One of my favorite things about October is Robin’s Walktober post where she invites all of us to get out and take a walk and then shares them all with the blogosphere. And here it is the middle of October already and I haven’t posted about my October walk yet.
Let’s go see what’s just past those planters!
Sure, I tried last week, drove an hour north only to find the trail I wanted to explore closed. And sure I could have taken you to any number of local parks, but I’ve dragged you out to those parks numerous times over the years.
I wanted to do something different. And since the color around here is only beginning I decided not to wander into the woods, rather I’d go in the opposite direction – literally – and travel about an hour south to the city of Detroit.
Detroit’s skyline, as seen from Belle Isle state park, in the middle of the Detroit River.
Sunday morning I drove down, avoiding the freeway as everything is under construction. That worked fine as I got to see many beautiful churches, all filled with people coming and going. Someday I’d like to do a post about the churches on Woodward Avenue.
This church is down near the river.
The Riverwalk has lots of fun stuff, including a nature themed carousel…
I want to sit on the heron!
…small waterfalls…
It was a little chilly to play in the water on Sunday.
…places to meet your friends and enjoy a drink…
This place would be hopping on a warm summer evening.
…and plenty of comfy chairs to sit and watch the river traffic go by.
A good spot to sit and watch for a freighter.
Down at one end is General Motors’ headquarters, a combination of tall glass circular towers. It’s one of Detroit’s skyline landmarks.
It used to be called the Renaissance Center…the Ren Cen for short and some of us still call it that.
They’ve added a glass enclosed ballroom to the back of it with a stunning view of the river and Windsor, Canada sitting on the other side.
Built years apart, the two meld together into a beautiful facade.
The General Motors building sits next to Hart Plaza, a central park that hosts lots of music and art festivals during the summer. There’s several permanent pieces of ‘art’ located at the plaza.
Not sure what this is supposed to represent.
Most of them I’ve never understood. OK. I’ve never understood any of them.
Maybe this is the circle of life?
But down by the river there is a piece of sculpture here in the plaza that makes more sense.
Looking toward freedom.
It’s a sculpture honoring the Underground Railroad. The people are looking and pointing toward Canada across the river. It was dedicated in October of 2001.
Come this way!
Turning my back on the river I looked at the city. It beckoned me, so I decided to walk a few blocks and see what there was to see.
The city’s skyline includes more than just the Ren Cen.
Turns out there are a lot of shapes and colors just steps away from the Plaza…
All angles and straight lines.
…and not all of them were modern.
The Wayne County Building is from another era.
There’s an elevated train that circles the city. I liked the way it curved against the square shapes of some of the architecture.
And look! A bit of fall color too!
Historic buildings were reflected in the glass of those more modern.
Reflecting on history.
Just about everywhere I looked there was something interesting. And I was only a block from the river.
All these angles caught my eye.
I headed back toward the river, and watched the People Mover above against another iconic building.
Moving on up.
Then I was back at General Motors headquarters. The sun was glinting off the glass, flags blowing in the stiff wind.
What’s inside?
Don’t you wonder what’s inside all this curving glass? Nothing about a Walktober says it has to be outside, right? Let’s go in!
Back outside, I headed east again toward my car. Not everything is all shiny and modern. But things are getting better in the city of Detroit, and getting better doesn’t mean forgetting where we came from.
Different shapes, different eras.
No, there’s still lots of work to be done in the city. New neighborhoods are sitting next to the relics from another age.
The renaissance is not complete.
But it’s not scary anymore to be down on the riverfront. And that’s promising. I hope you enjoyed our walk and that you’ll come visit Detroit someday. We have more to show you!
Smiled at this bar door.
