A beautiful day for boating!

We didn’t make any special plans for Labor Day weekend, but on Friday night I got a facebook message from our friends Nancy and Andy, inviting us to go boating with them on Sunday.  It promised to be a beautiful day, and we had been wanting to catch up with them while we were in town, so of course we said yes.  Nancy runs a daycare in her home, and provided the best care I could ever have found for my two boys, and her husband, Andy, is a retired “Ford guy” – even after the boys left Nancy’s daycare to go to school, we remained friends and have kept in touch over the years. 

We made plans to meet at the marina in Detroit where they keep their boat, at 11am on Sunday.  Their boat had been taken out of indoor storage and placed in the water before we got there.

 

We loaded up and headed out into the Detroit River.  Andy started out by taking us on the tour of the Detroit riverfront.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We passed under the bridge to Belle Isle State Park, an island in the middle of the river.  When I was in college, we used to come to Belle Isle to ride bikes and have picnics.  In our last summer of classes, a bunch of us engineering students took a photography class, and we all came to Belle Isle to photograph some of the great old architecture!  It’s a beautiful park, especially now that the state has taken it over and it maintaining it.

 

 

As we made our way south on the river, we passed by the Manoogian Mansion – home of the Mayor of Detroit,

 

and other stately homes along the river.

This one is rumored to belong to Kid Rock.

 

As we got closer to downtown, we could see the Detroit skyline.

 

It looks pretty impressive from the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Across the river is Windsor, Ontario,

 

and the bridge across the river is the Ambassador Bridge.

 

We turned around and started heading north towards Lake St. Clair, leaving Detroit and Windsor behind us.

 

We passed the Coast Guard Station, and entered the lake.

 

There are lots of beautiful estates on the lake,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

including the Edsel & Eleanor Ford Estate.

 

There were a lot of really nice boats out on the lake, too.

 

We floated around for awhile while we ate our lunches and enjoyed the warm summer sun.

It was a perfectly beautiful day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we took a cruise through Jefferson Beach Marina,

 

where there was a wedding going on in the gazebo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their reception venue was parked alongside the dock, and we could see the guests lining up to pick up a glass of champagne as they entered the boat.

 

There were lots of beautiful boats in the marina, including this original cigarette boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the marina, we made our way back down the river.

 

Andy pulled the boat up alongside the dock, and got it ready to go back into storage until the next time he takes it out.  That’s a pretty good way to go – the boat stays nice and clean, stored inside out of the elements, and all he has to do is call ahead and they put in in the water for him!

We visited for a little while longer in the “Tiki Bar” before we all headed for home.  It was a beautiful day on the water, and we’re glad that Andy and Nancy invited us to spend the day with them!  Thanks guys!!