On my own today and hunting for motor museums. I'd worked out that i needed to catch a smart bus and not a DTO bus to get to Dearborn. How confusing. To catch a Smart Bus I had a 2 mile walk down the length of Woodward. The driver was as miserable as hell and so not helpful.
I asked to be dropped off near the Henry Ford Motor Museum, needless to say he dropped me at the wrong place. It didn't help that I'd completely underestimated the size of Dearborn.
I was expecting a small town, but the sign on entry 'City of Dearborn' was a bit of a giveaway to it's scale. i set off on my trek and found the city hall so decided to ask in there. A very nice member of staff gave me some excellent directions.
Now I'm not sure how much 'Henry Ford Performing Arts Centre' sounds like 'Henry Ford Motor Museum' but that's the directions she gave me. In fairness everything in 'The City of Dearborn' is named Henry Ford this or Henry Ford that and it's not like we speak the same language or nothing.
After spending the early afternoon walking down Michigan Avenue (mapless) and not finding what I was looking for I decided to cut my loses and head back to the hotel and sit the rest of the day out in safety.
In short it was a totally wasted trip. Most who know me, will know that I have an irrational of the Ford Motor Company anyway. I now have reason too.
I've learnt a lesson though. The next time I come to Detroit, which will either be never or after a brain transplant, I'd stay out of town, in Ann Arbour or accross in Windsor, ontario and get a car.
The afternoon off gave me a real good chance to think about Detroit. Basically I decided that it's a hole of the shite variety. I've given it a chance. I've looked for the nice area and had no joy. I can't understand how the home of Motown can have absolutely no cultural vibe. Also I can't work out why there is no metro here. Detroit and it's suburbs are way big enough. They are doing loads of work here, but it's probably not worth a visit for at least another 5-10 years. The Motown Museum withstanding all that. As ever the newest and most impressive building in Detroit is the sports stadia closely followed by GM's new HQ.
On a plus note I'm losing weight with all this walking. It's either that or the lack of eating. Also I got my 1st 'You've got a cute voice' comment today. Shame it was a big black mama, but then I always was popular with my friends mum's.
I saw the afternoon and early evening out in the hotel bar watching baseball. I met a couple of nice people. One woman called Chastity (that's another aim in life that I can cross off my list) and a chap called Brian.
