Windsor 2016

Windsor, Ontario, Canada is a city I love to visit when I go to Detroit. Besides, it's just right across the Detroit River, and it's the only way to get great photos of the Detroit skyline. So that's what I did...decided to go over to Windsor to photograph the Detroit skyline, and to see what's around Windsor to photograph as well. After passing through the Canadian border with no problems, I head over to the Windsor Riverfront. Once at the Riverfront, I get a bit excited seeing the Detroit skyline, because a skyline says a lot about a city. And because Detroit is going through a bit of financial struggles, I see a skyline and a city that's rebuilding and standing strong! I walk along the Riverfront and come across the Windsor Sculpture Park. The Windsor Sculpture Park, formerly known as the Odette Sculpture Park, is an open space in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, that showcases 31 large-scale contemporary sculptures by world-renowned artists. The park is located on the shores of the Detroit River and is part of the Ambassador and Centennial Parks, between the Ambassador Bridge (Huron Church Road) and the Art Gallery of Windsor (Church Street). The park extends all the way to the Ambassador Bridge. I wasn't able to photograph all 31 sculptures, but the ones I did capture are definite eye-openers. My main favorite sculpture is "Eve's Apple" by Edwina Sandys. But others I liked were: "Chicken and Egg" by Morton Katz, "The Columns" by Ronald Zerafa, "Tembo" (The Elephants) by Derrick Stephan Hudson and "Racing Horses", also by Derrick Stephan Hudson. Another interesting piece, not part of the sculpture park, but was along the river is called an Inukshuk. An Inukshuk is a human-made stone landmark or cairn used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. The Inukshuk may have been used for navigation as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting or to mark a food cache. There's also an Inukshuk that stands outside Windsor City Hall.

After spending time on the Riverfront, I head into downtown to see what I can get my camera and myself into. I find a parking spot on Pitt Street East, which brings me to my first photo...the Tower of Freedom Underground Railroad Monument by Edward Dwight. The monument features a former slave raising his arms to celebrate his emancipation while a Quaker woman offers assistance to a woman and her child. Another child in the monument looks back towards Detroit. The contemporary Canadian flag is included above the figures, while at the very top of the monument you see a bronze depiction of an eternal flame. If you visit Windsor, make sure you go to Pitt Street East to see this monument. From there, I walk down the street towards Caesars Casino and Hotel. I also walked past The Coliseum, which featured billboards of upcoming shows. The front of Caesars showcased a manicured "Caesars" grass cut-out, as well as their dancing water fountain. Other sights around downtown included the Ontario Police Station, Tequila Bob's(where I had lunch), Chrysler Headquarters, University of Windsor School of Social Work and the Centre for Executive and Professional Education Building (formerly Windsor Star Building) and Cheetah's Adult Entertainment Club. There were other exciting things I spotted: a "Do Not Enter" sign, a Canadian mailbox, a manhole cover with the "Seal of Windsor" on it and not only a working pay phone, but the whole phone booth. And that's very rare in the States for sure! While working my way over to Windsor City Hall, I stopped and checked out The Essex County War Memorial. This Memorial was very informative and very thought provoking. Near that Memorial was Joe Rosenthal's "Neighbours" statue. This statue was very interesting, too! Across from that is Lisa Pickering's Rotary International Peace Monument. I finally get to Windsor City Hall where I see the Inukshuk by the Rose Garden. On the way heading back to Detroit, I surprisingly find the Linh Son Temple, which was already on my "shoot list". This Temple actually looked like a nice restaurant, but it was a pretty cool building to photograph. In the back was a nice Pagoda, with waterfalls and Buddah statues. On the way to the highway, I saw a McDonalds but noticed something different about it...it had a red Maple Leaf in the middle of the arch, and "Great Canadian Taste Adventure" on the marquee. And right across the street from McDonalds is the Tunnel To U.S.A.. So now, I head back to my hotel in Detroit to get ready to travel to Toronto in the morning...