Tiger's Game Adventure...and a Some Local History!

Last night, my employers took the entire staff to see a Detroit Tiger's game. I drove 6 co-workers in my car, and we all had a great time! One fellow worker told me about a lot that we could park in that was only about a block and a half away from the stadium and it was only $15 to park there! I had to call ahead for a reservation, and agree to a tour to get the reservation, but it was an added adventure to our night!

 Image borrowed from internet-not my own image.

 I fell in love with the woodwork and the moldings!

 Isn't the floor gorgeous?

 Our group checking out the rooms.

 The back stairway-I am assuming it was the servant's staircase.

 Stepping off the back porch-see how close it was to Comerica Park?!?
 Don't worry, I asked permission to take pictures!

It is the lot that belongs to the Winder Street Inn. It is located at 234 Winder Street in Detroit. It was built in 1872 and was the home of  German-Jewish merchant Emmanuel Schloss and his wife Rebecca. He owned a dry goods and ready-made clothing store with his brother.

The brick house is built in a style that is called second empire-meaning it has french architectural details that were popular during Napoleon's reign. In 1988, the city of Detroit hired a renovation architect to reconstruct or renovate houses in Brush Park, bringing them back to their original splendor.

The area where the house is (Brush Park-a 22 block neighborhood) was named after the second mayor of the town of Detroit Elijah Brush and his wife Adelaide. He was also the treasurer of the Michigan Territory. The property was part of Adelaide's family farm. Elijah and Adelaide bought it from her parents. It is described as a ribbon farm-a long and narrow piece of land that bordered on the Detroit River. Elijah died in 1814 and Adelaide and their son, Edmund ran the family farm together until her death in 1859. In the mid 1800's when new rail lines came into the area, carrying people from the east, Edmund parceled off lots from the acreage and it made him one of the wealthiest landholders of that time.

The property was located in an ideal location-close to downtown and the river-and the parcels were purchased quickly by wealthy businessmen who built huge, beautiful Victorian style homes. Don't you wish you could travel back in time to see the homes in all of their splendor? I sure do!! I would love to have seen them in their original settings too, not so much like how they are now in the surroundings of today.

During that time, that area of Detroit was flourishing with 10-12 stately mansion-like homes per street. The houses were all built in the various styles of Victorian, Italian, Gothic, French and Queen Anne. Some houses incorporated a mix of several styles.I think they were all beautiful and unique in their own way.

The Winder Street Inn (where this whole story started) is open for business and is absolutely gorgeous inside! I love how beautifully it has been restored! It would be a great setting for a wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. Or you could rent a room and spend the night! Their website says even the furniture and china are original to the house!

The homes in this elite neighborhood earned the nickname of  "Little Paris of the Midwest" because of their French-inspired second empire style. If you're from Michigan, I bet you will recognize the names of some of the residents who lived in or built houses in Brush Park...Joseph L. Hudson, founder of JL Hudson's Department Stores, William Livingstone a businessman, banker and newspaper publisher, David Whitney, a lumber baron from Massachusetts, Grace Whitney Evans, daughter of David Whitney,  Ransom Gillis, a wholesale dry goods merchant, and Albert Kahn who was considered to be the foremost industrial architect of his day -just to name a few.
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Let's dig a little deeper into each of the homes and home owners I mentioned above. David Whitney was born in 1830 in Watertown Massachusetts. He became a lumber baron by the age of 27, making millions upon millions of dollars before he moved to Michigan and to Brush Park. He was considered to be one of Detroit's wealthiest residents, and also one of Michigan's wealthiest residents. He started a joint venture with his brother Charles and expanded his lumber business into the Upper Peninsula, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

He became interested in real estate in Detroit, investing in numerous buildings, earning himself the nickname Mr. Woodward. He built his home at the corner of Woodward and Sproat (which is now called Canfield) and in 1915, he built the David Whitney Building which today is simply called The Whitney. You can read up on more family history, history of the building, look at pictures and book reservations for The Whitney by clicking here.

His house, The David Whitney House was built between 1890 and 1894. It has been estimated to have cost around $400,000 at that time, and was featured in several newspapers. It is three stories tall, 21,000 square feet with 52 rooms, ten of which are bathrooms! It has 20 fireplaces, an elevator (the first known, working elevator in Detroit), a secret vault and windows designed and created by Tiffany to match the theme of each room.

