A Detroit River Cruise

Detroit gets a lot of bad press, but there are a lot of things to see and do in the area. Last year I finally went on one of the tour boats and we had a great time. Seeing the sights from the river also gives you a different perspective than what you're used to when driving around in the city.

There were a lot of other boats joining us on the water the day we took our cruise. The Detroit River and Lake St. Clair are always busy with water traffic.

The tour first went east of downtown towards Belle Isle, which is an island park in the Detroit River. Many people don't realize that Detroit is north of Windsor, so this is the only place where Canada is south of the United States. You can see the Ambassador Bridge to the left in this picture. Detroit is also connected to Canada via an underwater tunnel.

The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, a landmark on Belle Isle, has been at its present site since 1904. This picture doesn't do it justice at all.

The Renaissance Center dominates the Detroit skyline. Ford Motor Company used to occupy one of it's towers, but it is now the headquarters for GM.

Across the river is the Windsor Casino in Canada. Before Detroit built its casinos there was a lot of gambling traffic headed across the river. There are still some people who prefer the casino in Windsor.

Windsor has beautiful parks along the riverfront. I particularly liked this sculpture of the elephant with the two little ones following close behind.

We passed one of the many freighters that use the Detroit River. Freighters go by every day, even in the winter.

I liked this view of the Detroit skyline with the Ambassador Bridge in the foreground.

We were lucky to see a mail run in progress. The Wescott company serves as a post office where they receive mail for the passing freighters. The freighters don't stop for the mail. Instead these boats run up alongside the huge freighter and deliver the mail. They have been delivering mail like this for over 110 years.

The Coast Guard also has a station along the river and they can be seen on their patrols. They also operate an ice cutter to keep a channel open for the freighters during the winter.

I hope you enjoyed this little trip and some of the sights along the Detroit River.