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Discover The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum
January 12th, 2020 by Corey A. Edwards
“1938 REO Speedwagon Fire Truck” by Joe Ross
is licensed under CC BY SA 2.0
If you’re a gearhead, history buff, or fan of design you’ll love visiting The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in nearby Lansing, MI. The museum’s extensive collection of auto memorabilia and over 60 vehicles that range from 1886 through to 2003!
Ransom Olds founded Olds Motor Works in 1897, in Lansing, Michigan. Olds was a true pioneer in the automotive industry. He created the moving assembly line, used to build the world’s first mass-produced car: the Curved Dash Oldsomobile.
Olds left Oldsmobile in 1905 to start a new automotive manufacturing company in Lansing, the REO Motor Car Company. REO Motor Company produced vehicles from 1905 to 1975, concentrating primarily on trucks after the mid 1930’s. You may recognize the name of one of its vehicles as also belonging to a popular 1970’s and 80’s rock band: REO Speedwagon.
Visiting The Museum
The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum traces more than a century of automotive history with thousands of pieces of memorabilia and a large collection of rare and classic vehicles.
The collection includes classics like the 1886 Oldsmobile Steam Carriage, a 1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash, and a 1953 Oldsmobile NASCAR Race Car. They also have a 1927 REO Wolverine, a 1938 REO Speedwagon Fire Truck, and ‘Darth Vader, a custom 1985 Olds Cutlass Salon factory one-off.
With the rotating nature of the museum’s vehicle collection, you never know what gems you’ll see!
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Attend East Lansing Film Festival 2019!
October 6th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards
Grab the popcorn and find your seat – it’s time for East Lansing Film Festival 2019! Michigan’s largest film festival (and second oldest, by the way), returns to the screens October 30th through November 7th, 2019.
If you enjoy movies that make you think, motivate you to act, drive you to discuss, or just plain rile you up, you’ll love the East Lansing Film Festival. The films chosen for exhibition present alternate viewpoints, cultures, and backgrounds with the intent of both enlightening and entertaining audiences.
Now celebrating its 22nd year, the festival screens feature-length as well as short subject films, documentary, and student films. The festival often premieres a number of the films on its schedule, which never fails to amp up the excitement!
Another exciting aspect of the festival are the celebrities it attracts. Directors, writers, producers, stars, and other industry insiders often attend the festival either as special guests or as celebrity attendees. Past festivals have such big names as Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, and Bruce Campbell.
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Old Town BluesFest is Michigan BluesFest 2019!
September 3rd, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards
Old Town BluesFest 2019, now Michigan BluesFest 2019, is just weeks away: Thursday through Saturday, September 19th through the 21st, 2019 at various venues in Lansing, Michigan.
Michigan BluesFest has been a Lansing tradition since 1994. Originally an OctoberFest celebration, the event was moved to September and renamed “Old Town BluesFest” in 2002. Now it’s simply Michigan BluesFest.
Whatever the name, this festival attracts some of the best local, regional, and national artists to Lansing every year – along with thousands of happy fans.
This year’s fest promises more of the same at a variety of stages around Old Town Lansing. Venues for Michigan BluesFest 2019 include stages at both North and South Turner Streets, Turnaround Lounge, and UrbanBeat.
While primarily a music festival, that’s not all you’ll enjoy. Old Town BluesFest also includes music workshops, excellent food and drink, craft vendors, and more! Plus, the festival location in Old Town means you’ll be surrounded by art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, and lovely historic buildings.
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Common Ground Music Festival 2019 – 20 Years of Music
June 14th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards
Common Ground Music Festival is dropping a bit early this year. The four-day, live music extravaganza, typically held in July, is scheduled for June 27th through the 30th, 2019. If you’re looking for somewhere spectacular to stay during the event, you’ve come to the right place!
2019 marks the 20th anniversary of Common Ground Music Festival, an event known for the big name acts it brings to Lansing, MI every year. More than 500 artists have graced the festival’s stages, including local, regional, and national acts.
