An engaging presidential museum and a horticultural wonderland rate high with bus groups looking for art, nature and history in this western Michigan city
Two of Grand Rapids’ top-tier tourist magnets are named after local residents who made good.
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum honors the only U.S. president from Michigan, while Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a leading Midwest cultural destination whose development was backed by the founder of Meijer superstores, a company that has expanded its footprint beyond Michigan.
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Museum Exhibits Trace the Life of President Ford
Fronting the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, the Ford shrine is a sparkling repository of 20th century American history that ignites memories for those of us who recall the 1970s. I actually attended the museum’s grand opening in 1981, a joyous ceremony attended by President Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Washington dignitaries, foreign leaders and lots of Hollywood celebrities, including Bob Hope, Danny Thomas and Pearl Bailey—and, of course, the honoree and his family. In years since, the museum has seen significant updates.
President Gerald Ford addresses the nation from the Oval Office.
Visitor-friendly galleries are loaded with artifacts, interactive kiosks, pull-out drawers, mini-theaters with video clips and big, bold black-and-white archival photos. They depict Ford’s rise from humble beginnings in Nebraska and Grand Rapids to becoming minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, vice president of the United States and the nation’s 38th president. His path to greatness included stints as a college football star, World War II naval officer and hometown lawyer.
Ford was chosen by President Richard Nixon to serve as vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned the position in disgrace, ascending to the presidency upon Nixon’s resignation a year later, an unprecedented event that shook the nation.
Inscribed at the base of the Ford statue outside the museum entrance are these words from his August 9, 1974 swearing-in address: “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president with your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers. I have not campaigned for either the presidency or the vice presidency. I am indebted to no man and only one woman—my wife—as I begin this very difficult job.”
Momentous Events During the Gerald Ford Presidency
The museum just unveiled “Ford at 50: Decisions that Defined a Presidency,” a temporary exhibit that celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ford’s time in office.
Running through August 19, 2025, it introduces visitors to some of the most difficult decisions that he had to make. Most controversial was Ford’s pardon of Nixon for crimes committed during the Watergate scandal. In pardoning him, Ford reasoned that a long trial would distract the nation from addressing pressing needs. Besides viewing clips of TV news coverage of Watergate and the pardon, gallery goers can see a facsimile of the pardon document and the pen Ford used to sign it.
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum has a replica of the White House’s Oval Office. (Randy Mink Photo)
Ford’s White House is brought to life through life-size replicas of the Cabinet Room, where visitors are free to sit in any of the chairs, and the Oval Office. China service from state dinners and gifts given to the Fords by foreign heads of state are among the items under glass.
One exhibit spotlights the two attempts on Ford’s life, both in 1975 by women in California, Lynette Alice “Squeaky” Fromme and Sarah Jane Moore. Fromme’s pistol is on display, as are a bullet-proof coat and vest issued to Ford soon after the assassination attempts.
The museum’s biggest artifact is “The Saigon Staircase,” the ladder used by Vietnamese refugees to reach the rooftop of the U.S. Embassy during helicopter evacuations at the end of the Vietnam War.
On a lighter note, museum guests see memorabilia from the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. A similar observance set for 2026, America250, will mark the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
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The Making of a President
Just as riveting as exhibits on matters of state are displays on Ford’s personal life. Visitors learn that he was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913 in Omaha. After his birth parents divorced, his mother moved to Michigan, remarried and had her son’s name legally changed to Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. after the father who raised him, Jerry Ford Sr., owner of Grand Rapids’ Ford Paint & Varnish Company. Paint cans, a paint stirrer and a picture of the store help tell the story.
Growing up in Grand Rapids, the future president became an Eagle Scout at age 14 and excelled in a variety of sports in high school. In a citywide contest sponsored by a movie theater, he was chosen Most Popular Senior. The prize was a trip to Washington, D.C., where a tour of the U.S. Capitol and White House left a lasting impression on him.
As a high school student, Ford flipped hamburgers for $2 a week at Bill’s Place. One day, as described under the exhibit title “Difficult Day,” a man walked into the restaurant and introduced himself as Leslie King, his biological father. This made the 16-year-old angry, as the man had never made any effort to contact his son, but young Ford consoled himself knowing his mother and stepfather loved him.
