It was brief, but I was able to snap off a few photos as we curled through downtown “Motor City” and made our way back out towards Ohio. These are just a few of the photos from the morning of Day 4 of our crazy cross-country trip to Michigan for Robofest. Of course, if you haven’t been following – you can catch up at the links below. We took these photos on the morning of April 27th before heading to the Dixons’ home. Every good trip needs at least one blogger to meet along the way, right?
What did I think of Detroit? It is hard to say. I was really surprised by how poor the freeway conditions were. The potholes and rough roads were awful. In Texas, it doesn’t snow often, so we have much more smooth roadways in the major cities. Seems like the snow plow and salting does as much damage as good. As for a downtown area, it was interesting, but not very clean. I saw a ‘used and rare book’ building but wasn’t about to get out of the car to go in! We got lost in a bad area and I had to FORCE my mom to let me get out to buy postcards. She wouldn’t let me get out downtown to ride the monorail, though… so you only see the one photo of it up there – the one I took as we drove under the station! I would feel much safer in downtown Dallas, Houston, or Austin than I would in Detroit. I am not sure if that is just because I’m FROM Texas and familiar with Texas, or if it is because there truly is a reason to want to stay in the car. I don’t know? What do you think Michiganites?
Today we start our homeschool States and Regions Unit with KONOS. We’re beginning with the New England states. I’m glad that we have some memories and photos of the states we passed through to add to our state notebooks as we learn. I think we’ll be done with this unit at the end of August. I might post a few links as we find them.
Quick Links
Trip Dashboard
Goodbye
Day 1 of our Robofest Trip (Texarkana)
Burritos for Peace Program
Day 2 of our Robofest Trip (White Line Fever)
Day 2 & 3 of our Robofest Trip (Down Home on the Farm)
Day 2 of our Robofest Trip (too many states for 1 day)
Day 2 of our Robofest Trip (LaGrange, KY)
Day 3 of our Robofest Trip (Robot Competitions)
Day 4 of our Robofest Trip (Swap Present Pick-up)
You guys were all of 4 miles from our home! 🙂
First, there is a huge debate among native born Michigan folk and those of other states about what we are called. Those of us who were born here are Michiganders our governor
calls us Michiganians.
I’ve never heard Michiganites before. 🙂
Were you to go in the Hard Rock Cafe you could have walked up the Art Filled building and had a HUGE art lesson and Architecture lesson. At the top of the building is the entrance to the fun People Mover. (sky rail)
We did just that back in 2006 and we head out to the city quite often to attend the Opera. The Fox Theater is a national GEM!
Here’s the link to the picture you would have taken on the people mover. (sky rail)
http://www.icantbelievemylife.com/2006/07/family-night.html
There are indeed parts of our city that need repair and the cold weather and snow does a doozy on the roads but Washington DC is worse! We’re a safe city. Our mayor has his issues but for the most part we are a safe and fun place to visit.
Hope you come back. I would love to take you on the tour. 🙂
Shelly M.
The Mom With Brownies
Former Michigander here. (Born & raised in West Michigan) Maybe it’s because I’m from the other side of the state, but Detroit? Yup, stay in the car. 😉
Kathy D.
Great pics!
Yep, the roads are pretty bad and it probably is from the fluctuating weather we have here.
There are some not-so-great areas of Detroit, but the main tourist areas are quite nice. We have a great cultural area that is kept clean and safe.
I posted a few pics of Detroit’s Noel Night here:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/andijeane/438665/
We were all standing outside the Detroit Institute of the Arts (part of the cultural area I mentioned) at the end of the night singing Christmas carols with the Salvation Army Band, who didn’t keep quiet about the Reason for the Season!
A youth group from Virginia did a short-term missions trip at our church last year, and we took them to downtown Detroit for their fun day:
Fun
Day Pics
Those pics are taken around Heart Plaza and the Renaissance Center. There is a nice river walk behind the Renaissance Center now.
There are some areas where you might not want to get out of the car, but I think Detroit is well worth a visit. 🙂 Maybe I’m prejudiced though.
~Andrea
LOL I’m a Michigander although we recently moved from the Detroit area to Amish Indiana. BIG difference! Detroit roads are truly the worst!
I personally don’t think the people mover really isn’t that impressive…you didn’t miss much. We used to joke and call it the people crusher. :O
If I had to pick a something that I would have recommended for someone who had never been to Detroit…one would have been to go to the top of the Renaissance Center and check out the view. Not only do you get a really different view of the Detroit area, you get a wonderful view of Canada too. Another thing I would have recommended seeing would have been the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts). I’m not sure if the passports are needed yet, but taking the tunnel to Canada can be fun also.
Once you are downtown though, you don’t have too much to worry about. It can be a really nice walk around.
I ended up blogging about your thoughts.
Here is what you missed on your travel in Detroit.
Hope you can see us in a new light and come back soon. 🙂
Shelly M.
The Mom With Brownies
I am not a fan of any place where it frequently snows. I’m not a big fan of snow, period, and I’m certainly not a fan of the toll it takes on the roads out there.
I’m SO glad we dont live in Indiana anymore! Its fun to visit these places though! I miss the road trips my family use to go on! Good memories!
Detroit makes me think of KISS and Detroit Rock City.
The used & rare book building you saw could have been John K. King Used & Rare Books – Michigan’s Largest Used and Rare Book Store. I’ve been in there before and it’s a neat store.
http://www.rarebooklink.com/cgi-bin/kingbooks/index.html
If link is too long here it is tiny http://tinyurl.com/5o89xq