Back on January 22nd, on a snow-free, but frosty morning, as I layered up to head outside, I got a crazy notion that it might be fun to visit all the shoreline parks along the Detroit River. I knew the River was frozen over, so it might present some great photo ops with the waves frozen in place. I even had a name picked out for the trek’s blog post title: “Dilly-dallying along the Detroit River.”
Well, that was an idea best left in my head, because after this one-mile trek at Council Point Park, photographing my peanut-eating pals, along with a large orange cat that crouched on the ice nibbling on shad, I decided my fingers may not be up to that eight-mile long frozen foray.
So I tabled that idea ‘til Summer and six months later I got ‘er done.
Dingell Park – Ecorse, Michigan.
This time it was a warm and humid morning when I stood on the pavilion area at Dingell Park.
A chalk artist had left their mark under the pavilion.
The River was calm and fishermen baited their hooks and dropped their lines into the water.
It was peaceful and a perfect way to start the day.
While I could have walked to my next destination(s), I drove and parked as I intended to visit Bishop Park and a mile down the road, BASF Park.
Bishop Park – Wyandotte, Michigan.
The anglers were similarly lined up along the boardwalk, but also fishing from the pier. The seagulls were hanging out, perched on the boardwalk railing, hoping someone might share a bite of breakfast with them.
I was pleased to see Joanne on her morning walk. You’ll recall I wrote about this ageless, very spry walker last year. Now in her 90s, Joanne, who recently began using a rolling walker, gets her daily steps done along the waterfront, on a path that takes her from the senior apartments where she lives to Bishop Park. As she rolls along, she is all smiles, waving at everyone that crosses her path. I caught up with her and we chatted, then she was on her way again and so was I, as I left to walk through downtown Wyandotte to head to my next destination.
BASF Waterfront Park – Wyandotte, Michigan.
My next stop was at BASF Park, an 85-acre park dedicated in 1995 by chemical company BASF Corporation. This followed a clean-up of debris used in such heavy industrial businesses like shipbuilding and steelmaking.
It is always quiet at this park, except in Summer when Saturday regattas are held at the Wyandotte Boat Club. A nearby golf course is accessed from Biddle Avenue, so it is a pedestrian-only park.
I never see other walkers, just waddlers. There are a lot of Canada Geese roaming about, but there were no adult geese around that morning – they had evidently left their goslings to graze along the shoreline.
Next/last stop … Elizabeth Park – Trenton, Michigan.
The fourth park and third city in about three hours’ time – I was on a roll and no frosty fingers. What was I thinking back in January?
Elizabeth Park is one of my favorite county parks. On this beautiful day, there were more anglers lined up on the boardwalk, but no sign of the groundhog begging for treats.
It was a tad early and the pleasure boats were still moored in their respective boatwells.
The Detroit River, in the Downriver area where I stopped at these four parks, is approximately a half-mile wide, but the width varies, as much as up to three miles across. The River has an average depth of 35 feet. On any given day, you’ll see freighters, some close enough to see the freighter’s name, then you can track its whereabouts later on the website “Boat Nerd” – on this day, I saw several freighters. Freighters are a fun find on a river roam, but I’m partial to waterfowl as they’re more interesting.
It is not just freighters … on a beautiful day everyone loves to be out on the River.
As you likely know, the U.S. and Canada share an international border, the Detroit River, accessible by the Ambassador Bridge or via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. We can stand on the U.S. side and see what’s happening with our Canadian neighbors and every July, a spectacular fireworks show, launched from barges in the Detroit River, is part of the International Freedom Festival, an event where one million people gather at the Detroit and Windsor riverfronts.
Since our Canadian neighbors are celebrating Thanksgiving today and here in the U.S. we are celebrating Columbus Day, I thought it was a perfect time for a post about roaming along the Detroit River shoreline.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Have a Thanks giving day!
Very beautiful sharing your Roaming the river front. Beautiful snow free and Frost morning. Wonderful all photography. Amazing place.
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Thank you rajkkhoja! I’m a bit behind here at my blog. I got a phonecall from a Canadian friend last night for Thanksgiving and never made it over here.
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Thank you so much.
Iam glad 😊. You after long time get phone call your Canadian friend for Thanksgiving.
God bless 🤣
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I was surprised to get the call rajkkhoja. So it was a nice holiday.
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What you doing it’s holiday. Why it’s surprise?
Lots of thanks .
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I don’t hear from her very often rajkkhoja – it was a surprise as it has been a while.