Image borrowed from the internet-not my own image.

David Whitney passed away in his home in 1900, but his family continued to live in the house until 1920. Many people believe that because David and his wife both passed in the house, that the house is haunted by them. One area that people have a lot of stories of strange things happening is the elevator-which sometimes moves all by itself between floors.

In 1986 the house was renovated into an upscale restaurant. They have very cleverly used the rumors of ghosts to their advantage by offering a "Ghostbar" Monday through Saturday at 5pm. They also serve brunch, dinner and high tea. Check their website for dress code and hours of operation before making the trip out there. I am so fascinated by my research, that I think a trip to the Whitney in the near future is a must!!

The next house, the Grace Whitney Evans house, also known as the Joseph Lothian Hudson House or the Hudson-Evans House was built between 1872 and 1873. It was given as a wedding present to Grace in 1882. She was known for being active in many charities and for being the first president of the Detroit YWCA.

Image borrowed from the internet-not my own image.

Her home was later rented to Joseph Lothorian Hudson, who created the upscale department store J.L. Hudson's which was in business for almost a century. The department store is said to hold the record for being the tallest department/retails store in the world, the second largest department store in the United States, and it is the largest and tallest building to ever be imploded (1998).

The Ransom Gillis House was built between 1876 and 1878 at 205 Alfred Street. He only lived in the house for a couple of years before selling it in 1880. Between 1880 and 1919, the house changed hands 4 more times, all to the wealthy, elite families of that time. In 1903, the carriage house at the back of the property was rented for three years to Mary Chase Perry Stratton, the founder of the Pewabic Pottery studio.

Image borrowed from the internet-not my own image.

In 1906, the former carriage house/pottery studio became an  auto repair shop, then a battery repair shop and then a gas station before it was torn down and replaced with a restaurant in 1935. The restaurant remained in business until 1960, and that too was torn down by the city.

In the 1930's, the Gillis House was turned into a rooming house and it was operated as such until the mid 60's. There are records of several attempts to restore the house from the 70's, 80's and even as recently as 2000. None of the attempts were ever successful or completed. The City of Detroit has owned the property since 2001. I found a video of the property on You Tube dated 2010 and it is a run-down,over-grown sorry looking place. It is really heart-breaking to see it. I'm not sure if it is still standing, I couldn't find any information dated later than 2010.

A lot of the once grand, giant mansions were turned into rooming houses between 1910 and 1930 to house auto workers and workers in auto related industries. During that time, Detroit's population pretty much exploded, and with automobiles came easier transportation, so the Brush Park home owners were moving to other areas with more modern homes and amenities rather than do extensive remodels.

The William Livingstone House was built in 1893 on Eliot street. William Livingston hired Albert Kahn as his architect. Kahn was only 22 or 23 years old at the time, but he had spent an entire year in Europe studying classic, old world architecture. The Livingstone House was built in a French Renaissance style. It was built one block west of where it came to rest near John R. The Red Cross purchased the original property and planned to demolish the house to make room for their new building.

Image borrowed from internet-not my own image.

Preservationists fought successfully to save it from the wrecking ball, only to have it slip further and further into ruin and eventually be torn down completely in 2007. If you search for it on the internet, you will see that it was given the nickname of "Slumpy". I'm not sure why it was given that name. I am assuming it's because of the way it kind of slumped in on itself as it fell into ruin.

The last house that I mentioned earlier is the Albert Kahn house. It was the home of Albert Kahn, the young architect who made such a huge impression with the homes he designed for the Brush Park area, as well as other areas. Before I mention details about the house, I'll give you a little information about the man.

Albert was born in 1869 in the Kingdom of Prussia (Germany). He came to the United States when he was eleven years old. His parents were Joseph (a Rabbi) and Rosalie (who was known for her talents in arts and music. Albert got a job when he was a teenager at the architectural firm of Mason and Rice. He won a scholarship to study in Europe for a year.

He founded his own architectural firm in 1895 and called it Albert Kahn Associates. He developed a new construction concept of using reinforced concrete for walls instead of lumber, making the buildings more fire resistant as well as allowing them to have larger open rooms without having to have so many supports. The first building to use his new concrete wall design was the Packard Motor Car Company factory that was built in 1903.

