You Say Marco I Say Polo: Detroit Will Rise Again

No more Michigan. I am OK with that, I have had enough. I did manage to do some pretty memorable stuff while there.

Surprisingly it doesn't snow that much in mid (Lansing) to eastern (Detroit) Michigan, you would think you would get a bunch from the lakes, but no, typical is a few inches at a time.

I had a very naive view of Detroit prior to going there. I worked in Lansing but would generally always fly to Detroit then drive to Lansing. The first time I was landing in Detroit I was looking out the window of the plane and there was a huge plume of thick black smoke billowing up from the city. I thought to myself, "Well Detroit is everything I thought it was." I looked it up on the intertubes later and apparently it was some chemical plant on fire. While in Lansing I asked some people about Detroit, most people in Lansing never go to Detroit, one person had lived in Lansing their whole life and had been to Detroit once (2 hour drive). One guy who lived in a suburb of Detroit basically admitted he was afraid of downtown Detroit. I resolved I had to see it for myself.

I had a minor travel SNAFU way back in September. I was scheduled to go down to Jamaica for a week for work, imagine my luck. I was driving from Lansing to Detroit after work on Friday to stay in a Detroit hotel and catch the flight to Jamaica Saturday morning. They called me while on route to Detroit and canceled. So I found myself stuck in Detroit. At first I was annoyed, I like to go to cities on my schedule, I toyed with the idea of driving up to Toronto, or maybe even New York for the weekend. Since I was going to to back to Lansing for work on Monday, I figured I might as well check out Detroit.

Detroit is really cool.

I guess I was expecting something out of a movie. I was so wrong. Driving in Detroit is quite easy, the city was made for cars, even more so than LA. Lots of freeways and wide boulevards. The downtown is cool. I wanted to find the famous derelict buildings like the train station, but I only drove around downtown instead of walking. The Lion's and Tiger's stadiums are down there. There are some really unique sights, like 10+ story abandoned buildings with no windows. One street had luxury town houses across the street from an ugly vacant lot. Downtown Detroit is not scary as far as I am concerned, I saw no unsavoury types. I got the sense that the downtown area is really well policed. I got a glimpse of some scary looking neighbourhoods from freeways away from downtown.

The architecture in Detroit is really awesome. One of Detroit's heydays was in the 20's so many of the buildings are art deco. This maybe not a great example of that, but it was a building I liked, and it was for sale but I forgot my cheque book

Detroit Public Library

Then there is the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA). A friend of mine that grew up in Windsor told me I had to go. I recall that in my head I scoffed at the idea thinking, "Ya right, it'll be full of 'welded' art." I was so wrong, the DIA was one of the best art galleries I have ever been to.

The outside

My favourite painting

Gates leading to the Rivera murals

Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" murals, these are simply stunning, and were a complete surprise to me. The murals are in a courtyard in the heart of the museum. They were commissioned by Edsel Ford. The choice of Rivera was quite controversial at the time, it was the 30's with many Americans out of work Rivera got the commission, a foreigner and known communist, but the greatest fresco painter of his generation. These murals justify a trip to Detroit themselves. Only two pictures because you really have to see these paintings to appreciate them.

The DIA was one day's activity in Detroit. I was debating going the Lion's game on Sunday, they were still win less from the previous season at this point, but instead opted for Henry Ford Museum, a brilliant choice on my part. Of course there are cars at the museum, but just as interesting is the machinery, much of it decommissioned from Ford plants.

Summers Brothers Goldenrod 1965 land speed record car

They had this green screen where you could play a video and then "be in the video" with the band. They had "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads, and it took everything I had not to rock out in the video. If I was there with someone to take video I would have.