The festival is held on 2 stages in downtown Lansing’s lovely Adado Riverfront Park, located along The Grand River. For larger crowds, there is the Auto Value Main Stage. This stage includes large video walls that provide the sense of a front row experience no matter where your seat. The Sparrow Stage, located well away from the big stage in north end of the park, offers a more intimate experience. The two stages provide multiple performances throughout the festival.
Common Ground includes a wide variety of food and drink offerings, long with the genre-spanning constellation of talent. There will be a customer lounge in the Terminal bar near the Sparrow Stage, along with other offerings located throughout the park.
Don’t miss Michigan’s premier outdoor music event of the summer!
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ELFF 2018 – The 21st Annual East Lansing Film Festival
October 5th, 2018 by Corey A. Edwards
ELFF 2018, Michigan’s largest and most diverse film event, celebrates its 21st anniversary this year. Feature-length, short subject, and documentary films, along with special guests, and related events fill out the festival week. November 1st through the 8th, 2018.
It’s hard to believe we’ve reached autumn already but at least it brings good things: cooler temps, fall foliage, and the return of ELFF!
ELFF (East Lansing Film Festival) is an annual film festival that brings independent films from around the world to Michigan. These films present other cultures, viewpoints, and backgrounds with the hope that they will enlighten, entertain, and educate audience members.
The festival includes both feature-length and short subject films, as well as documentary and student films. Many of those included in the festival are making their screen debut here in Lansing, which is doubly exciting.
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Solitude in Photography at Lansing Art Gallery
February 17th, 2012 by insideout
If you’ve ever lost yourself in a photograph, you’ll be drawn into the work of Curtis Hans Miller, now on exhibit at the Lansing Art Gallery.
Miller’s exhibit, “Solitude,” reveals a Michigan that seems timeless: landscapes dotted with old fences, barns, silos, open fields, orchards. The work is sparse and haunting and beautiful.
Solitude runs at the Lansing Art Gallery through February 24, 2012. It’s worth a trip to town to see it. While here, lodge and dine at The English Inn, a Lansing area inn and fine dining restaurant. We’re located in the Michigan countryside; the journey here will conjure visions of Miller’s photographs.
The Grand River, near our Eaton Rapids Bed and Breakfast.
REO Speedwagon, Not Just a Band
October 3rd, 2011 by insideout
Some folks think of rock music when they hear the words, “REO Speedwagon”. But folks who have visited the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum near our Lansing Michigan Bed and Breakfast think of a 1923 car. An Oldsmobile, to be exact.
The 1996 GM EV1 Electric Vehicle.
Michigan has always been the heart of the American Automobile empire. Detroit is the king of automobile manufacturing, of course, and for many years Lansing was a queen thanks to R.E. Olds. Just two years after the REO Motor Car Company opened its doors to the public in 1905, it had gross sales of over four million dollars.
Trucks and automobiles are no longer manufactured in Lansing, but the legacy of R.E. Olds remains. See it at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.
The museum’s collection is comprised of 60 cars and trucks ranging from the 1886 Oldsmobile Steam Carriage to the 2003 Cadillac CTS. Anyone and everyone who has ever admired a good looking automobile will enjoy visiting the Transportation Museum. See the inspiration for the band, a 1923 REO Speedwagon, and a 1932 REO Amb/Hearse. See a 1953 Oldsmobile NASCAR Race Car and a 1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic. The 1985 Olds Cutlass Salon ‘Darth Vader’ is not to be missed, nor is the 1996 GM EV1 Electric Car. The list goes on and on.
If you’re traveling to Lansing for business, take a break and check out the museum (your colleagues may well join you). If you’re staying at our Lansing area Bed and Breakfast for pleasure, consider adding the museum to your itinerary. It’s fascinating to see how cars and trucks have morphed over the decades.
How to best follow a trip to the Olds Museum? How about a luxurious meal at the English Inn, built in 1927 for the General Manager and President of the Oldsmobile Corporation.
Additional information may be found at R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.