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Ok, Thanks 👍
Don’t mind it’s .
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It won’t be long before we are again all bundled up worrying about slippery paths! It’s nice to see shots of a summer that went all too fast and was a little too hot!
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I know it – first comes the leaves slick with dew then those unexpected patches of black ice … over the years, I’ve run into a few of those at the Park on the Ecorse Creek side. We’ve had such beautiful weather the last few days – no killing frost yet, so not really an Indian Summer but gorgeous.
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I read your beautiful post to Nikolai this morning. We were sipping our morning tea (his is herbal) and enjoying the changing leaves in our farm from the living room window when I asked him if he’d like me to read to him. ☺️ He loved your blog post, especially all pictures and he loved the information about Canadian geese. He asked me to tell you that your blog is the most awesome. 😍 I didn’t disagree in the slightest! Thanks for making our morning friend. 🥰☺️💗
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Hi LaShelle – Please tell Nikolai thank you very much for the nice compliment. I am usually on here every night, but I got a long phonecall from a Canadian friend for Thanksgiving Day. I am Canadian and actually was off yesterday and took more pictures of those geese as I went to Elizabeth Park yesterday. There are lots of them and I have another post which will be coming up about just the geese. This is when they monopolize the canal at that Park. They cut across in front of many of the kayakers. I am not sure if I’ll make it into a post or just a WW post. Thank you again for both your nice comments. I am horribly behind here … at least a week. I hate that!
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Don’t stress at all!! Enjoy your amazing holidays and the leftovers ❤️😽 and take your time! Seriously no rush 😊
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I try not to stress over it LaShelle, but I see my Reader list bursting at the seams. It is difficult sometimes … I am glad I had the extra day as I believe our great Summer-like weather is about to come to a crashing end. I did get all the way to October 6th so now only six days behind.
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That’s great! I haven’t written anything new for this week yet. I have a good story in my head that’s ready to be put to page but I’ve been busy so hopefully I’ll get to it and get it posted sometime soon
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It takes time to write, even if you have a lot of pictures. I am going to write some shorter posts the next month as I will have a lot of Fall chores before I can call it done for the season, then it will probably snow. So hopefully the shorter posts help to keep me afloat and not be so behind here and also get those other pictures sorted. When I return from a long walk, I usually write a draft of what I did/saw that day, the weather, so I don’t forget as it might be awhile til I write the post.
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I usually schedule things ahead of time but it’s been busy lately
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I like doing that too LaShelle, but it’s been busy too trying to get out and about before the weather gets ugly. Free time goes by way too quickly!
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Agreed!
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Wow, this post was long – it must have taken you quite awhile to compose this. I enjoyed your photos. Especially liked the 90 year old lady and her walker – good for her – never stop walking no matter how old you are. The fishing day for all the folks looked relaxing.
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Hi Peggy – it was even longer, but I cut out one park I visited that day (the Detroit River Refuge/Humbug Marsh). I had about five more photos that I took that day, but decided it was already too long plus there were no critters, just people fishing. They have a 740-foot long fishing pier that juts right out into the River. There are always a lot of folks fishing along the boardwalks too. It did take me a while to compose this post. Joanne is very nice … I met here the year she turned 90. It was cold (November) and she had just had a birthday. She told me tries to walk every morning. She also lived in the same city as I do and moved to the senior apartments after her husband passed away. I am trying to take a few photos off each post to use for Wordless Wednesday. I am horribly behind here at WP.
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Well I hope you catch up on wordpress. I have slowed down a lot – seems wordpress was getting in the way of my real life. Ha
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Peggy, I spent 3 1/2 hours in Reader this morning and only got to October 6th. We were supposed to have severe weather this evening, so I thought I’ll be even more behind.
I seem to catch up on Thursdays/Fridays when I have no posts. I feel the same way as you – blogging can overtake your life if you let it.
Just a few days away and you’re hopelessly behind. I’ll be making some shorter posts for the next four Mondays, to try to get ready to go through all these long treks of pics taken in July and September-October. Maybe I’ll finally catch up when it’s snowy and icy.
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Well – I guess it is ok to skip some blogging posts from other bloggers now and then. I just quit several bloggers who post 2 or 3 times a day. To me that is just too much to handle.
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I agree with you Peggy. A daily post is even too much to keep up sometimes. I am caught up thru October 9th right now. I’ll see if I can get to the 10th as I plug along.
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You may see a migration of Turkeys along the river front today Linda!
