Best Ways to Experience the Presidential Inauguration in Detroit

President Obama's second inauguration is happening on January 21st, and there are many ways to experience it without leaving the Detroit area (and also one way to get from Detroit to DC). Check out this list for some ideas on how to experience or celebrate the inauguration.

"Lincoln" was released to great acclaim in November 2012, and Daniel Day-Lewis is spot on as the former president. Take the family to see this historical film and learn more about the man, his presidency and his family. Day-Lewis should be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination and Sally Field, playing Mrs. Lincoln, has a good chance at being nominated as well. The film takes place during the end of the Civil War and the passing of the 13th Amendment, to give slaves their freedom. It's rated PG-13 for some war scenes and violence.

Coffee Tee Events and City Events, two of Metro Detroit's premiere companies with combined experience of over 10 years in event planning and promotions, have partnered up to host the "Yes We Did 2" 2013 Inauguration Tour to Washington DC for the Installation of President Barack Obama for his second term. A deluxe motorcoach equipped with Wifi will be departing from Northland Mall at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, January 19th, and returns on Tuesday, January 22nd at 1 a.m. The package includes a one-night stay at Hilton Garden Inn in Owings Mill, Maryland, and roundtrip bus service. The bus has limited seats, so book early; there is a non-refundable deposit of $50 to reserve your space. The deposit deadline was December 29th, but there will be a second bus once the first bus is full. For more details or to reserve your space, call City Events at (248) 747-3920 or Coffee Tee Events at (313) 220-3975. Click here to register.

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There's no better way to explore American history than to check out The Henry Ford Museum (as well as its next-door neighbor, Greenfield Village, when the weather is warmer). After you've gone to see "Lincoln" at the movie theater, you can come here to check out an exhibit on him and on people who have fought for freedom throughout the ages. The Henry Ford also has many presidential objects, such as the limousine in which President John F. Kennedy was shot, and cars that many presidents have traveled in and owned, such as Reagan's limousine and FDR's "Sunshine Special." You can even see a horse-drawn brougham (carriage) that Theodore Roosevelt used, which was made in 1902.

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The Wright Museum in Detroit currently has the exhibit "Visions of our 44th President," in which different busts of Obama are displayed. There are 44 busts, all of which have been designed by modern African-American artists including Cory Saint Clair, Louis Delsarte and Matthew Gonzales. The busts were presented to the artists as blank and they then decorated them. The exhibit will be at the Wright Museum until August 2013, and afterwards will travel throughout the US to libraries, museums and universities. After its tour of the country, it will remain on exhibit at the museum.

Although the Gerald R. Ford Museum is located in Grand Rapids, you can check out the library named after him in Ann Arbor, a short drive from Detroit, on the University of Michigan's North campus. The library has many archives of US history and a great deal of information on the president himself, who is also a 1935 alumnus of the university and of its football team. You can read papers from 1974-1977 when Gerald Ford was in the White House at the library, and papers from his staff are also included in the library's collection. The Gerald R. Ford Library opened to the public in 1981 and has more than 25 million pages of documents, as well as 450,000 photos, 3,500 hours of video, 3,000 hours of audio and 787,000 feet of "motion picture film."