Detroit's Big Crush

Warning -- loaded with photos!

Yesterday my friend Eddie and I ventured down to the downtown area of Detroit.  This is an area full of revitalization and energy.  My roommate works there and loves it.  Despite what many people think, it's one of the safest areas.  Come to think of it, though, I don't remember seeing a single policeman -- isn't that odd considering we were down there for over 7 hours?  Here's a map of the area we covered.

The wine stroll began at the D-Hive on Woodward.  They are kind of a visitors center with information on activities, businesses, and housing.  There's a cute locally-produced gift shop that I'll have to go back to soon.

There were 11 establishments altogether on the tour and it covered several blocks.  Maybe I walked off some of the calories??  This area of the city experienced a lot of growth in the first quarter of the last century so a lot of the buildings have an Art Deco influence.  I took nearly 90 pictures and I won't post them all here (thank goodness!) but I did post a collage on my Facebook page if you want to see them there.

Here are some of my favorites.  I am amazed at the quality of pictures with my new Nikon Coolpix P510 camera, written about back on this post.  Some of the shots were of building features many stories up from the ground, including the first shot below.  The clarity is remarkable!

Here's another one of my favorite zoom shots, taken of the building that used to house Meyer Treasure Chest Jewelers:

These treasure chests wrapped around the building, about 4 stories up.  Amazing clarity!

We had plenty to drink:

It was super windy by the end of the stroll -- my hair was a wreck!  So much for my visit to the salon that morning.  Even heavy duty hair spray wouldn't have helped me!

Now do you believe me??

This light fixture was hanging above our heads at the Sky Bar.  I took the photo of its reflection in the mirror that ran along the bar wall.

Here are a few of the places on our route:

We ended up at Cliff Bell's for dinner.  A nice little jazz combo band was playing while we ate.  I had a bowl of cheddar ale soup and some delicious mac & cheese:

We left the restaurant, full and tired, and headed back to where I had parked my car.  I was still snapping away at the local sites as it began to rain.  Here is the shot of a building where they're saving only the façade, taken before dinner:

And here's the building, looking south, right through it, a bit later:

 Notice the building on the right advertises 'great views'.

The rain began to come down harder.  We dashed in and out of building entrance ways along Woodward:

It got so bad we finally had to duck into a bus stop shelter.  I took this shot while inside it, looking toward Comerica Park, where the Tigers were playing the Yankees:

I love this shot!  I also love my new camera and can't wait to see my grandson again so I can use it on him!