348: Detroit. And all that jazz.

View from our hotel room. Looking almost straight down.

M and I had a great time at the Detroit Jazz Festival.  It was my first visit to Motown and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I’d like to go back and spend some time walking around and taking photos.  What little I saw of the city was engaging.  And the music at the festival?  Incredible!

The drive time from here to there was about 3-1/2 hours.  Not too bad.  The land becomes very flat once you get about an hour or so away from the Bogs (where we have rolling hills).  It was mostly farmland.  Fields of corn, soybeans, and the occasional patches of other vegetables, stretching out for miles and miles until you get to Toledo.  I’ve never been to Toledo, either.  I wonder if I should rectify that?  M and I have talked about a trip around Lake Erie someday.  Toledo is located on the western end of Lake Erie.  We could include it in our tour.

My first view of Detroit.

One of the things that surprised me was how littered the highway is in Michigan.  I don’t know why it was a surprise other than that it has been a while since I’ve seen roadways lined with trash to that degree.

From the 57th floor.

Because we didn’t take a vacation this summer, our trip to Detroit was done somewhat in style.  Or more style than usual.  We stayed at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.  The price of our room included VIP tickets to the Jazz Festival.  The festival is free.  The tickets (which were really wristbands) allowed us to sit in the VIP seating areas, spend time at the hospitality tent, and included two free drinks and dinner.  Many of the artists who performed at the festival stayed at the same hotel, and we found ourselves riding with them in the elevator or passing them in the lobby.  Although I’m not the type to get star-struck, I did find it fun to be able to recognize people we’d recently seen performing.

GM Renaissance Center

The Renaissance Center complex, a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers nicknamed the RenCen, is owned by General Motors.  It is their world headquarters.  The Detroit Marriott is the central tower and is the tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.

After checking in at the hotel and taking a few photos of the view, M and I walked over to the festival which was just a few blocks away.  A cold front moved through on Sunday, making the weather iffy, but the cloudiness and cooler weather were nice for the most part.

Looks like it might storm

Our first stop was the J.P. Morgan Chase Main Stage to see (and listen to) Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents with special guest Thornetta Davis.  M and I saw Thornetta Davis back in June at the Canton Blues Festival.  (If interested, you can find the post from that outing here.)

You can read more about Johnnie Bassett and listen to some of his music here.

It was a great way to start our day at the Detroit Jazz Festival.  All of the music we heard was amazing.  Incredible.  Super fantastic.  There was a great deal of talent and creativity in Detroit.

Thornetta Davis at the Detroit Jazz Festival

There is a whole lot more to show and tell about the Detroit Jazz Festival, but I want to get to today’s walk around the pond.  My commitment is winding down now and I’d like to spend more time blogging about that.  I’ll get back to Detroit soon.

Yesterday's sunset

The cold front that brought the dark clouds and rain to Detroit eventually made its way here to the Bogs.  It is considerably cooler than it has been.  Cloudy, too, because of the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.  Today we’re getting the clouds.  Tomorrow the rain will arrive.  One to three inches, they’re saying.

Today's view of the pond

It is very breezy, too.  But we expect that here at Breezy Acres.  I’ve had to put on long sleeves for the first time since early spring.  I like the chill in the air, and prefer it to the heat and humidity I was complaining telling you about a few days ago.

Dogwood leaves changing with the times

Signs of autumn are everywhere, as if the season goes around at night with a paintbrush making colorful changes to the foliage.  A hint here and a dab there.  Shades of red, yellow, and orange being scattered about.

Capturing rainwater

I was out for over an hour, admiring some of the changes.  Mother Nature is creating some lovely bouquets of flowers in the meadows.

I really like the combination of purple and yellow.  The last time we saw that was in the spring when the violets and dandelions were dotting the lawns around here.

Since this post is already photo fat, I’ll save a few pictures for tomorrow’s post.  If the rains from Lee do make it here, I doubt I’ll be taking many photos while out on my walk tomorrow.

Fallen

That’s about it from the Bogs for today.  Thank you for dropping by and joining me on my adventures.  🙂

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