Exploring Detroit!!!

The morning of Thursday 22nd Katie and I returned cans in the morning for some fast cash. Katie was really excited about the process since she had never done it before. The dream was shattered as soon as we reached into the trash bags and had to sift through aluminum, glass, and plastic, all of which are covered in the sticky, smelly, remnants of the inside. After that we took an expedition, courtesy of roadside america, to supposedly the worlds largest shoe tree,

which is located at the very end of 6 mile. However, when we got to the location, there was only 2 pairs of shoes in the tree! Apparently, the residents cut the limbs off once too many trees get thrown up there because they can't stand the traffic. Even though it was a disappointment, Katie added our contribution to the tree just the same. The afternoon found us heading to Hitsville USA and the Motown Museum on Grand blvd in downtown Detroit. After parking the car and shifting through a few homeless peddlers, we made it to the museum just in time to start the tour.

The tour was awesome, especially since it was just 10 bucks. We got to tour Berry Gordy's old apartment and go into studio A where every motown record, save 2, was recorded. The other two were recorded in the bathroom. From there we went on a search to find the Heidelberg project. We got vague directions from a few different people who all sounded like they had no clue where it really was. After driving around for a bit we figured out that we were in Mom's old neighborhood! We drove to Mitchel street and saw Mom's old house, the only one left on the block. The first time Mom took me down there, there was a squatter looking out the window at us... needless to say not much has changed in that neighborhood. As we were turning off Mitchel onto Gratiot, just about to give up and turn home, Russ spotted Heidelberg street! We had to drive down the street about 3 blocks from Gratiot to get to the actual spot of the project. Its a real bad area of Detroit and I was nervous to even drive down the block, let alone get out and walk around. But once we got to the site of the actual Heidelberg project, the atmosphere was completely different. There were some people walking around, others just sitting on porches or playing basketball in the street, and even some city workers cutting the grass. The Heidelberg project itself was a real sight to see and definitely worth the uncomfortable setting. I was shocked by the shear size of the project as well as all the garbage that was collected. This is truly and example of one man's trash being another's treasure, and this has turn that trash into a treasure for us all. There's not much that I can say about it that the pictures can't say better, so enjoy.

After we left the site, we headed over to Mexican town and Russ treated us to an excellent dinner at Armando's! A perfect end to our busy day.