Approximately 45 minutes West of beautiful Ann Arbor, sitting right on the US-Canadian border is the main business hub of Michigan, the polarising city of Detroit – home to the Detroit Tigers and game 17/30 on this crazy trip.
As mentioned in my previous post, I elected to stay across the river in Windsor Canada as most hotels in Detroit were too far outside of the city and I was also able to use the border crossing as an opportunity to understand how to correctly import the Nitro so I could register and ultimately sell it when my trip concludes in the United States.
In stark contrast to the boarder crossing between Vancouver Canada and Seattle USA (way back at the start of the trip), this crossing was significantly busier with deep traffic running both directions, however, this time the customs agents (on both sides) were a lot more relaxed – go figure.
Anyways, after dropping my bags at my hotel (as a reminder from my previous blog it was BELTING down rain), I again made the crossing back to the USA to explore what downtown Detroit had to offer before first pitch at 7:00pm that night.
Like I said in the opening stanza, Detroit certainly is a polarising city and you can see there has been heavy investment in trying to improve specific areas to increase tourism.
For those unaware, Detroit was the United States main hub for automobile manufacturing and trade in the 20th century, however due to jobs moving offshore (as labour is significantly cheaper), the city saw a steep decline as unemployment rose and many families who didn’t move away were left poor working whatever jobs they could (this is obviously a high-level synopsis of what happened so don’t go chirping at me if I’ve left out details).
Highlights for me in the downtown area included the financial district with its distinct “East Coast style” building architecture, the harbour foreshore looking out over to Canada (the flags remind you where you really are), the home of the NFL’s Detroit Lions “Ford Field” and the inner city communities of “Germantown” & “Greektown”, which offered some cool restaurants, bars and of course a HUGE casino.
The highlight and most WILD building I saw within the city was interestingly enough the actual baseball stadium where the Tigers play.
Obviously on this trip (prior to Detroit), I’ve visited 16 stadiums plus a few others on the East Coast in a previous life (sweet humblebrag) – so I’ve seen a couple. Major League Baseball ballparks are typically a fan friendly experience where you can get away from aggression and enjoy good fun with friends, family and strangers alike in a very welcoming environment. I’m not 100% sure that’s the case with the Detroit Tiger’s stadium.
This is no knock on the Detroit Tigers at all, however the stadium is decorated with statues of tigers everywhere you look! Not just tigers who are hanging out either, these felines are ready to attack at any minute and if you ask me would be more suited at an NFL (are you listening Bengals) or even a hockey arena (don’t get me wrong here, I think it’s really cool, just very unique for baseball).
Once I entered the stadium once the gates opened, I was treated to even more craziness with a crazy carnival like atmosphere that resembled nothing I’d ever seen at a baseball game. There was literally a Ferris wheel, Merry-go-Round and other games to play (where you had to buy tokens), with statues and characters littering the entire stadium everywhere you walked. Whilst this type of set-up within a stadium is not really for me, I could see the appeal for families as kids were going nuts for everything and in some ways it offered a distraction from some of the bleak neighbourhoods in the surrounding areas (in no way am I saying that all these people come from these parts, merely the inside of the stadium is a stark contrast to areas around it).
Despite all of the things going on, once I took my seat the stadium and city certainly turned it on for me. Again, a picture tells a thousand words, so check below to see truly spectacular views of an awesome ballpark and a suddenly thriving city in the background.
The game itself was a tight one, with a few early hits going to both sides as they struggled to make a breakthrough. Eventually, the Athletics would breakthrough with a hit to right field that was bobbled by Detroit allowing a score for a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Hits would be traded by both teams with the score remaining the same until the top of the ninth, before the Athletics would tack on 2 additional runs in the ninth inning (both off base hits with runners on the bags) to ultimately hand Detroit a 3-0 loss – its EIGTH in a row.
Following the game, it was time to drive back to my hotel in Canada (this time I had to go over the bridge as opposed to the tunnel as it was closed – weird), and get some sleep before my drive to Toronto today.
I’ve had a great time in Michigan and it has been really eye opening to see the varying contrasts in the areas of the states I’ve visited. It’s also been a real trip crossing the US-Canadian border multiple times in a day, with the next time doing this at a familiar crossing near Niagara Falls and the City of Buffalo (shoutout Simon Clarke).
With somewhat of a rest day today, I’m excited to get to Toronto and see the Blue Jays take on the Detroit Tigers on Friday evening (maybe I could offer some of the players a lift?).
Have a good one!
Thirty before 30 