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I was really hoping to see some on Sunday Wayne and I was so busy peering down into the Rouge River looking for wild turkeys, I almost missed those four deer prancing across the path where I had just crossed. 🙂
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classic……..looking for this and then all of a sudden “that” pops up!
I can guarantee that If you were looking for Deer they would have sensed it and kept hidden
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Yes, it was funny really and the day before I was on a wild goose chase trying to see the four or five deer that were so far away from me they looked like dogs. And these deer just were calm, not rattled seeing me. The other day I missed shots of the “swoop part” of a Starling murmuration as I saw something move in the bulrushes. I thought it might be a mink as it was low, near the grass. It was a cat, crouched down and when I looked up, I saw a skyful of Starlings. Still impressive, even without the “swoop” and I got some pictures of that as well.
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Perfect time for a perfect post!
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That’s what I thought Anne – at first I was going to use some Canada Geese pictures of those waterfowl monopolizing the waterway at Elizabeth Park, then decided to use this idea, which is better for Summer than Winter treks!
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How lovely. We’ve been wanting to travel to Michigan. Your photos are wonderful.
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Thank you orthodoxmom3! You should be sure to travel to Michigan in the Summer, even though our state is known as the Water Winter Wonderland. Michigan is known for its beautiful Great Lakes shorelines.
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I enjoyed seeing the wonderful photos of your park tours. Very smart to do these in warmer weather. I can’t imagine how the icy wind would feel in the winter.
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Thank you Rebecca. I know I can go to Dingell Park and make a quick stop there in the Winter when the swans, ducks and geese go on the ice – the rest I will save for Summer. I just visited two of these parks this weekend, but this time to see the leaf colors. First, they said we’d be at peak foliage colors the end of October, but suddenly we had a cold spell last week and the colors came earlier.
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So what is that sculpture about? The one that looks like a family stacked on top of one another?
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Eilene – it is a bronze sculpture entitled “Looking Forward” by artist John Pappas and commissioned to honor the settlers of the City and donated as a sesquicentennial gift to the Wyandotte in 2000. I will send you a link in another comment in case it goes to SPAM. It shows all the angles of the sculpture.
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They have another sculpture there, but this is the one you asked me about Eilene:
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm2TWR_Looking_Forward_a_tribute_to_the_Founding_settlers_of_Wyandotte
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So it represents seven different ethnic European groups, and I have to wonder how you tell them apart!
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Good question Eilene and in today’s PC world, the sculptor would need to ensure that however he chose to identify each ethnic group, he did not disparage any of them by characteristics that would raise anyone’s hackles (like the L.A. City Council Meeting debacle). I was surprised in the groups listed, that Polish people were the second group, not the first. Wyandotte has a lot of Polish people that settled there near downtown Wyandotte as evidenced by an abundance of restaurants and bakeries, all tasty, but now winnowed down as casualties of the pandemic.
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Happy Thanksgiving my ex-Canadian friend! Nice to seek the shoreline parks, especially your “walker” friend – glad to see she’s wearing a sunhat. Soon we’ll be turning in these glorious fall days for the deep freeze again.
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Thank you Joni! I am really enjoying these beautiful warm days and hate to see the cold, rain and blustery weather return later this week. Glad you liked the shoreline tours. I was off yesterday and visited two Riverside parks, mostly for the “color tour” but I did not include Humbug Marsh in here as the post was already so long. I did see a lot of pretty leaf colors. I hate that idea of the deep freeze and snow too. P.S. – I went to the Henry & Clara Ford Estate on Sunday thinking the leaf colors may be nice – very few had turned, but the roses were still spectacular!
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I took my mom for a drive yesterday, and would say a lot of the trees have not turned yet, a few nice ones, but not at their peak yet. Thank you for the e-card! We finally finished the turkey leftovers tonight. I’m glad to hear you had a day off too!
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I thought I’d wait a little longer, but then they called for this stormy weather today and 35 mph winds, so I figured I’d just go out before I was looking at bare trees. At Elizabeth Park, the oak trees had not changed – give them two weeks and they’ll be a gorgeous golden color, so I’ll go back, weather permitting. Glad you liked the e-card Joni. I’m glad your mom got out, even if the trees were not at peak. Just to get out before it gets ugly and cold feels good. I had a nice day off – two parks and not many people at all given the fact it was the Columbus Day holiday.
