The Shrine of the Little Flower

 Since I continued up Woodward, this was another spot that I had to stop at.

The Shrine of the Little Flower is at the corner of Woodward and 12 Mile.  It was built in the 1930's.

The sculpture was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and was a response to one of the church's wooden crosses being burnt by the KKK.  The priest at the time challenged the KKK to try to burn this one.

It is a pretty cool look statue.  It is every bit art deco of it's era.

It is pretty impressive to see in person.

I think this is Mary and a centurion.

St. Therese who was called the little flower.

A group of angels.

In 1998, it was declared a National Shrine by the US Council of Bishops.

In 2015, it was considered a minor basilica by Pope Francis.

The Ford Highland Park

 When I did the Woodward Avenue thing a few years ago, there were a few places I didn't stop and this was one of them.

This was Henry Ford's second plant for building the Model T.  It was designed by Albert Kahn in 1908 and was opened in 1910.  Henry Ford took the lessons learned at the Piquette Avenue plant and incorporated them here.  This was the first automobile assembly plant in the world to use a movable assembly line.

Instead of a group of people working on one car in separate stations, the car was built by moving along the line and having certain components assembled in certain places.  This was also where Henry Ford announced the then unheard of wage of $5 per day.  

By the 1920s, the Model T fell out of fashion and Ford opened his Rouge Assembly Plant.  This plant was used for automotive trim and Ford tractors.  During World War II, 1,690 Sherman tanks were built here.  By 2011, it was used for document storage and artifact storage for the Henry Ford museum.  Part of it is also used by Forman Mills.  There is talk of converting it into a museum of sorts.

Heading Down Woodward

So on Saturday, I saw that there was a ship I could catch in Bay City.  I had a bit of time, so I took a different way up to Bay City.

This time I started on Woodward and took what amounted to the Saginaw Trail.  This is looking towards downtown Detroit.

And this is looking the other direction.

Looking downtown with the camera a little pulled out.

And then I launched the drone.  I didn't realize how hazy it was towards the edges.  I will have to try this on a nicer day though.  

Looking the other way.

Trying to get Ford Field in the picture.

Bringing the drone down and looking north.

Catching the QLine

The QLine is the first streetcar in Detroit since 1956.

 The first streetcar was introduced to Detroit in 1863.  The first electric streetcars appeared in 1886.  I suspect that they went all over the city.  In 1922, the city took over operation of all the of streetcars.  The introduction of buses in 1925 and the deferred maintenance of the lines led to their demise in 1956.

 Fifty years later, the Detroit Department of Transportation commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of running some sort of mass transit system along Woodward Avenue.  Concurrently, a group of private investors provided matching funds to develop the line that would run down Woodward.

 It was originally envisioned that the right of way would run down the median but that system would end up costing too much money.  I think that might have been a better option as it probably wouldn't have had to stop at traffic lights.   Eventually they settled on streetcars.

 Originally it was called the M-1 Rail after the designation of the Michigan state highway that is also Woodward.  The name was changed in 2016 after Quicken Loans bought the naming rights.  The train runs from roughly just north of the current train station to just below Campus Martius.  It is roughly 3.3 miles long. 

 A Detroit police car.

The train opened to the public on May 12, 2017.

While it is cool that Detroit is trying alternatives to their bus lines, unless this is part of a broader transportation strategy, it is doomed to failure.  Currently the only mass transit that feeds into Detroit is either the suburb buses or the Amtrak Wolverine.  The Wolverine comes into the city three times per day from each direction.  If rail is going to be choice, there needs to be a more frequent commuter rail, so hopefully the Ann Arbor to Detroit line comes to fruition.  I guess we will see what happens.

The Shrine of the Little Flower in Black and White

I was up at the Troy office and so I decided to stop at the Shrine of the Little Flower on the way home.  I also decided to shot in black and white because of the thing I'm doing on Facebook.  Anyway, the pictures.

 This has been on here before, so I'm not going to go into much detail.  I do like this statue.

 This looks better when there are flowers around but it still looks pretty peaceful.

 The breaking of the bread.

 I kind of liked the look of this stained glass window.

 The Shrine itself is pretty impressive.  I think it lends itself pretty well to black and white.

 Giving you a better view of the tower.

 Looking up at the crucifix. 

 I think this is St. Therese but I'm not sure.

 Looking at the tower from another angle.

 One of the doors.

 For as many times as I've passed this, I never noticed it was a bird feeding its young.

 I can't pass on a ship.

Kind of an overall shot of the shrine.  I kind of wish I could get a better angle for this shot though.

The David Whitney Residence

My mom had to go to Utrecht for some art supplies.  While I was waiting out in the parking lot, a structure caught my eye, so I had to go explore.

 Turns out that the structure was part of the David Whitney Estate.  I've driven by this building several times in the past but I never really paid attention to it.  It currently serves as a restaurant and while I was taking pictures, it looks like it was serving as a wedding reception place.

