990: ONE FINE SATURDAY IN MICHIGAN
Spent the long weekend back in A'burg, which included the usual trip over to Detroit with Amy.
Everywhere we went, the only subject of conversation was that afternoon's Tigers/Yankees playoff game. I would have listened to it, except that their current flagship radio station, WXYT, has a weak signal. Happily, the Tigers won their first playoff round since '84, the Yankees went down in flames and no burning police cars were reported by local TV stations.
Two shots from the intersection of Woodward Ave and McNichols Rd (the name through Detroit of 6 Mile Rd), which marks the northern boundary of Highland Park.
Left: WJLB has long been one of the leading urban contemporary radio stations in Detroit, stretching back to their "strong songs" TV campaign in the 80s. Not sure how to explain this ad, other than they're tapping into the largely neglected radio-in-the-shower market.
Right: Based on the colour of this building, would you trust these cleaners to separate your reds from your whites?
We continued along Woodward into Ferndale.
Left: Looks like the fat lady was blinded by the light that morning. I can't think of the name of the club whose window this sits in, other than it's by the start of the downtown Ferndale strip along 9 Mile west of Woodward. From the reflection in the window, you can tell who holds down the corner of 9 Mile and Woodward.
Right: The Bangkok Cafe has long been a favourite in the family, ever since we discovered it while shopping at the long-gone Sam's Jams record store. The decor is not much to look at, but the food...let's say that in 15 years we've never had a bad meal. It's not fancy, just simple stir-fries. Medium spicing is usually my threshold of pain here.
After a few hours of shopping, we headed north along Rochester Rd to catch fall colour. We were in the apple belt and stopped at a cider mill north of Rochester (recent Detroit Free Press taste test). It proved to be the most sedate-looking of any we passed, especially those on Van Dyke Rd. The smell of fresh cider doughnuts dominated. Amy gave them a thumbs-up.
South of Leonard, we passed this bus shelter. We suspect a regular school bus rider designed it. - JB
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