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Happy Thanksgiving and Columbus Day! You captured so many interesting things while you walked. Joanne is so sweet and wise to keep walking when she’s able to. I can’t pick a favorite photo all of them are full of interest! Hang on to these warm memories to revisit again in the winter. 🙂
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Thank you Shelley! I never made it here to WP last night unfortunately to get your well wishes but thank you now. I really like Joanne – she is very chatty and originally lived in my city and she/her husband walked at Council Point Park every day before he died and she moved to the senior apartment building. Yes, three months from now – snow, snow and more snow. Top the madness!
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As you know, no worries, don’t feel pressure to write back to me! Joanne sounds like a great person.
It’s crazy weather here…65 and raining and blowing. I’m sure it’s blowing in the cooler temps we’ll have tomorrow or tonight.
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Well this morning I knew it was going to rain by 9:00ish and I walked 25 miles Saturday through yesterday, so I hunkered down with Reader. We were supposed to get that same weather this evening, so I thought if I can’t jump on Reader tonight, I’d never catch up for goodness sake. I am still back on 10/06 after this morning. I don’t like being that far behind. Our weekend is rain off and on, so I’m glad I took the last three weekends and got out and about and I put almost 300 miles on my car the last month, which is rare for me, but I was told to drive the car as much as possible as I don’t drive as much in Winter … so I took that advice to heart.
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I hope today’s weather is okay for you…we had tornadoes in Southern WI. We also had thunderstorms, clearing with sun, and then rain again all in one day. It’s extra windy and only 40 degrees. Sigh…we’re likely done with the above 60s weather until next spring!
Glad to hear you’ve driven your car so it will work if you need it in the winter!
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Wow – I did’t hear about the tornadoes in Southern WI … glad you were okay! The northern ‘burbs got the brunt of yesterday’s storm, but still anxious moments as he said there was some rotation and he was going to monitor it all evening. I am trying to think of what news pre-empted the news of your tornado? Yes my car asked me what it did to deserve that we go so many places lately. 🙂
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Yes, we’re all okay, and our company’s building located down there is fine too.
It is so hard to tell what news we’ll hear and what we won’t nowadays.
Yay for a happy car that doesn’t leak!
😊
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Well that is good news for no damage to your company’s building either. A fellow blogger and her husband are (or I should say “were”) in the process of relocating from Virginia to Florida when Hurricane Ian did a lot of damage to their home they intended to live in. I can’t imagine that devastation. The morning news is pretty horrific – again, people just walking on a trail, or jogging, then someone kills them.
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Yes, we’re thankful for no damage. My friends have a place near Fort Meyers and they ended up with damage, but not as bad as many other places.
The news is horrific, that’s for sure. 😭
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Well a “like” that your company was saved, but too bad about your friends’ place in Fort Meyers. I can’t imagine people who sold their lifelong home and retired to Florida and now may have nothing. Devastating news for sure. Mother Nature is very volatile sometimes. I heard we are 9 1/2 inches short of rainfall and still in moderate drought. I was at Heritage Park today and the edges of Coan Lake were piles of twigs and lots of leaves and some trash, all exposed by the lack of rainfall and last week at another park, the Vernal Ponds which have an overlook across them, below was completely dry. I’ve never seen that. We had a gorgeous day today – the “snow” word and “flakes” have entered our vocabulary. I’m thinking more north, but they say we all could have some. The Upper Peninsula is in for 18 inches of heavy snow tonight thru mid-day Tuesday. I hope you don’t get any of that snow Shelley!
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I’m glad you had a beautiful day. Stay warm…it’s mighty cold and windy here today!
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I did – I hated it to end Shelley as I knew what was on the horizon. We did some flakes, but not around here, but we are fair game for flakes over the next few days. We’re getting what you got tomorrow. Ugh!
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Stay warm!!!
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How interesting to see what was happening at four different parks along the same river. I admire Joanne, her vitality and friendliness are amazing! It’s wonderful to have senior apartments within walking distance from such a beautiful place to take a stroll. I love the first picture of that gull, what a handsome fellow. 🙂 How lucky to get so close to those young goslings. It’s nice you have so many boardwalks in your area, we don’t have too many. They give everyone a chance to enjoy the water. People are so drawn to the water, be it the ocean, a lake, a pond, a stream or a river.
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I even left out Humbug Marsh/Detroit River visit as there were about five pictures and I thought it would be too long! Joanne is a wonderful person, upbeat and friendly to all who crosses her path. Gulls always look so pensive don’t they? I got a fun shot of a seagull yawning while I was at Lake Erie Metropark recently. I do enjoy walking the boardwalk and seeing the sights.
