Today was a perfect day--not too hot or cold, with a beautiful breeze. I picked up an old friend and coworker, and I drove my motorhome to one of Detroit's gems--Belle Isle.
Belle Isle is an island in the middle of the Detroit River, about a mile east of the downtown area. (Remember that Detroit is a unique city in that from its downtown, you go south to Canada, not north.) Here is a distance map showing where Belle Isle is located. As you can see on the map, Canada is to the south, and Lake St. Clair is to the east. Beyond Lake St. Clair is Lake Huron, not shown on this map.
Note that the Detroit River flows from Lake St. Clair, past downtown Detroit, and out to Lake Erie, and then to Lake Ontario and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. (This is after going over Niagara Falls, of course.) Big lake freighters and some ocean-going ships go past Belle Isle, very close to the island so it is a good ship-watching place.
Belle Isle Park takes up the entire island and consists of 982 acres. There is a large fountain, aquarium, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, swimming beach, golf course, carillon, giant slide, conservatory, nature zoo, canoe and paddleboat rentals, and lots of picnic and fishing areas along the river. The Anna Scripts Whitcomb Conservatory is currently closed while renovations are made to the main greenhouse building.
Belle Isle was purchased in 1879 by the City of Detroit and designed as a park by Frederick Law Olmsted, the same person who designed Central Park in New York City. It was extremely popular with many generations of Detroiters in the 1900s. In fact, my parents told stories of going there as children and young adults, and my dad was fined way back in the 1920s for swimming without a bathing suit top on! In later years, my ex-husband and I spent a lot of time on Belle Isle, and my parents used to take my sons there to feed the ducks when they were young.
However, Belle Isle has had a lot of rough years in the last few decades because Detroit had serious financial problems, and the park was not kept up and buildings were allowed to fall into disrepair. When the city declared bankruptcy in 2013, it signed a 30-year lease with the State of Michigan DNR and became a state park with $20 million being promised to bring it back to the gem it once was.
There are still things that are needed to be brought back to life on the island, but it is well worth visiting since new restrooms and most other facilities are clean and usable.
Whenever, you see a view of Detroit, it was almost certainly taken from the western tip of Belle Isle, as this photo was taken by me.
This photo shows downtown Detroit and the GM Renaissance Center on the right. In the middle in the far distance is the Ambassador Bridge to Canada, and on the left is Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
And here goes the police in hot pursuit of who-knows-what! Can you imagine how busy this waterway was during prohibition??? Seagrams had a big factory right on the river, and it was easy during the winter to just walk or drive across the ice or to take a boat across during the summer to pick up a load of contraband booze! Supposedly, there are a lot of Ford Model Ts at the bottom of the river.
In fact, my dad used to tell us that his father, who was born in Canada, got caught on his first smuggling trip to Detroit and got sent back to Windsor. Not sure, but I think it was in a boat.
In the background are the Detroit Riverfront Condos. The round building in front of them is part of Cobo Hall, and two ships. The older-looking one is a tour boat called the Detroit Princess Riverboat. I don't know what the larger ship is, but it might be a passenger ship touring the Great Lakes.
The Scott Fountain on Belle Isle was built by a wealthy "womanizing scoundrel" to memorialize himself! Historic Detroit.org says he was "lazy, eccentric, a prankster and a real rapscallion." They also say he inherited his money from his father and spent his days gambling. J.L. Hudson, a prominent department store owner in Detroit said about him when the city was considering his requests for a fountain in his well, ""Mr. Scott never did anything for Detroit in his lifetime, and he never had a thought that was good for the city."
I skipped taking a photo of the huge statue he required to be built of himself, but at least the resulting fountain was beautiful. More info on this guy is available here: https://historicdetroit.org/buildings/james-scott-memorial-fountain
Unfortunately, it was not turned on the day we visited, but it really is a very nice fountain, even though the person it memorializes was not. Water spouts up to 125' high when it is turned on.
Previous to the leasing of the park by the State of Michigan, the fountain was green with algae and filthy after decades of neglect. It was scrubbed clean by hundreds of volunteers who brought their own brushes and bleach. (Volunteers also did much of the general clean-up of the city and still contribute to keeping the park clean and in good condition because many people who live in the area, including me, have fond memories of this wonderful park.)
Usually the turtles spout water also.
After walking around the fountain, we drove to a nearby fishing and picnic area to eat the lunches we had packed. Didn't see anyone actually catch a fish, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the nice day. Watched a big lake freighter go past.
It was nice to have my motorhome on this trip so I could have a kitchen with a refrigerator and a private bathroom. It was a very uncrowded day, so lots of places to park.
This is an anchor in front of the Dossin Great Lake Museum from the Edmund Fitzgerald that sunk in a storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. The entire crew of 29 drowned, and no bodies were ever found because "Superior never gives up its dead." (Extremely cold water does not allow bodies to putrefy and float to the surface.) It was the largest ship to have ever sunk on the Great Lakes.
If you have never heard the famous Gordon Lightfoot song about this sinking, click here.
This anchor is just outside of the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the outside of the building because I was having camera battery problems.
This is the famous racing hydroplane, Miss Pepsi. The Detroit Boat races are held on Belle Isle every year between the island and the City of Detroit. Races were not held during the COVID pandemic, but they are supposed to be on for next summer. Here is the site describing the racing and how to get tickets. https://detroitboatraces.com/box-office-and-parking.php
Note however, that in the past, there was no charge for watching the races from Belle Isle, other than the state park entrance fee. Don't know if that is still true, but worth checking on it.
Some photos inside the museum.
This below is the pilot house of a ship that was donated to the museum.
There is also a bell tower, or carillon, on the island, but I am not sure if it is working.
The conservatory is being renovated, so we could not go in it, but some of the gardens were open. Needs some trimming and weeding, but this is no doubt the very end of the season.
We ran out of time to see the aquarium and the nature center, but it was a very pleasant day. Will try to come back next spring when I am back from Florida.
A lovely tour of Belle Isle.
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