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.