 David Whitney was a lumber baron.  He was born in 1830 in Watertown, Massachusetts.  He made millions as a lumber baron in Lowell, Massachusetts.  In 1857, he moved to Detroit where he expanded his empire to include parts of Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

 In 1890, he decided to build his estate at a cost of $400,000 (which would translate to over $10,000,000 today).  He had jasper imported from South Dakota.  It has 52 rooms and some tiffany glass windows.

 He died in 1900 and his family remained there until 1920.  Apparently, there are rumors of the house being haunted because he died there.

In 1972, it was added to the National Register of Historic places.  Later in 1985, it was restored and converted to a restaurant.

Dutch Girl Donuts

One of the curses and blessings of this blog is that I get out and travel a fair amount.  I found out about this place from another blog, so I figured I would go check it out.  Apparently, it is one of the top 13 donut places in Michigan according to mlive.com.

I had a regular glazed donut, a chocolate cake donut and a blueberry donut.  They were all pretty good.  They were comparable to Dom's over here but maybe a touch better.  May have to try again.

Wandering Around Detroit

I decided to head down to Detroit today for some pictures.  This is something I've actually planned on doing for a while.  Just walk randomly around the city.  It was a shame it wasn't as warm as I would have liked though.

 I decided to park at Greektown for two reasons.  One, they had a promotion to win up to $1000 (I didn't win that) and two, it's free parking.  I ended up as high as I could.  I kind of like this picture but I might have to try again on a sunnier day.

 Looking down from one of the overpasses near the casino.

 After playing at the casino for a bit, I decided to take the show on the road.  My first stop was the former Detroit Police Headquarters.  This was one of many buildings in Detroit designed by Albert Kahn.  It was built in 1923.  Last year, the Detroit Police Department moved to its new headquarters.

 Like many of Kahn's buildings, there are neat little details.  I think I would like to spend more time taking pictures of this building.

 Looking towards the Downtown area from the Headquarters.

 A fine clothing store.  I kind of liked the mural on the building.

 The People Mover coming through an urban scene.  I pretty much stayed with the confines of the People Mover.

 Not sure what street I'm looking down but I think I'm looking in the direction of Comerica Park.

 A hat store.  I was actually tempted to go inside and see what else they had.

 The Harvard Square Centre building.  I don't have many details on this except that it was built in 1925.  Like many buildings in Detroit, it currently stands abandoned but there are plans to convert it into apartments.

 I was taking a shot at a transparent reflective.

 I'm not sure what building this is but it looks like they are in the midst of remodeling it.

 Looking up Woodward Avenue.

 A statue dedicated to Russell A. Alger.  He was born in 1936 and served in the Michigan 2nd Calvary during the Civil War.  At the Battle of Boonesville, he was sent with a group of men to attack some Confederates.  They won but he was captured and escaped that same day.  In 1863, he was promoted to Colenel of the 5th Michigan Cavalry.  His unit was the first to enter the Battle of Gettysburg.  He was appointed to the rank of Brevet General.  After the war, he became a lumber baron.  In 1884, he was elected Governor but his term was cut short when he became Secretary of War for President McKinley.  In 1902, he became a Senator.  He died in 1907.  Alger, Michigan and Alger County are named after him.

 Since I was so close, I decided to wander over to Comerica Park.  Monday is opening day and the weather might even feel like it.

 I'm not sure what these two buildings are.

 The souvenir shop at Comerica.

 A closeup of the Tiger Statue in front of the park.

 Pulled out a little bit to get the Comerica Park sign in the picture.

 The Hazen S. Pingree statue.  This has been on here before, so I'm not going to go into detail here.  I'm only going to say we need more politicians like him now.

 A fountain dedicated to Thomas Alva Edison.

 I stumbled across this wall.  I kind of like it.

 Looking down Washington Boulevard.

 The Book Tower.  This is another one I've covered here, so I'm not going to go into details about it.

 Another angle of the Book Tower.

 I'm not sure what buildings these are.

 I kind of liked this plate.  Kind of reminds me of a baseball diamond.

 This is the site of the first Michigan Capital Building.

 This is a statue dedicated to our first Governor, Stevens T. Mason.  He is also known as the Boy Governor because he was the youngest Governor in American History.  He was instrumental in getting Michigan recognized as a state.  He was also influential in getting the University of Michigan moved to Ann Arbor.

 A scale model of the first Capital Building.

 Looking up at the David Stott building.

 The front entrance of the David Stott building.

 Looking down Woodward Avenue.

 The Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Capus Martius.

 The Guardian Building.

 The One Woodward Building.

 The Spirit of Detroit statue.

 I don't remember what Street I was looking up for this one.

I was starting to get cold, so I took the People Mover back to Greektown.