Thanksgiving in Detroit

I decided to head down to Detroit yesterday because I had a chance to see one of the new Littoral Combat ships.  I wasn't sure how painful it would be though with the parade and the Lions game.  Turns out that it wasn't that bad.

 The Michigan State Police helicopter was flying around.  I guess with all the nastiness in the world these days, I can't really blame it.  It's kind of a shame that we can have a parade without some sort of security threat. 

 Oh well, it was still pretty cool to see the helicopter.

 I ended up parking at Milliken because the ship was parked in front of the Renaissance Center.  The Ren Cen was looking pretty nice for the holiday.

 Looking up at the Renaissance Center. 

 The Detroit police boat was patrolling in front of the Milwaukee.

 Since I was already that far down, I decided to wander around Hart Plaza for a bit.  One of these days, I would love to go over to Windsor to see this statue's counterpart.

 Another shot of the Detroit Police boat.

 They would use what was called a story quilt to guide the slaves using the Underground Railroad.  There were code pictures for directions and if there were any dangers ahead.    This is kind of a depiction of one of those.

 There was a similar depiction on the other side.

 A shot of the Detroit skyline from Hart Plaza. 

 The Lafayette statue.  It's pretty amazing how a trading post grew up to become a large city.

 A closeup of his face.

 Pulled back a little bit to get the Ren Cen in the picture.

 I kind of liked all the flags in this picture.

 The former Comerica Tower.  I'm not sure what it is called now.

 Looking down Woodward.  I actually thought the parade came down this far, but apparently it stops at Campus Martius and I didn't feel like walking over there.

 The One Woodward Building.

 Looking down Woodward.  I actually waited so that I could get a shot of the People Mover.

 The Mariner's Church in Downtown Detroit.  This is the church that is immortalized in the Gordon Lightfoot song.

 A closeup of the stained glass window.

 Looking up at the tower.

 This is a statue of George Washington.  It's one of the few in the country that shows him in his Mason outfit.

 I ended up wandering through the Ren Cen.

 Looking up at the Ren Cen from the Wintergarden.

 A female mallard.

 A plane pulling a banner for the parade.

Looking at the River Walk from the other end.