tennessee travel tourism

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As a third-generation GMer, Jon Lauckner is fiercely committed to restoring greatness to America’s biggest car company. The VP of global product planning and the man behind the Chevy Volt, is determined to go big or go home.

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The Lane Motor Museum of Nashville features the quirky, the one-of-a-kind, the oddity. It is the largest European automobile collection in the United States, so for car lovers, this showroom can satisfy their curiosity about foreign models that somehow don't find a place in other car museums. Maybe the cars are just too weird, and that's what makes this an interesting, worthwhile experience.

Set in a former Sunbeam Bakery plant, the vehicles on display include microcars, prototypes, alternative fuel and competition cars. Most of the vehicles were built during the grand era of car design -- 1950- 1970. There are a few from earlier and later eras. The latest model, a 2003 Smart Car by Mercedes, gets more than 60 miles per gallon. Sized at 8X5 feet, it fits into tiny parking spaces.

The museum has about 330 cars and motorcycles, however only 125 fit into the 132,000-square foot facility at a time. The museum is located at 702 Murfreesboro Pike, just three miles from downtown Nashville.

The collection is displayed according to country of origin: Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. Cars range from the 1949 MG TC Midget Roadster, to a 1947 Tatra T-87, to a 1932 Lancia DiLambda and a 1928 Martin Aerodynamic. There is no end to the unusual: the land-and-water 1964 Amphicar; the single seater 1965 Peel Trident built on the Isle of Man and a 1932 Heicron made in France. The 1975 Maserati Bora is the fastest car -- 0-60 mph in 6.5 seconds and the top speed of 165.

Visitors are allowed to walk among the vehicles at their own pace. Signage tells the history of each automobile. People are asked not to touch the cars, but there is an opportunity to climb into a Citroen and pose for pictures. Also, the museum offers a car-themed play area for children, an art gallery with posters, prints and paintings, and a small gift shop.

For founder Jeff Lane, cars have been a lifelong passion. He restored a 1955 MG TF when he was a teen and now has it on display. His personal collection was the donation that began the foundation. The museum was established in 2002-2003 with the goal of preserving all vehicles in running order. Lane continues to look for technically significant or uniquely different cars to expand the collection.

Photos by Linda Lange

The Cana Island Lighthouse, one of the Great Lakes' most photographed sites, guards against the dangerous shoals of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse was built in 1869 and automated in 1944. To this day, the light shines from dusk to dawn.

Treacherous storms batter the rugged coast of Door County, Wisc. The two-story, cast-iron lantern guides boats moving between Moonlight Bay and North Bay. High waves flooded the lighthouse and keeper's cottage several times in the late 19th century. Improvements, such as a stone storm wall near water's edge, gave protection in later years.

The tower and red-roofed keeper's dwelling were built of cream-colored Milwaukee brick. The tower was encased in steel plates in 1902 when the brick began to deteriorate. The tower rises 65 feet above the foundation.

Nowadays, visitors can walk to the rocky island on a narrow causeway when lake levels are low. They can climb into the lantern room and then descend into a small museum and gift shop in the keeper's cottage. Second-floor rooms contain furnishings from the families that occupied the house decades ago.

An important part of a visit to the 8.7-acre island is a stroll on the lawn and blond sand beach. People can feel the drama of the windswept shoreline as they gaze at the gleaming white tower and hear the rushing waves as they crash ashore and spray the trees and crumbling rocks.

The Cana Island Lighthouse is located north of Baileys Cove, Wisc. The Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society operates the historic site and two other attractions on the Door Peninsula. It sponsors lighthouse tours and the annual Classic & Wooden Boat Show.
Since 1849, the Whitefish Point Light Station on Michigan's Upper Peninsula has tried to keep ships afloat on Lake Superior in an area known as the Shipwreck Coast or Graveyard of the Great Lakes.

Since 1849, the flashing beacon has warned sailors, making it the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior. Even with its bright beam piercing the sky, more than 300 ships have wrecked over the decades. Fogs, storms and blizzards hamper visibility in this heavy traffic area. The lake funnels into a narrow passage.

The 729-foot Edmund Fitzgerald foundered 17 miles from Whitefish Point during a severe storm in 1975. The ship's bell was recovered from the deep water and is on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, locat