from the Rankin home. We will then enjoy lunch at a choice of restaurants in Ripley. After lunch we will tour Main Street where we will see a number of “stations” on the UGRR including John Parker’s home—an incredible & brave abolitionist! We will tour his home also! After Ripley we cross the Ohio River & learn about the Historic town of Maysville, Kentucky. We will walk along the levee located on the Ohio River & view beautiful murals. The murals describe the history & events in Maysville history.
MURAL INFO-
1-In 1803 Meriweather Lewis (of the Lewis & Clark Expedition) picked up the famous (also
infamous) John Coulter enroute from Pittsburgh to Louisville where they meet William Clark.
He was the first person (other than Native Americans) to see Yellowstone Park & their
geysers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (he left the trip early !!!!!)
2-Lafayette made a trip back to the USA from France about 45 years after his French Army
helped George Washington win the American Revolution. Lafayette was only 19 when he
came to assist the Continental Army. He left Pittsburgh on the Ohio River to come to Mays-
ville. (same trip Meriweather Lewis made in 1804)
3-Thornton Blackburn was born here. He and his wife Lucie escaped slavery in Louisville &
became famous in Detroit. His escape from a Detroit Jail started the first Detroit Race Riot in
- He had been placed in jail by slave catchers but, Detroit abolitionists broke in to the jail
& he & his wife escaped to Canada.. Thornton owned the first taxi cab in Toronto!!!
Next we will go to Washington—— a quiet & relaxed village. Walking around this historic
place seems to take you back 200 years. It does not have all of the commercial activity so
many historical places seem to have. By far the most memorable event in Washington was
when Harriet Beecher Stowe first saw slaves being sold—and it horrified her. The result—
Harriet decided to write the book—Uncle Tom’s Cabin. We then check into our Super 8 Motel,
freshen up, & head downtown to Maysville to eat at Chandlers. (a black owned restaurant)
. AUGUST 5-MONDAY –Today we get up EARLY for our departure from our Super 8 at 8:30!!!!!!!! We are going to Tour Augusta, Kentucky & take a boat ride across the Ohio River.. Our Tour Guide will be Carolyn Miller & she is TERRIFIC!! Your experience on the boat will be quite different than the fugitives before the Civil War.. Those fugitives were just SCARED TO DEATH but, their desire for FREEDOM outweighed anything else!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Carolyn will share many sites in Augusta that referred to slavery & the agony of that situation. About 10:30 or 11:00 we will leave Augusta & start our trek back to Ohio. We will eat lunch at a Ponderosa Restaurant in Hillsboro, Ohio. After lunch we are off for Wellington where we will learn about the “Wellington raid”. That incident .really put OBERLIN ON THE MAP!!!. We then arrive in OBERLIN—our last MAJOR STOP OF THE TRIP! We will learn about its history and some of the AMAZING PEOPLE who walked on this campus. We will tour the historic sites in Oberlin. I cannot predict our timing for this day. I hope we are back to Eastpointe no later than 9:00PM.!!!
*Cinci–this stands for Cincinnati.
MISCELLANEOUS INFO-Meals are on your own. I recommend you get travel insurance—866-877-3240-TRAVELGUARD.COM- You could also call 866-729-5215
STEWART’S BACKGROUND-
He has led these 2 tours about 10 times each! This is his 50thyear
conducting tours. This is his last year for giving OVERNIGHT TRIPS! I
taught Social Studies at East Detroit High School for 30 years. (1964-1993)
From 1994-2001 I taught Humanities at Wayne State University. Of course
TRAVELLING has also been very important to me. I also have been blessed
to have visited all of the states and 142 countries!!! Please send checks to- Stewart McMillin–2136 Seminole- Detroit, Michigan 48236 (DO NOT say Stewart McMillin TOURS!!!!!!!!!)