Playing football for the University of Michigan Wolverines, Ford was elected Most Valuable Player by his teammates in his senior year. The award, along with a helmet and football signed by Ford and other team members, is on display. He turned down offers to play for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, opting to go to law school. The exhibit “A Most Athletic President” showcases Ford’s tennis shorts and racket, downhill skis, golf clubs and white leather golf shoes.
Some of Betty Ford’s favorite dresses are on display at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. (Randy Mink Photo)
Betty Ford: A Consequential First Lady
Museum guests also get to know Betty Ford, a popular First Lady who inspired the nation by advocating for women’s rights and acknowledging her battles with breast cancer and substance abuse.
“Courage: Overcoming Dependency” talks about her addiction struggles and the Betty Ford Center, a world-renowned drug and alcohol treatment facility she co-founded in Rancho Mirage, California.
As a young woman, Betty Ford (born Elizabeth Bloomer) was a model, a dancer and a buyer at a Grand Rapids department store. During the White House years, she became a fashion trendsetter. Some of her dresses are on display.
Gerald Ford died at his California home in 2006 at the age of 93. Mrs. Ford was the same age when she died in 2011. The couple’s burial place on the museum grounds is open to the public.
Meijer Gardens Combines Floral Splendor and Inspiring Art
I spent three hours exploring Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, a beautiful blending of art and nature. The campus features 158 acres of indoor and outdoor gardens that integrate one of the nation’s most innovative sculpture collections with meandering nature trails and walkways through scenic meadows, woodlands and wetlands.
The American Horse is one of the most impressive works at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Randy Mink Photo)
My favorite sculpture was The American Horse, a colossal 24-foot-tall bronze behemoth that dominates a wide-open grassy expanse and invites visitors to pose by and pass underneath it. The monumental equine statue, with an upraised front hoof, was originally envisioned 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci, who never finished the work.
Fred Meijer was drawn to the grand proportions of the project and commissioned Nina Akamu, widely recognized as one of the most talented animal sculptors of her generation, to carry out Da Vinci’s vision. Nearby are Akamu’s eight-foot-tall working model of the horse, which she sculpted in clay and cast into bronze, and a 15-inch version that is meant to be touched. Meijer’s support allowed an identical casting of the 24-foot sculpture to be installed in Milan, Italy.
The Legacy of Fred and Lena Meijer
Not far away from the bronze horses is a sculpture where visitors can sit on a bench next to likenesses of Fred Meijer (1919-2011) and his wife Lena (1919- 2022). Born to Dutch immigrant parents on a farm outside of Greenville, Michigan, Fred became a partner with his father in a store there. A few years after marrying Lena Rader, the daughter of German immigrants, in 1946, they moved to Grand Rapids, and he and his father opened a superstore called Meijer Thrifty Acres. Selling groceries and general merchandise was a new format at the time. The business has grown into a regional giant, and now there are Meijer stores in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin as well as Michigan. Meijer Gardens is one of the family’s many philanthropic endeavors.
Michigan’s Farm Garden takes visitors back to the 1930s. (Photo credit: Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park)
Also inviting visitors to sit a spell are the rocking chairs on the front porch of a farmhouse in Michigan’s Farm Garden. The three-quarter-scale model of Lena’s childhood home is complemented by an heirloom vegetable garden, flower beds, orchards, a produce stand, sculptures of farm animals and a dinner bell that people can ring.
Close to the entrance of Meijer Gardens, the lush Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory is a warm, humid wonderland of vines, ferns and orchids, along with palm, banana, cacao and coffee trees. Rare birds flit about, and sculptures are tucked here and there.
Some of the campus’s most tranquil landscapes are provided by the Japanese Garden, where guests are enchanted by the koi-filled pond, waterfalls, tea house and boathouse. The stone pagoda, sculptures, bridges and bonsai display practically transport visitors across the Pacific to Japan. A walk up the viewing hill rewards them with a panoramic view.
Guided, half-hour tram tours of Meijer Gardens, ideally done early during the visit, offer insightful background on the sculptures, plantings and Meijer family history.
By Randy Mink, Senior Editor
Lead Photo – Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park entrance. (Photo by Kevin Beswick)
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