It was an easy drive, and we arrived around noon. Carol and I have wanted to visit Fallingwater for years, but it is aclassic "out of the way" place. The Kaufmans, for whom Wright built Fallingwater, wanted it as a getaway spot, and it has remained that to this day. It is about sixty miles from Pittsburgh, where the Kaufmans lived, and near absolutely nothing. If we had planned on getting a motel in the area, we would have been disappointed.
Carol and I have seen several of Wright's buildings, but we were not prepared for the stunning beauty of this place. The Kaufman's were not only richer than God and thus able to pretty much give Wright a blank check; but they also had good taste and were strong enough personalities that they could work with Wright, who was not an easy man to work with. This, combined with an achingly beautiful setting among hundreds (?) of acres of forested hills, led to what I think must be Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece. I'm not going to describe it. Google it, or better yet, find a good book about it and see for yourself. I'll just say that the tour made my heart race. Photography was not permitted inside the house, so I settled for just being there, taking it all in with my eyes and allowing myself to imagine living there. They have longer, pricier tours on which photos may be taken, so I now have a reason to return. Perhaps I could combine it with a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
You've no doubt seen this photo before. The forest is so dense at Fallingwater that this is really the only place to get an open view of the house.After our tour, we hit the road for a few hours. We bypassed Zelienople, Damascus, Chagrin Falls and Cuyahoga Falls before stopping in Streetboro, Ohio, for the night. Tomorrow we would head for Midland, Michigan to visit Marcella and Bob Lachance.
We spent two nights with our friends, who did a good job of showing us their pleasant town and making us think, "Oh, this would be a nice place to live." Midland is the archetypical midwestern town - well-trimmed, clean, family-centered attractions - but we won't really be moving there. Like Minneapolis, it has significant winter. But for the two May days that we visited, it was lovely. We rode bicycles and walked (surprise!). We toured the Alden Dow House and Dow Gardens. (I should mention that Midland is the home of Dow Chemical. Although Dow now employs hundreds where it once employed thousands, Midland is still very much a company town.)
Alden Dow was many things in his life, one of which was an architect who studied and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. His home and work studio clearly show the influence of Wright. Where Wright sought to make his homes blend with the surrounding landscape in all aspects, Dow departs from Wright and fills his house with bright colors.
You wouldn't find anything like this at Fallingwater.
Dow Gardens, a gem of an attraction for the residents of Midland.
Fellow midwesterners, Marcella & Bob (in the Dow House)When we weren't touring Midland with Bob and Marcella, we spent lots of time talking, covering large topics and small. Carol and Marcella of course rehashed a good part of their high school years. On the final evening of Road Trip '09, we had a delicious dinner at Café Zinc in downtown Midland. Café Zinc could hold its own with any of our favorite restaurants in Minneapolis. Afterward, we strolled the length of Main Street on a perfect spring evening. We walked all the way to the edge of town, where we saw up close the town's minor league ballpark, home of the Great Lakes Loons.
And then it was time to go home. I was more than ready. Our final adventure would be taking the ferry from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The four-hour passage didn't save us much time, but it was much more fun than four hours of driving around Chicago.
Our ferry's twin sister, as seen from the upper deck
Leaving Michigan
And then it was time to go home. I was more than ready. Our final adventure would be taking the ferry from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The four-hour passage didn't save us much time, but it was much more fun than four hours of driving around Chicago.
Our ferry's twin sister, as seen from the upper deck
Leaving Michigan
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