Vince's Italian Restaurant

All of our excursions include dinner at Vince's Italian Restaurant. This is one of Detroit’s oldest family run restaurants and was founded on May 20th 1960 by Vincenzo and Maria Perfili. Prior to opening the now famous, Vince’s, Vincenzo was working as a policeman in Rome when he decided to immigrate to the United States with his family. Read more of their story at www.vincesdetroit.com

Excursion #1: The Ford Rouge Assembly Plant & Dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant

Price $40
Time: 1:15pm – 7:30pm

Listed as Detroit’s #1 Automotive Attraction, the Ford Rouge Factory experience is comprised of a five-part tour which includes a driving tour of historic auto-related landmarks and behind-the-scenes of the Rouge complex; a look at the history of the Rouge through historic video footage; a virtual reality theatre experience; a walking tour of the factory’s "living roof"; and a walking tour above the actual final assembly area where Ford F-150s are made.

Henry Ford had a vision of a "perfect" industrial complex, where raw materials could be processed, parts manufactured and products assembled, all in one place. The plant Ford built to realize this vision, the Rouge Assembly Plant, was the next step forward from the moving automotive assembly line that he had developed and fine-tuned at Highland Park.

Even though the Rouge Assembly Plant was constructed over a period of years, production began in 1917, when a building was completed to allow the construction of 60 Eagle Boats for the U.S. Navy in World War I. By the mid-1920s, much of Ford’s vision was in place: The Rouge was processing its own materials, generating its own power and producing components for the Model T.

Most of the construction was completed by the 1940s, including miles of railroad tracks, the world's largest foundry and power plant, a sawmill and a glass plant. A web of raw- material conveyors and overpass walkways was constructed.

This tour will be followed by a dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant. Price for dinner is included in your ticket price for this excursion.

To learn more about the plant tour: www.thehenryford.org/rouge/index.aspx

Excursion #2: The Henry Ford Museum & Dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant

Price $40
Time: 1:15pm – 7:30pm

The Henry Ford Museum, a national landmark, boasts to being the nation’s largest indoor-outdoor museum situated on 9 acres. Named after the automobile industrialist, the Henry Ford Museum includes iconic artifacts such as the Rosa Parks bus, the Kennedy Limousine, Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House, and the Lincoln rocker.

The Henry Ford Museum, a national landmark, began as Henry Ford's personal collection of historic objects, which he began collecting as far back as 1906. Ford’s idea was to document the genius of ordinary people by recognizing and preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives. It grew into the ultimate place to explore what Americans past and present have imagined and invented — a remarkable destination that brings American ideas and innovations to life. The sheer scope and design of Henry Ford Museum is as grand as the vision that inspired it. It’s impossible not to feel a sense of awe as your mind adjusts to a different sense of scale — more vast, more expansive and more diverse— by far— than anything you'll encounter in everyday life. The sweeping, single-floor space with its soaring 40-foot ceilings covers nine acres dedicated to showcasing the finest collection of its kind ever assembled.

Henry Ford said of his museum “I am collecting the history of our people as written into things their hands made and used.... When we are through, we shall have reproduced American life as lived, and that, I think, is the best way of preserving at least a part of our history and tradition.”

This tour will be followed by a dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant. Price for dinner is included in your ticket price for this excursion.

To learn more about the museum visit: www.thehenryford.org/museum

Excursion #3: Greenfield Village & Dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant

Price $40
Time: 1:15pm – 7:30pm

Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping into an 80-acre time machine. It takes you back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America’s past. There are 83 authentic, historic structures, from Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The buildings and the things to see are only the beginning. There’s the fun stuff, too. In Greenfield Village, you can ride in a genuine Model T or “pull” glass with world-class artisans; you can watch 1867 baseball or ride a train with a 19th-century steam engine. It’s a place where you can choose your lunch from an 1850s menu or spend a quiet moment pondering the home and workshop where the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Greenfield Village is a celebration of people — people whose unbridled optimism came to define modern-day America.

This tour will be followed by a dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant. Price for dinner is included in your ticket price for this excursion.

To learn more about the village tour: www.thehenryford.org/village

Excursion #4: Cruisin’ the Motor City

Price $30
Time: 1:15pm – 7:30pm

Driving tour of Detroit including stops at the National Shrine of Little Flower (St. Therese of Lisieux), the Venerable Fr. Solanus Casey Center and the Heidelberg Project

This tour will be followed by a dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant. Price for dinner is included in your ticket price for this excursion.

National Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church

This well known Catholic Church, was executed in the lavish zig-zag Art Deco style. It was completed in two stages, from 1931 to 1936. In early May 1925, Michael J. Gallagher, the Bishop of the Diocese of Detroit, traveled to Rome to witness the canonization of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Determined to establish the first parish in her honor in the United States, he telephoned from Rome with instructions to name the new church after her. The Bishop chose Royal Oak for the new parish, although only 28 Catholic families resided there at the time because he foresaw that the booming auto industry would attract many Catholics to the area. The new pastor was to be a young priest who already had earned a reputation for stimulating Mass attendance: Father Charles E. Coughlin.

