I have it on my website as today’s Photo Du Jour.

Have a great weekend everyone. Good luck with your move MGal…

“Aug. 16 (Tues.) – Hike the Dequindre Cut Description: Due to popular demand, we’re hiking the old Grand Trunk Rail Line through the Dequindre Cut from Tricentennial Park on the River to Eastern Market. Bring a camera and get shots of some of the local artwork on the many walls that form this urban canyon. Meet at the gravel parking lot at the corner of St. Aubin and Atwater 6:30 p.m. and look for the folks in the Detroit Canoe Club shirts!”

Notice from the Detroit Canoe Club

The Rail cut is most famous for its grafitti. A great opportunity for those who are not as adventurous as others…

There is a great tour of the ever changing exhibit over at the King of Detroit websites.

My #1 favorite, that I check in on daily is dETROITfUNK. Run by a very talented local photographer/artist. He is everywhere in the city all at once. This is a “Best of Detroit” in my book.

Another one of my favorite Blogs on the city is Detroit Blog it now has a new home on the web, and looks much better in its new format.

Kudos to the web designer and his great job on the rework. He’s been busy lately redesigning local blogs that have outgrown their “free” presence, and setting them up with domain names too.

Great stuff all around. There is certainly no shortage of local talent.

I decided on the Cannon Digital Rebel XT (Known as the EOS 350D to the rest of the world). After much searching and reserching, I picked the DR XT because of the compact size and light weight, plus all the sample photos I saw online blew me away.

I even found an online retailer with free shipping and because they are out of Province, less tax too. They told me 2-4 days for shipping, so I’m counting down…

Expect a plethora of posts with photos once it arrives. You’ve been warned.

Base

One of the great things about Windsor is how everything in general is a little more relaxed.

Take this photo for example, had I been on the Detroit side with my camera under the bridge, I probably would have been shot. A freind of mine’s son was detained by Homeland Security a few years ago for having a camera in the vicinty of Bridge.

Being under the bridge is kind of nerve wracking, as I have noticed in other places, large chunks of concrete that gave way to below. Most of the bridge is fenced off over here, not in the name of “Homeland Security” but in the hope to avoid lawsuits of falling debris. Most of the bridge runs feet from the University of Windsor Campus, and there is a lot of Student Parking on the other side of the bridge. It’s a shame that people are denied the freedom to wander and photograph under and around the bridge. The Art Deco massing of the piers was designed by Architect Wirt Rowland of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls who also designed the Guardian, Buhl and Penobscot Buildings. The bridge is a work of art intself, and I think it is really not appreciated as it should be.

However, all that being said, I liked it better when it was Black.

I didn’t paint this one…

But I saw it and though of you…. :)

I couldn’t resist tossing up this photo. It is painted on the base of the Ambassador Bridge, on the Windsor side.

You’ll have people line up to head to the middle east to fight “terrorists” but you can’t take 10 minutes out of your day to vote.

If you didn’t vote, you need to give your head a shake. It’s your duty.

Over here in Windsor we were handling diversions while Toronto was closed. As a regional connecting airport, it looked funny to watch big jet, after big jet touching down.

We ended up taking in Airplanes inbound from Miami, Denver, Havana Cuba and Montego Bay Jamaica.

Not really Detroit realated, but what a great job by the Air France crew to get everyone out safely. Next time you’re flying and you’re pissed off waiting for the drink cart, keep in mind that in the event of an emergency situation the Flight Attendants can be the difference between life and death.

Tourist Motel

One of the things that fascinates me is finding relics of what once was. One thing I like to do is drive old Highways and look for buildings and hints of how important the road used to be. In the days before Interstate Highways and their Canadian equivalent, the roads that are now secondary highways were the vital link to other cities.

Many times now, we zoom by in our cars without giving a second thought or glance to the radidly vanishing history in front of us. Take Michigan Ave. for example. Once you pass Dearborn heading west (this was once the main highway to Chicago from Detroit) there are clusters of motels all over the place for no rime or reason. What was the big tourist attraction that once drew hundreds of tourists to Inkster & Taylor? Was it spill over from Greenfield Village (sorry, I just can’t call it “The Henry Ford”), or was it motels for Air travelers?

The “Tourist Motel” neon sign in my Photograph was taken in St. Joachim, Ontario, that is near…. well nothing. It’s about 25 miles out of Windsor with nothing around. It is located on the old Highway #2 that was first laid out in the 1920’s, and fell into disuse in the 1950’s when Highway 401 became the Highway of choice to Toronto & Montreal.

So take the time to look around and take in the history all around you next time your driving on a former highway. You might be surprised at what you see.