Our destination for today was to continue north on the Detroit River, across Lake St. Clair, up the St. Clair River and ultimately to Port Huron. Lake St. Clair itself is ~ 20 miles from river to river. Width: 20 - 23 miles. Depth: Max 21 feet. This is a large shallow lake where winds can make it choppy and create high waves. Actually, "strong winds blowing over several hours will cause the water to build up on the downwind side of the lake; at the same time the upwind side decreases creating water shifts of 2 to 4 feet." These water movements are known as seiches. Luckily for us there was only a slight breeze, ahhh.
Once across the lake we were undecided as to take the north channel or the south channel to the St. Clair River until we saw God showing us the way on the left. South channel it is!
Have no idea what this building could be outside of a channel marker.
Looking back to watch the Detroit skyline slip away.
Entering the channel, Harsens Island, MI is on our port side or for you land lovers, the left side. It appears that the color pallet for the homes came from a box of chiclets. Love it!
Yacht Club.
The aquamarine water on the St. Clair River rivals any we have seen thus far on our trip and even competes with the water color in the Florida Keys! High end homes line this strip.
They have their own secure dock behind their home.
Looks like a farm house.
Beautiful homes above and below line the enchanting St. Clair River.
Nice house but the aquamarine water is breathtaking!
See the slide into the river. I can envision children screaming all the way down then flying into the water.
Now look closely for something familiar to each home.
Did you catch it? 99% of the homes had an American flag in the front of their house facing the water. Some even had a Canadian flag flying as well. On the other side of the river is Canada. The homes on the other side of the river were too far away to capture on my IPhone but most of them had Canadian flags flying and even some American flags. I wonder if they play friendly games with each other over the river?
Gorgeous water.
1st commercial tug we have seen thus far on this river.
Capturing the industry on the Canadian shore - chemical refineries.
And, here too.
First commercial building we have seen so we must be getting close to Port Huron.
Port Huron sits at the northern entrance to the St. Clair River. Desmond Marina where we stayed the night is on the Black River just off of the St. Clair.
Heading over the bridge to the historic downtown area.
Cute boutiques along this strip.
Closer view.
This is Toto. His mother is telling him he has to get back upstairs because he can't be running around the store during business hours.
He listens like a child who doesn't agree with what the parent says.
Don't recall seeing a bay type window in a 2nd story building.
Green awnings are a nice accent to the red brick building.
This was more of a bar than a restaurant and we were hungry so we passed on it
and headed to a more inviting establishment, Vintage Tavern. Good looking sign on the corner of the building.
And on the wall above the entrance.
They have covered outdoor seating upstairs and a fire escape should we need one.
Bar area upstairs.
They can enclose the room when the weather turns foul. They can even stoke the working fireplace as well.
They enclosed the original window.
1st floor of the restaurant.
More of the historical downtown area featuring boutiques, art galleries, jewelry stores, and restaurants.
Barrel shaped slats on the back of the rocking chairs.
That's the best looking rodent I've ever seen.
The Raven is a specialty coffeehouse cafe located in this civil war era building, one of the oldest structures in the area, which has been completely restored.
Check out the architecture and décor. "Real brick, lavish hardwoods, unique golden faux paint art deco walls, retro poster prints and counter, wall-panel human interest illustrations, stained glass windows, tiffany lighting and a library of over 8000 antique and contemporary books."
Beyond the decorative bar is the Emily Dickinson seating/reading area.
This building has been around since 1885!
Sign above relays the history of the Harrington Hotel. Once again, a story is told of the birth of waterfront towns due to water travel in the early days and the deterioration and even deaths of the same towns due to the advancements made on land in relation to trains, autos and the ensuing superhighways. Reinvention is the key to survival and we have seen a lot of it going on along the way. Most of these towns are hoping to create their areas as destination locations and so many of these have merit.
Grace Episcopal Church was built in 1889.
Stained glass side windows now have plastic coverings to protect them from vandalism.
I was right, 1889!
Admire the half moon windows and the Corinthian style columns of this 1902 building.
Accenting the front of the Henry McMannon Convention Center is "The Night And Day Fountain" which is absolutely beautiful. "The NIGHT has long, smooth, graceful curves which are repeated in the lines of the swan in flight beneath the female sculpture on the Right. In comparison, DAY is more angular and its muscles are more pronounced, as are the veins in the arms and hands of the male sculpture on the left. DAY rests upon an otter hunting in a school of pike." The gold sunburst clock is striking!