Fr. Coughlin, seeking a way to repay the $101,000 cost of the new church, turned to creative fundraising. With the parish still in desperate need of funds, Fr. Coughlin took the unprecedented and surprising step of renting airtime on the Detroit radio station, WJR. Commercial broadcasting in the United States was only six years old when Fr. Coughlin's Golden Hour program began in the fall of 1926. The priest’s sermons clarified the principles of Christianity and answered thousands of questions concerning faith and morals. The listeners were easily mesmerized by the man known as "The Voice" with his dramatic presentations at 2 p.m. each Sunday. Each broadcast resulted in an increasingly positive response, often accompanied by financial contributions.

By 1932, Father Coughlin's radio chain had grown to 27 stations, from Bangor, Maine, to Kansas City, Missouri.

For more information please visit: www.shrinechurch.com

Venerable Fr. Solanus Casey Center

Venerable Bernard Francis Casey (November 25, 1870 – July 31, 1957) a Capuchin priest, Casey was known for his great faith, humility, and role as spiritual counselor and intercessor. The first United States-born man formally to be declared "Venerable", Casey is a candidate now for beatification.

Father Solanus spent his life in the service of people. At the monastery door, he met thousands of persons from every age and walk of life. In time of trouble and sorrow, they sought his prayers and advice. Many attributed favors to his prayers.

During his final illness, he remarked, "I'm offering my suffering that all might be one. If only I could see the conversion of the whole world." His last conscious act was sitting up in bed and saying, "I give my soul to Jesus Christ." He died at the age of 86 on July 31, 1957 at the same day and hour of his First Holy Mass 53 years earlier.

For more information please visit: www.solanuscenter.org

The Heidelberg Project

The Heidelberg Project is art, energy, and community. It’s an open-air art environment in the heart of an urban community on Detroit’s East Side. Tyree Guyton, founder and artistic director, uses everyday, discarded objects to create a two-block area full of color, symbolism, and intrigue. Now in its 25th year, the Heidelberg Project is recognized around the world as a demonstration of the power of creativity to transform lives.

The HP works with neighborhood children to educate them on art, community and environment. These children walk to school past burned-out houses, rubble, debris, crime and decay. Our purpose is to offer them another view, another perspective - to positively change the environment the children see every day. In the process, we help build self-esteem, encourage cooperation and foster a sense of pride in their community.

For more information please visit: www.heidelberg.org

Excursion #5: Motown Mansions and Cathedrals & Dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant

Price $40
Time: 1:15pm – 7:30pm

Tour of the Eleanor and Edsel Ford (son of Henry) Mansion, Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, and historic St. Anne’s Church (the 2nd oldest church in the USA).

This tour will be followed by a dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant. Price for dinner is included in your ticket price for this excursion.

Eleanor & Edsel Ford Mansion

Edsel & Eleanor Ford House tells the story of the home life of a prominent American family. Edsel was the son of Henry Ford and an Executive at the Ford Motor Company. The Fords were cultural, social and economic leaders in an era of great optimism, as well as a turbulent time of economic depression and world war.

The house was designed by Albert Kahn to resemble a cluster of Cotswold village cottages, complete with stone roofs, vine-covered walls and lead-paned windows. Strolling through the thoughtfully decorated halls, visitors come face-to-face with a stunningly diverse collection of art, antiques and furniture that reveal the Fords' progressive and educated tastes in art and design.

The Ford House grounds are a work of art in their own right. Designed by famed landscape architect Jens Jensen, the meadow, rockwork and water components appear to be almost completely natural but were meticulously planned.

For more information please visit: www.fordhouse.org

Blessed Sacrament Cathedral

The Cathedral Church for the Archdiocese of Detroit, this Gothic Revival style Cathedral was built in 1913 and designed by Henry A. Walsh. Its most famous visitor was His Holiness John Paul II.

Although Pope John Paul II's visit to the United States was originally scheduled to include only areas in the southern and western parts of the country, Detroit's Edmund Cardinal Szoka campaigned to have the Pope visit the Detroit area. He made a direct request to the His Holiness during a visit to the Vatican City. The Pope arrived in Detroit on September 18, 1987, and spoke before large crowds in Hamtramck, Hart Plaza and the Pontiac Silverdome. During John Paul II's visit, he visited guests at the cathedral and stayed at the archbishop's residence.

Most Blessed Sacrament parish was established in 1905 to serve Catholics in what was then the northern city limits of Detroit. Construction of the church started in 1913, and the interior was finished in 1930, with the dedication of the interior on Thanksgiving of that year. Detroit was elevated to an archdiocese in 1937, and Most Blessed Sacrament was chosen to be the cathedral church. However, construction of the exterior, including the twin towers on the west facade and the church spire, was not completed until 1951, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Detroit's founding.

For more information please visit: www.aodonline.org

Historic St. Anne’s Church

It reigns as the second oldest parish in the country with an unbroken history, born seventy-five years before the United States even existed as a country. It is Detroit's sole operating entity that dates to the city's founding. On U.S. soil, only the parish at St. Augustine, Florida, dating to 1594, is older.

St. Anne’s origins date to the hot day in late July 1701 when French adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, with his entourage and their provisions jammed into twenty-five canoes, wound down the Detroit River on the final day of a journey that began in Montreal. The explorers, including traders and soldiers, paddled to shore on July 24 and immediately began constructing the log structure that would become Fort Pontchartrain. Forty-eight hours later, Ste. Anne's feast day, they started work on a chapel they named after the patron saint of French pioneers in the New World.

This tour will be followed by a dinner at Vince’s Italian Restaurant. Price for dinner is included in your ticket price for this excursion.

For more information please visit: www.ste-anne.org