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You make all of these destinations seem so appealing, Linda. Looks like it was a good idea to wait until a warmer day to do this walk.
I hope I am still going strong like Joanne if I make it to 90. Good for her!
Now, do I tell you “Happy Thanksgiving” or “Happy Columbus Day”? Or maybe Happy Indigenous People’s Day?
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Thank you Laurie! I think I’ll limit my frozen forays just to Dingell Park for the waterfowl perching on the ice floes – easier on the fingers and toes I think.
As for Joanne, I told her that my last post people wanted to be like her when they turned 90 and she smiled. She is a live wire, that’s for sure.
I would respond “thank you” to any one of those three Laurie. 🙂
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I like all the parks you visit, but I’m with you about Elizabeth Park being a favorite. It looks more upscale and big city-ish. Joanne is an inspiration, gotta love a spunky older lady.
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It’s the largest of the riverfront parks – that makes a difference too. The others are good for short strolls only. I actually went to the International Refuge on the River that day as well, but there the shoreline of the Detroit River is known for the fishing, so I figured there were enough fishing photos, so I eliminated that stop.
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I like your variety of photos, from anglers, ducklings, waterfront, to your friend Joanne. It’s great that she takes her walks and is active at her age. That’s healthy aging.
Learned something new about the Detroit River and it being the international border. I’m amazed how much I didn’t learn in school but good to keep learning and to teach it to my kids. Lifelong learning!
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Thank you Esther – glad you liked the variety.
Sometimes there are are more ducks, the next time there are none. I like Joanne and look for her every time I am at Bishop Park.
She takes her walks every day, just not in icy and snowy weather which is the same as me – the older I get, I don’t want to risk falling and breaking somthing too.
Yes, it is an international border and at the 4th of July, the barge with all the fireworks is smack in the middle of the Detroit River. They shoot off the fireworks in between Canada’s July 1st holiday and the U.S. July 4th holiday.
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People like Joanne are very inspiring! Also, I have to admit I’m a bit yealous you live so close to water. Always a treat…
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Yes, she is in her 90s and going strong and talks a mile a minute, very animated. I agree that I am lucky to live so close to the water Jeanine – it is just 2 1/2 miles (4 km) from my house to Dingell Park. I actually visited another Detroit River shoreline park that day, but left the photos out as they were mostly fishermen.
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A nice post, Linda. I think how blessed we are to live so close to these major waterways. You got some good shots of the freighters.
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Thanks Ruth. That was a lot of freighters in one morning! I left off the International Refuge which is near Elizabeth Park as it was mostly fishing pictures off that new 740-foot pier. We are blessed to have the Great Lakes so close.
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These past few days have been gorgeous! The water looks so blue in your pictures. You are lucky to live so close to so many beautiful places to walk Linda.
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I know – perfect weather Diane. Fall is my favorite season. I am lucky and there was another shoreline park I visited on the Detroit River that day, (the Refuge) but all I saw was fishermen and I already had some other photos of fishermen, so I didn’t include that park. I hate that cold is creeping in next week and the weatherman said we may snow flurries midweek. I hope he is wrong!
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I’m glad I’m not the only one behind in WP reader!
I recall reading somewhere that the Detroit River was a hopping place during prohibition, with legal liquor freely available on the Canadian side.
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Wow – I didn’t know that. Interesting to read this JP. I was eight or nine days behind in Reader – now I pick up at Sunday the 16th. At least you have a reason: you’ve married off two offspring so you were busy with those events recently, plus you write two blogs. I’m trying to eke out as much outside time and gleaning photos and miles/steps as possible before the doom and gloom of Winter sets in. We are having another warm and beautiful weekend here.
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A three-mile wide river – wow! Had no idea the Detroit was that big. I also forgot how it serves as the international border. In college I went with friends from Michigan to Windsor (likely through the tunnel you mention) to experience the nightlife. We also took in Greektown, my first experience with the delicious food. “Roaming” always reminds me of “Roamin’ in the Gloamin'”, an old but catchy tune. Now I’ll have that song in my head for awhile, ha.
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In some places the River is much wider Dave, not near me though, as we can see across to Windsor and you remember that tunnel trip was not too awfully long. I like Greektown too and we would often go there for lunch when I still worked on site in Downtown Detroit. Well now I have that “Roamin’ in the Gloamin'” as an earworm too because I just Googled it and gave it a listen. I love the Scottish accent!
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