Detroit Revisit

 

We were off again across the border for the monthly allergy shot and this time chose a new place to stay and enjoy some more sights of Michigan.

 

After a smooth Nexus crossing at Port Huron, we got off the big road and headed south along the Michigan eastern coast on highway 29. A few miles south of Port Huron is the beautiful little town of Marine City. We wanted to see the place mostly because it has a ferry which crosses into Canada ... giving us maybe another option.

 

In the picture below you can see the waterfront of Marine City and the ferry in the distance. The ferry would be great for car traffic and goes across to Canada on the far side of the river every few minutes, however, it didn't look like the Flying Scotsman would fit.



 

In the town, along with many other really picturesque buildings, is this magnificent church. It is the Holy Cross Catholic church and a really great example of early church architecture in this country.

We then headed further south along the shoreline and ended up at our hotel in Clinton Township about 15 miles north of downtown Detroit. The Hampton happened to be near the allergy clinic but was not great for a night's sleep due to poor AC controls and thin walls.

The next morning though we again headed south along the shore through the beautiful and affluent villages of St. Clair Shores, Gross Pointe Shores (The Edsel Ford home is here), and Gross Pointe itself .... no shortage of mega-million dollar homes along this entire stretch of coastline.

Then on to Belle Isle Park just off of downtown Detroit. The view below is from the park which is a wonderful haven for the metro area for all types of recreational activities and a beautiful place to boot.

On the island is a bit of history that was fascinating. This building was a police headquarters in the 1920's and was the place that the first use of radio dispatch occurred in the US in 1921. They located it on the island because of high radio interference in the city and because of its success became the model for radio dispatch of police vehicles nationwide.

We then left the downtown area and headed up Woodward avenue through the towns of Ferndale and Birmingham which have very active and bustling centers. Then a quick pass through Cranbrook Academy where my friend from Okemos, Pete Cumming attended.

And then back to the hotel area and time for refreshment. We stopped into the Crazy Gringo restaurant on Gratiot and started off with some of the best guacamole we have ever had, washed down by margarita and sangria ... ahhhh.

Then for the real treat. Their signature burrito was one of the best I have had, but was so huge that half of it came home. And Jo-Anne with enchiladas that were equally the best we've had in a long time. This was Mexican food that rivalled any we have had in Texas.

After all that we actually managed to get the allergy shot and then wind our way home on Monday the 26th, stopping only to get and iris scan at the border to complement our Nexus status.

But as long as we are on the food theme here is the grillmaster whipping up some fat mushroom-Swiss burgers on the smoky grill a bit of time later.

Marketing 101

 

This is a quickie, but here we go. It's 6am and you go to the fridge to get the milk for the cereal and some OJ to start the day right. You grab the left container and give a good pour on your cereal, then grab the right one and as you pour it into the juice glass .... what?

 

The orange container is really the local milk company's product if you look closely and the green and black one is what the orange juice is sold in ... I must be getting old but somehow that just doesn't work for me. And the Cheerios with OJ just didn't taste the same.

Missing May

 

Wow, where did May go?

 

Basically poor photo weather and a really busy schedule for the old dude and dudette.

 

Our first step as we left Port Huron on the first of May was to stop by the Customs and Border folks on the US side and do an interview. We had applied for Nexus cards to expedite our border crossings and that required a personal interview, new photos, and fingerprints. Once accomplished we then crossed into Canada. They were to send the cards to us later.

 



 

 

The next larger job for the blogger was to finish up "Have Gunns Will Travel 2016" and get it published. This is the tenth annual volume about our worldly travels and it turned out pretty good with the back and front covers you see below. Usually I have this published by February but hassles with their website and our busy life postponed completion to now.

Of course as soon as the Flying Scotsman arrives at site C13 in the Barrie KOA it takes a bit of work to drag all the stuff out of the basement and set up the patio for the summer. This year a new grill and a Margaritaville bistro table set. The bikes stayed home in storage this year ... too heavy bulky and we found they weren't getting the use to justify them. We also gave back the round grey park table so that freed up a bunch of space on the patio.

While doing that we managed to give Jo's brother Rick a birthday party for his 66th and have been working with Dad Martin on amended tax returns and long term care policy payouts and having lunch with him and making sure his stay at the Waterford is comfortable.

We also went over to Wasaga Beach to check out potential cabins on the beach for the kids when they come up to see us in August.

About the middle of May we received the Nexus cards. Toward the end of the month we headed back to Port Huron for the monthly allergy shot which will continue this summer. With the Nexus cards we avoided the masses of cars waiting to cross the bridge to the US and were the only car to whiz through in that special lane .... well worth the process! Same thing on the return.

We did get the shot in Mt Clemens and stayed overnight at the Doubletree hotel in Port Huron where we had stayed several times before. As usual the dinner at Freighter's restaurant and views of the St Clair river from both our balcony and the restaurant were super.

The above metal lawn bee with light-up eyes followed us home from Port Huron. The blue sky in this picture was unusual as today it is still 55 degrees and raining well into June. Still using the furnace in the mornings but the long term forecast looks for a warming trend .... hope so!