Detroit

As always, click on a photo to make it bigger :)

View of Windsor, across the Detroit River, from the 5-story atrium at the General Motors Renaissance Center.  Those palm trees are real, and are 40 feet tall.

The Wayne County building.

Directions to the underground tunnel to Windsor.

One of the many older buildings downtown...

...which creates an odd juxtaposition with the newer buildings.

Here's another old/new comparison - the building in the foreground has a water tower and traditional fire escapes; compared to the GM Ren Cen in the background, this seems almost quaint.

Another interesting old building: the Chapoton House.

Art on the side of the Chapoton House.

Plaque on the Chapoton House.

Run-down house of worship (maybe a mosque?)

There is a wall in the side of the building where the bricks have been removed (seen here just under the center traffic light).

Another far-off view of the Wayne County building.

More huge lobby-trees.

Water wall in the lobby.

What you don't really see is the streams of water that are falling from the ceiling.

Art/advertisement.

I happened across a little park in the middle of an intersection - the main attraction was this statue, but the park also had a fountain, a little coffee shop, and beach volleyball courts.

A few more old, colourful buildings, with a large tower complex in the background.

Dog topiary in front of another building.

Another dog topiary.

Welcome to the Guardian Building, home of Bank of America!

Tile work above the reception desk in the Guardian Building.

Happened across this neat old scale - it reminds me of the one Tessa and I saw at the auction last year.

It's accurate too!

Which means I'm a little shy of "desirable weight" - no surprise there.

Beautiful arches in the Guardian Building.

Detail between the arches.

Looking down the "mall" side of the building, toward the "reception" side.

This large painting depicts the major industries in Detroit's history.

The beautiful tiles dome over reception.

This amazing clock separates the mall from reception.

Ceiling detail over the mall side.

The reception desk - the hallways on either side lead to multiple elevators.

The elevator hallways.

The brown building is the Guardian Building.  The white one in front of it was a smaller-scale test of the design for the World Trade Center.

From Downtown buildings, we now head to the Hart Plaza.

Plaque on the statue below.

Statue commemorating the Underground Railroad.  Many families crossed from Detroit to Windsor.

Another view of the statue

The back of the statue, looking across the Detroit river to Windsor.

Plaque about Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, who claimed Detroit for France in 1701.

Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, planting France's flag.

Antoine again

Plaque commemorating the help of the French Canadians

The Detroit Princess, a riverboat that was moved up from Louisiana.

Transcending, a sculpture commissioned by the United Automobile Workers, symbolizing the gains union activists have made for workers rights.  The gap at the top indicates that there is still progress to be made.

The Renaissance Center, as seen from Hart Plaza.

Another plaque.

Another view of the Detroit Princess.

Hart Plaza and the Detroit Skyline.  The odd thing in the foreground is the Horace E. Dodge Fountain, which wasn't running that day.  Behind that is Transcending.

A cargo ship sailing up the Detroit River, in front of Caesar's Casino in Windsor.

North Northeast Detroit from the restaurant (Coach Insignia) on the 72nd floor of the Ren Cen.  The road to the right of the post, going off at an odd angle, is Gratoit Ave.  Downtown Detroit was set up with a street layout similar to Paris, with main streets radiating from a central point like the spokes of a wheel.  It's noticeable if you zoom out a bit from this map.

Looking East along the river, with Belle Isle Park (the island) and behind that, on the horizon, Lake St Clair.

Looking West.

Looking East again.

The elevator up to Coach Insignia ran up the side of the building in a glass column.  It takes about a minute to reach the 72nd floor.  This is Windsor, when the elevator finally reached the top.

The view from my room at mid-day.  I loved the little lighthouse in the park - you can just see it on the shore, before the large white tent.

The view from my room at sunrise, the first morning we were there.

Looking East along the Detroit River, on the river walk.