A last interesting day in Detroit!

Hello!

Up this morning about 7 am and down to breakfast about 8.  We don’t have any real plans for the day, other than to get some errands done and rest up for the start of our return home tomorrow.  First on the agenda was to get laundry done!  This hotel – while lovely – does not have a washer/dryer for guests to use.  So, as we weren’t too far from St. Clair Shores and have done wash there on numerous occasions (as Mom never had a washer or dryer either), we filled up the crate with laundry, soap, blue bleach and Shout and headed out.  As enjoyable as the QLine and PeopleMover have been, it was nice to get back into the car again.  It took us one wrong turn to figure out how to get back to Jefferson Avenue without any problems, and soon we were heading north following the Lake.  Once we got through town, there wasn’t too much traffic, and it is always nice to drive through the Grosse Pointe next to the Lake.  Not too many boats out, but still a beautiful view.

Heading over the Belle Isle Bridge

Beautiful green spaces

Just one of the dilapidated buildings on the island

Ended up going to Mom’s old laundromat, the Laundry Room.  Still there, and still going strong!  Excellent machines, and in no time at all, all our clothes were clean and now we don’t have to even think about laundry until we get home on Saturday!  Repacked the crate and out the door. 

Next stop:  Best Buy.

I have been very careful in keeping track of the phone and iPad rechargers – but the iPad recharger has somehow disappeared completely.  I have taken the crate and two suitcases apart looking for it, but no luck.  So … needed a new one, as iPad Maggie was running out of gas.  There was a Best Buy on Gratiot, and in just a few minutes, we were there and situation resolved.  R now promises that we’ll find the lost one, but so far, no sign.  Always can use a new one, though, right?

Next stop:  Car Wash!

Statute of somebody but don't know who!

Detroit RenCen in the background

Aquarium and Conservatory

When my brother Bern visited us in Tucson last Thanksgiving, we took him to our car wash.  (Only the best for our family and friends!  Who says we never do anything fun?) He expressed great surprise to see that we drive the car to one end, and then leave it in the car washers hands.  It gets vacuumed, and then run through the assembly-line-like wash to come out very clean!  Then, it gets hand dried and back into the car we go.  Bern said he had never seen a car wash like that before.  We really had never thought about it, as Arizona has the same system we had in California!  However, looking around here in the Detroit area, it seems that every car wash we saw was do-it-yourself; not fun!  So, R found what sounded like a possibility just a mile or so down Gratiot.  Took a couple of passes to figure out what to do, but there was a sort-of half-way car wash on a nearby corner.  As we had so much stuff in the car, I figured that an “outside only” wash would be fine – the car was awfully dirty.  So, first I drove it to the start of the wash and two guys with pressure hoses and soap blasted away.  Then – with us still in the car – we were hitched to the assembly line and pulled through while the lashes washed the car, and the spinning trees tried to get all the dirt off.  Finally, another power wash with clean water, and to the end of the assembly line.  Now two people came at us with drying clothes, and in just a few minutes, voila!  Clean car!  Whew!  Have to say I guess I am very spoiled by handing off the car as soon as we drive in, and then sitting in air conditioned comfort munching away on popcorn while the car is washed and dried.  Especially with the heat lately, sitting in a non-running car gets really warm REALLY fast!  But – clean car.

Lovely fountain and house in Canada

Pond, willow and conservatory

What remains of the overgrown zoo...

Entrance area

Next stop:  Gas

R found a Speedway gas station a bit further down on Gratiot, and we filled up for our quick get-outa-town tomorrow morning. 

Next stop:  Big Boy for lunch

Returned to our local favorite, on Mack, for lunch with Debbi, our favorite waitress.  Met her the other day when we went out with Sandy; Debbi is a hoot in the old-fashioned-waitress kind of way; very enjoyable, and she wished us safe travels and a swift return!  R ordered the fried shrimp dinner with hash browns and salad, and I had my Big Boy Combination with hash browns (which weren’t very good today…) and a salad with Blue Cheese dressing.  I also had a chocolate shake – the very best thing on their menu!

Next stop:  Pewabic Pottery

Our friend Sandy had introduced us to Pewabic Pottery several years ago, and as we were heading down Jefferson, I wanted to stop in – just to look, you understand?  As per Wikipedia: “Pewabic is a National Historic Landmark pottery located in Detroit’s Jefferson Corridor. Since 1903, Pewabic artisans have handcrafted ceramic art beginning with raw, earthen materials and a clay mixer dating to the early 1900’s. Our process is timeless, and every handcrafted object we create continues to enrich our Detroit heritage.”  Their work is wonderful.  I would love to have redone our kitchen counters with their work, but it is fair to really expensive.  But it is nice to have a piece or two about! 

Next stop:  Belle Isle

Remember Larry Burton?

Why a statue to Dante?

So sad...

Well … this was a more difficult stop.  Belle Isle is an island in the Detroit River, situated half-way between the U.S. and Canada.  It has been a part of Detroit forever, and as long as I can remember has been a park with some private institutions – Detroit Yacht Club included, as well as public playing fields, conservatory, maritime museum, and the Detroit Children’s Zoo.  Well.  First of all, Belle Isle is the site every year of the Detroit Grand Prix, and of course this 3-day event took place last weekend (not yesterday, but the weekend before).  As a result, there were still lots of orange barrels and fencing blocking roads all over the island, and we were unable to even reach the farthest southern point at all.  However, what we could see was truly depressing for me.  It turns out that the Detroit Children’s Zoo was closed in 2002.  I am copying information from a website: “In 2002 the zoo delayed opening due to lack of attendance, after which then-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick decided to shutter the park permanently.  In 2004, a local campaign to reopen the zoo was undertaken and met with success.  A bond was issued to finance the renovation, but Mayor Kilpatrick used the funds to build an all new Detroit Zoo on the opposite end of the island using construction contractors he happened to have personal ties with. The old children’s zoo was forgotten, and ended up just another abandoned structure in a city already rife with ruin.”  So … I hadn’t known any of that, but actually recognized the entrance structure and gates.  Turns out that in second grade, our class went to the zoo, and Larry Burton walked through the exit turnstile and suddenly found himself outside the zoo and unable to get back in.  Poor guy then had to confess to Mrs. Labadie and sit on the bus the rest of the day.  Funny things one recognizes!  At any rate, the photos posted on line are very, very sad, and while I didn’t really mind my elementary school being made into a convalescent hospital, and my junior high turned into a hospital and rehab center, this for some reason bothers me a lot.  Oh well … I guess there is change and there is change!  We did see some lovely playgrounds and a very nice beach.  Drove around where we could, and then headed back to the hotel about 3 pm.

We both took lovely naps, and now I am blogging and R is reading.  We’re meeting Sandy tonight at a very nice restaurant in Grosse Pointe Woods, called Salvatore Scallopini, so yes, it’s Italian for tonight!  Then early to bed and up and out hopefully before the traffic gets too bad, and on to Indianapolis where we will see our truly wonderful and lovely friend Celeste, and get to meet her husband, David!

More later!

m

xxx