So Then ....

Last Thursday (oh mah holy hell, I haven't posted in a looooong time) at the last minute, Don got Detroit Tiger tickets from his boss. It was a day game so we made the best of our day in Detroit, since the Tigers SUCKED the wind out of the game in the third inning.

Thanks Brandon Inge for doing your part!

So then ...

We walked back to our super cool parking space ascloseasthis to Comerica Park, (never have recieving a parking ticket there before) .... only to find a $30 frickin' ticket. Yes, that's my Black G-6 the one with the ticket on it!.


So then ...

In my Nancy way, I took a buncha pics showing there is no warnings about parking and I'll send them in with my $30 check.

So then ...

We headed over to Tiger Stadium, the historical, original home of the Detroit Tigers as I have know it all my life. It's being demolished, destroyed, pulverized, even though it could be developed into a landmark park / ball fields for kids to play in. Nope a big ugly vacant parcel of land is just what Detroit has decided it should be. George Clooney saved it for a couple days by requesting a film crew be able to use it. Of cour$e Detroit $aid $ure.


So then ...

We headed to the Better Made Potato Chip factory on Gratiot because ... hell why not? Neither of us had been there and Don has been jonesing for chips. We got a quick shot of the chips coming off the conveyor belt ...

... then decided to take a pic in front of the building and its sign.

Just as I posed and Don took aim,
Momma and her kids pulled up, right in front of me.
She couldn't care less that we were trying to be all touristy and take a pic.

So then ...

We decided to go fishing.
When we got back to Don's house,
his son Cheyne and Cheyne's friend Rich were waiting for us.

Fishing, always a great way to end the day.

Cheyne and Rich serenading (?) with "I'm On A Boat" ... poses included,

... a few perch caught, (TYVM Cheyne) ... a perfect sunset,

... and a beautiful moon to call it a night.

So then ...

This weekend ... to be continued.

Born in the "D" the 313

Yeah, I was born in Detroit.

Downtown, streets of Detroit.

Bad azz Detroit.

Well, kinda.

I was born in Detroit, but in the 50's. Hardly bad azz at that time. Sure, no one was rich where I lived, but it wasn't ghetto. When my parents just had my older sister and brother, they lived in the "projects" on Conner Street. Yeah, bad azz projects. Kinda.

The ones my parents lived in, on Conner, were brand new. My mom told me they even had fancy-schmancy , state-of-the-art (at that time) underground garbage cans. She and my step-father drove by there a few years ago and it was pure ghetto ... like what the heck were they even doing there?

I Googled a map of the street and address ... looks kinda bleak.

Diana Ross of The Supremes talks about growing up poor in the projects. She did, but they were the Brewster-Douglas projects. Other side of the tracks I suppose.

By the time I was born, my folks had moved. Just a mile or so over. On Beniteau Street. These were older duplexes. We lived in the bottom unit, my aunt and uncle and cousins lived above us. The house behind us was rented by another aunt and uncle and cousins. I Googled Beniteau also. Yikes, nasty!

I do recall us cousins playing in the upper unit while the parents partied visited below. We'd hook hot dogs to fishing lines and lower them to my other cousins below. I think more ended up falling off and landing on the driveway.

Here I am, being all street smart, bro.
Check it out, only one strap holding up my overalls. Yeah, that's how I rolled. (probably because of the baby fat rolls)

When I was four, it was time to get out of the city. So they moved to the extreme opposite. The country. They moved to Troy, Michigan. Not a thing happening out there, except fields. Today, Troy is home to many major corporate headquarters.

One thing about Troy ... the development of this city in part, is proof that engineers really can have a sense of humor. One of the major main roads running through the city is called Big Beaver. If you are on I-75 and need to get off (ahem) on Big Beaver, it's exit 69.