Detroit at Night

Thursday night was the QuickLane Bowl game at Ford Field.  Eastern Michigan was one of the teams in the game, so I ended up going down to Detroit.  Since I would be photographing the game, I had my camera with me.

 I think this is the David Stott building.  It looks pretty cool in the day and looks cooler at night.  They had the top lit up for Christmas.

 The Renaissance Center all lit up.

 The Penobscott Building.

 I think this building is the Detroit Athletic Club.  I'm glad they had it all lit up because it is a nice looking building.

 I liked the looks of this sign.

Some of the Detroit Mounted Police.

Some Building Details in Chelsea

I wanted to go planewatching last night.  It was a nice sunny night except that the planes weren't coming in from the right direction and I didn't feel like going up on the parking deck to get plane pictures.  Then it dawned on me that there are the evening Wolverines and I figured that I could catch them in Chelsea.

 While I was waiting for the Eastbound train, I decided to wander to the other side of the tracks and take some detail shots of the buildings over there.  I really like some of the details that they put on some of the other buildings.  It's a shame that the building itself is in kind of a state of disrepair right now though.

 One of the columns on the side of the door.  Well not quite a column but the side of the door.

 The arch above the doorway to the Stove Company building.  I think this is one of the cooler looking buildings.

And I really like this one.

Ypsilanti at Twilight

My mom had a couple of pieces on display at the Riverside Art Center in Ypsilanti and they had the opening for the show.  I decided to head there for the show. 

 Since I was in the area and the light was looking pretty good, I decided to take a few pictures of downtown Ypsilanti.  I do like the looks of this part of town.

 Pictures of the other side.

 This is another side I like.

 I'd like to think this building was a hotel at one time.

 I decided to look at some of the other houses on Huron.

 I kind of liked this building obscured by the red leaved trees.

 The stained glass window from the Ladies Library.

 The front of the building.

 the church near there.

 I also liked the look of this building.

 I was hoping to get a shot of the plane and the moon. I kind of like it.

 A door.

 the front of the Art Center.

 Looking down near there.

 This is a drawing my mom did of some marbles.  I like it.

 And this is a drawing she did of some buttons.

 I decided to get some pictures after the show.

 I kind of liked the reflections in this one.

 There was an antique shop.

 I really liked the look of this one.

 some more buildings in downtown Ypsilanti.

 I really should do more night pictures.

A shot looking to the west on Michigan Avenue.

Part of the Day in Cleveland

I decided to head over to Cleveland yesterday.  I was hoping that I would catch a ship as she was heading into the Cuyahoga River.  I decided to take my normal route of late using Ohio Route 2 instead of the Turnpike.  I was going to stop at the Marblehead Lighthouse but when I did there were a ton of people there and I didn't really feel like battling with people to get pictures.

 So I headed to Wendy Park in hopes of getting that ship but as you can see, empty river.

 I did manage to catch a heron as it was flying over and a couple of trains but the trains are in a following post.

 A shot of the Coast Guard station, at least it was a nice day.

 From a slightly closer spot.  As I looked, the door was open and I was almost tempted to walk in but discretion got the better of me.

 Another shot of the Cleveland Skyline.   I will have to admit, the Midwest has some pretty cool skylines.

 I found another spot where I could get a different angle of the Coast Guard station.

 A shot of the pier light I normally get.

 And the other one.

 I ended up going to another spot as I was waiting for a boat that I thought was going to come out.  Kind of gave me a different angle of the city.

 I kind of like this bridge.  It is a swing bridge and it was built in 1901 by the King Bridge Company.  It seems unusual in that only part of it is over the water.

 I was wondering why there was a fence around it.  Now I know.

 Looking from around the bridge.

 I'm not sure what this building is but it looks like it may have been a depot or something at one time.

 Another view of the Bridge.

As I was waiting, I caught the Thomas Morrish which is owned by Ryba Marine.  I think she is doing some dredge work.

A Visit to Jackson, MI

I had to go to the Department of Environmental Quality office in Jackson today to do my refresher training to be a Storm Water Operator. That's basically where I look at the property and making sure that no pollutants are escaping from the property.  It wasn't too bad.

 I had a little time to kill before the class started and I didn't realize that the train station was so close to the office, I decided to get some pictures of it.  I've been by it so many times, I figured it was a good time to actually get some pictures of it.  I'll have to admit, it is a pretty nice looking station.

 The current station was built in 1871 by the Michigan Central as a replacement for the original station which was built in 1841.  It served as a Union Station as it served three other railroads that went through Jackson.  In 1978, it was extensively refurbished and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.  They are looking to do more renovations in the near future.

 This is the headquarters for the Consumers Energy Company.

 In 1829, Horace Blackman and Alexander Laverty came across the spot that would become Jackson by following an established Native American trail west.  Blackman claimed the land for 2 dollars an acre.   Originally it was named Jacksonopolis, then Jacksonburgh and in 1838, it was simply known as Jackson.  Like so many other communities in the Midwest, it has seen it's ebbs and flows.

 The Jackson County Tower was designed by Albert Kahn in 1929 for the Union and Peoples National Bank.  The original bank never opened for business.  In 1933, the National Bank of Jackson was organized and moved into the building but never took ownership of it.  By 1955, the building was abandoned and sold to Jackson County in 1975.

 I should have recognized who designed this building based on some of the clues.

 I guess I will call this the standard midwestern block.

 I do kind of like the architecture here.

 City Hall is another pretty nice looking building.

 Looking up at another building.

 An old hardware store.

 A fountain.

 This building depicts some of the history of Jackson.  I think this may have been the site where the city was founded.

 A former pharmacy and it looks like it going to be a former art shop.

 Another angle of the City Hall.

 The Michigan Theater.

 They are in the process of improving the street.

 

Looking down the sidewalk.   Based on what I saw today, I think I need to find my way back to Jackson.