Detroit Landmarks We've Visited

This week we thought we'd share a few of the landmarks we've visited in Detroit so far. We took these pictures last summer when Morgan and Karale's mom and grandmother all visited in July.

Downtown:

"Downtown Detroit is a stunning concentration of skyscrapers, as well as historical and architecturally beautiful residential and commercial buildings. Downtown is also home to the Detroit Tigers, Lions and Red Wings. Some of it's most notable sites include the Renaissance Center, Greektown, Campus Martius, Hart Plaza and the Riverfront".

"General Motors Renaissance Center (pictured below), or RenCen, is a massive 73 stories high and five and a half million square feet in size. It has seven towers, dozens of stores and services, four movie theaters, a financial center, two foreign consulates, a 1,300 room Marriott hotel, three of the city’s hottest restaurants and an 1,100 seat food court. It is also GM's headquarters with 6,000 GM employees supporting 11 vehicle brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer and Saab – as well as OnStar and XM Satellite Radio".

"In 1971 Anna Thompson Dodge, wife of the late auto pioneer Horace E. Dodge, donated 2 million dollars to Detroit to construct a fountain at the foot of Woodward Avenue in Hart Plaza in honor of her husband and son. The Dodge Fountain was completed on Oct. 14, 1981 and has more than 300 water jets, 300 lights and sprays water up from the basin below and down from the ring". That's Josh and Morgan standing infront of it.

"Hazen S. Pingree, a former mayor of Detroit and governor of Michigan, once had the entire Detroit Board of Education arrested, calling them a bunch of thieves, grafters and rascals. He also plowed up city parks and land to plant potatoes for the hungry. When he became Governor, he threw a party in 1899 on the floor of the Michigan House of Representives celebrating the advent of the 20th Century. The party was attended by future President Theodore Roosevelt dressed in his Rough Riders cavalry uniform. When Pingree died he was on an African safari with Roosevelt in 1901".

"The Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was unveiled on April 9,1872 and commemorates Michigan's sailors and soldiers killed during the Civil War. It stands in a prominent downtown location on the southeast tip of Campus Martius Park. In 2005 a re-dedication ceremony was held following the completion of the new Campus Martius plaza in downtown Detroit. The time capsule contained in the monument was opened, and the list of Michigan War Dead was updated to reflect all those killed from the Civil War up to April 2005 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Civil War re-enactors, members of the Grand Army of the Republic and associate organizations, representatives from the Detroit City Council, the Michigan National Guard, and the Second Baptist Church men's choir participated in the ceremony".

"The Spirit of Detroit (aka Jolly Green Giant) is a 26 foot bronze statue dedicated in 1958. The statue is dressed in sports jerseys when the local professional teams (Red Wings, Tigers, Lions, etc.) are in the playoffs. It was also once dressed in a tuxedo during a visit by the Three Tenors".

Belle Isle:
"Belle Isle was settled by French colonists in the 18th century, who named it Île aux Cochons (Hog Island). In 1845 it was given its present name. Belle Isle is a 982 acre island park in the Detroit River managed by the Detroit Recreation Department. It is connected to the rest of the city by the MacArthur Bridge. It is the largest island park in the United States.
It is home to the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a Coast Guard post, and a municipal golf course. The city maintains a Nature Center where visitors are able to traverse wooded trails and view wildlife natural habitats. The island includes a half-mile swimming beach, the only beach in the city of Detroit".

"The Scott Memorial Fountain on Belle Isle was designed by the late Cass Gilbert, who was chosen in a nation-wide competition, is a large and appealing classic monument in white marble. The diameter of the entire fountain, with its central bowl, its pools, and wide base, is 510 feet--that of the main part, 112 feet. A central spray that rises 125 feet into the air is supplemented by 108 others, the waters of which form part of the design of the monument".

"The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory is also on Belle Isle and is a greenhouse and botanical garden. It was built in 1904 and is the nation's oldest conservatory. It contains formal perennial gardens, annual flower beds, a rose garden, and lily pond garden". We hope to visit this summer.