Doug and Donna's LiveStrong Adventures: Canada 2019 - Day 33

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Canada 2019 - Day 33 - Harper Woods to New Boston

August 18 - Sunday
Harper Woods to New Boston

Our last day on the bikes....sigh

We went back down to Jefferson as it had proved such a good route on our way to Canada.

An example of a Michigan "chateau" along the lake front. We have seen SOOO many big houses on this trip.

St. Paul on the Lake in Grosse Pointe Farms, established in 1834.

And then we crossed the line into Detroit proper.

The bike boulevard is awesome.

But the contrast between prosperity and dilapidation was stark. It literally happened in one block.

Local artists are trying to make a difference.

This mural commemorates Pewabic Pottery, nationally famous for their ceramics and tiles.

They still operate out their original building which is a National Heritage Landmark.

Turn left just before those really tall towers....the Renaissance Center.

The Detroit Riverwalk fountain was very popular on this warm morning.

That tall brown building is where we stayed in Windsor and watched the lights of Detroit come on.

The Underground Railroad monument, a nice tie to our time in Owen Sound which was the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad.

We are actually glad that they don't allow bikes across the Ambassador Bridge. It was a much better trip getting to circumnavigate Lake St. Clair.

The economic hard times showed up again as we moved south of downtown. So did the headwind and some interesting clouds.

This is the building where Doug attended school from 1st through 11th grade. It has also fallen on hard times. Another former student was taking pictures too. She was here for a reunion and she and Doug shared several memories of this place, including that it doesn't seem nearly as big as it did back then. 😊

His childhood church in Ecorse. It was called St. Francis back then but is now known as St. Andre Bessette Parish.

We stopped for lunch at the Grand Port Cafe in Ecorse at 1:15. and 10 minutes later it started raining.

The radar confirmed our desire to have a long leisurely lunch.

We did move along when it looked like the thunderstorm part had passed.

The wind died down too and we stopped for ice cream in Wyandotte.

For all the quilters in our families. The rain did stop but it looked like our window was pretty tight. As a result, we didn't take any pictures from Wyandotte to New Boston since it looked pretty much the same as our first day.

It was looking very dark to the south again when we arrived at brother Jim's house around 5:00. Our timing was accidentally excellent! The thunder started rolling again during dinner.