Local Tourist: A Day in the D

The Local Tourist and his lovely wife spent the day bumming around downtown Detroit.  After a stop at the RenCen, we enjoyed a leisurely stroll on the award-winning Detroit Riverwalk.  We went as far as Milliken State Park and Harbor and then returned to the RenCen.  From there, we walked to Campus Martius Park.  On the way, we saw Mariner's Church (made famous by Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"), the Joe Louis Fist, and the Spirit of Detroit statue.  At Campus Martius Park, we expected to see the countdown clock for the NFL Draft in Detroit.  Despite online articles saying it was there, we never found it.

We returned to our car and drove down to Mexicantown for lunch/supper at Mi Pueblo, and enjoyed some fancy margaritas with our chimichanga dinners.

It was a great day in the D, even though Laura's foot flared up and needed to be iced.

Mariner's Church

The Spirit of Detroit

Wayne County Courthouse

The Renaissance Center, home of GM Headquarters; ironically, built by the Fords.

The Book Tower in Detroit

It is great to see continued improvements to Detroit.  

For example, the Detroit Riverwalk has been voted the best riverfront in America (again!).  Yes, Detroit.  People from other communities are actually coming to Detroit to see what they've done to produce such an amazing riverfront.  You read that correctly: they are coming to Detroit to see how they can duplicate it.  Yes, Detroit.

Now, a new release is talking about the soon-to-be reopened Book Tower in downtown Detroit.  Like so many buildings in Detroit, this was a gem that fell into disrepair for a long time.  Conventional wisdom would have suggested to knock it down because it was a monument to urban blight.  Developer, Dan Gilbert, saw it differently--or, rather, correctly.  He invested about $300 million to renovate and restore it to its former glory.  It will be opening again this year.

Check out the article and the embedded video to show what this place will be: Book Tower’s $300M+ historic renovation in Detroit nears completion (wxyz.com)

I doubt I will be able to afford the rate to enjoy a room there, and I have no need to lease an apartment there, but I sure hope I will find an opportunity to walk in.  It looks amazing.