Furniture City

Apparently Grand Rapids is the birthplace of all furniture and without it we’d never have any place to put our pretty little heads at night! Or at least, furniture is kind of a big deal here and GR produces a lot.

Speaking of the stuff, my friend’s apartment (furniture and all!) is great! It’s newer, which is not always my style, but there’s a lot of light and a scenic view.

Above is their living room and below is the dining room. Check out her art work!

She’s always been a spectacular artist. This world map is made out of old road maps and cut up magazine pages. I love the patchwork feel.

Our day in Grand Rapids started with a late and leisurely breakfast in the apartment. In the afternoon we met up with my friend’s boyfriend, who turned out to be an admirable tour guide. We tried to go to the public museum in GR, but it was closed, so we drove across the street to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Well now, I do believe my education in American history is now complete since I’ve been to the Ford Museum.

Sarcasm aside, it was an entertaining trip. G.R. Ford is Grand Rapids’ favorite son and I did put aside my silly openmindedness to learn a thing or two. I shall now share the most interesting tidbits so you can save yourself a trip to Michigan:

• It turns out that August 9th is actually the anniversary of Ford’s inauguration. So it was legitimately cool that we ended up there that day.
• Gerald and Betty were the first White House couple to share a bedroom. Previously all presidents and first ladies had had separate sleeping quarters. Scandalous!
• Apparently all gifts given to the President and First Lady actually belong to the American people. So I’m officially going to hang on to the lovely Christmas present I was going to give the Obamas… no point, really.
• Betty Ford may have been cooler than I originally suspected. I’m looking into it.

We spent the rest of our afternoon strolling through Grand Rapids, which was a little quiet, probably because it was Sunday. Here are some more skyscrapers for your viewing enjoyment:

I should also mention that our tour guide was slightly handicapped due to a foot injury, but he gotten along quite well, thanks to his scooter!

Apparently crutches are very 2008. Of course, I had to try this out.

It was a great way to get around! I highly recommend it if you find yourself without full use of your foot.

Scooting like a pro!

Grand Rapids is very scooter-friendly!

After scooting and strolling around the city, we stopped for an early dinner at Parsley, a Mediterranean restaurant. And later we saw the seal of Michigan.

Below is the Grand River. Presumably home to the grand rapids. Sadly, I did not see any. Perhaps it is not rapids season.

Tonight we’re going to see <a title=”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135503/” href=”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135503/”> Julie and Julia</a>. I loved Julie Powell’s book and I’m in the middle of reading Julia Child’s autobiography, so hopefully the movie will do justice to these two sharp chefs.