... the overnight trip to Detroit was actually quite nice.
Coming in on 94 and driving through New Troy made me feel like a new man ... driving past Climax wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought ... and I realized that this trip was kind of done gangnam style (in that I was driving the Hyundai all over Detroit -- the Hyundai being a South Korean car -- Detroit being the center of the American auto industry -- ok, I'll stop now with half-hearted attempts to be punny whilst hungover).
Heading out of town up Woodward Avenue did give me a little taste of what's happening, as I saw block after block of blighted buildings -- or the empty lots where blighted buildings had been bulldozed -- and I was reminded of a recent documentary I had seen that included aerial shots of Detroit that was demonstrating how it's returning to its formerly pre-industrialized agrarian state.
Overall -- friendly people (including the homeless folks by the waterfront -- the only part that made me slightly uneasy) and a bar crowd that actually talked to out of towners and made a person feel welcome. I realize I had built it all up in my head -- as if it was some kind of third world spot -- like Bangladesh maybe? -- which finally brings me to my Amazing Race Aside with three things I learned from last week's episode:
1.) Thing One: in Bangladesh, Sprite can apparently be used to wash off raw sewage that has been accidentally stepped in and to start an overheated taxi!
2.) Thing Two: I'm pretty sure that the rat collection fast forward task is pretty much a real life example of the Pied Piper story, right?
3.) Thing Three: Bangladeshi religious leaders are apparently able to get the same hair coloring techniques as Cyndi Lauper!
AMAZING BEFORE AND AFTER AERIAL VIEWS OF DETROIT:
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-before-and-after-pictures-of-detroit-2009-10
A DIFFERENT KIND OF RAT STORY FROM THE SAME AREA:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/rat-attack.html
TO COUNTER THE UNEXPECTED PRODUCT PLACEMENT:
http://www.sprite.com/
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