Other buildings designed and built by Kahn include: The Highland Park Ford Plant (1909), a dance hall on Bob-Lo Island, the River Rouge Ford Plant (1917-it was a half mile long!), The Cranbrook House, The Edsel Ford House, The Dearborn Inn, The Fisher Building (28 stories!), Buildings for all three major Detroit newspapers, several buildings in and around the campus of the University of Michigan, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant and his last building, the Willow Run Bomber Plant.

His designs are not limited to just the Detroit, Michigan area, he has buildings in New York, Nebraska, Ontario, Ohio, Philadelphia, Maine, Grosse Pointe, Lansing, Warren, Flat Rock and Chicago. In 2006 there were 60 of his buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Ten of them in Michigan are marked with official Historical landmark markers.

Albert built his own home in the Brush Park area, on Mack Avenue in 1906 and he lived there until his death in 1942 at the age of 73. In 1944, the Detroit Urban League bought the building and it looks as if they are still using it today for their offices. The front entryway still has his custom, carved floral design stone arch.

Image borrowed from internet-not my own image.

Whew! Are you still with me after all of that?? All of that research and information came about by a random comment by a co-worker and a suggestion to park at the Winder Street Inn. I am so glad she told me about it, and I'm so glad I did some research! It is really sad to see the homes in such sorry states. If you Google Brush Park, you can find all kinds of pictures and even a map of what it looked like in 1897. 

Now to the Tiger's game! The staff where I work was treated to a Tiger's game on Thursday. It was an evening game (only my second ever evening game) and I was talking with a co-worker when she recommended a parking lot that was about a block and a half from the stadium. 

She said the cost to park was free, but you have to make reservations and you have to do a quick tour of the Winder Street Inn (which costs $15 per car). They use it as advertising for their bed and breakfast/event. business. The night we went, there was a little hand written sign taped to the permanent sign saying "weeknight rate $20". 

We were met on the porch by a very friendly and welcoming woman, dressed in a long dress and apron. I am assuming it was clothing from the era of when the house was built. She offered us all a small glass of lemonade and told us to go inside, sign the guest book and take our time touring the building. All of the rooms but one were rented for the evening, so we could only look in one sleeping room.

Our little group of 7 really enjoyed our quick tour-it was an added bonus to the whole outing. We walked out the back door, and walked about a quarter of a block and then walked over the expressway and right up to the back entrance to Comerica Park! We did walk to the front entrance because one girl in our group had never been to a Tiger's game before and we wanted her to see the front and get her picture taken by the big tiger.

Our seats were out in right field, and we had a few fly balls come near our area-most were caught by the fielder, but a couple were caught by spectators-none in our area though. It was a beautiful night for a game and everyone seemed to have a great time watching the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals. The girl I mentioned earlier (it was her first time), either got pick-pocketed or lost her wallet out of her purse after a visit to the concession stand. We stopped at guest services, and they said they would mail it to her if they found it.

Here are some shots from the game...

 There was around 30 people from my work attending this game, these are just the few that rode in my car with me.

Grounds crew.

Weekend Pondering...

The weeks have been flying by. Sometimes so fast, that I don't even have time to take a breath and process what has been and is happening! Yesterday, I felt myself getting to the point of almost despair with all of the things that are weighing on my mind and my heart. I got off work early and picked Kevin up to ride along to a few sales.

It was like a mini therapy session! I didn't find anything to buy, I don't even remember what I looked at to tell you the truth. I do know that I was able to pour out my heart and my hurts and my frustration and I felt a million times better when we got home.

Did anything get solved or resolved? No, but I did gain a better perspective on what's going on around me and how to keep dealing with what life throws at me without letting it swallow me up! I had all of the tools to work through the junk, I just needed to say things out loud and bounce them off someone who knows me and knows what's been going on.

I've been reading different snippets of scripture everyday for the past couple of months that seem to have just appeared at that particular moment-just for me. Have you ever had that happen? It's pretty awesome to know that a book written so long ago is still alive and active and useful to us in today's culture! Pretty awesome that the words came to me just when I needed them, and it was speaking to what I've been experiencing!

While we were driving around we started saying out loud all of the things that have gone on in our lives in less than two years-whew! It's been a doozy of a couple of years!!! We almost lost our marriage. We almost lost our home, we lost my grandma, my aunt, my grandpa and my uncle, some pretty big changes at work, my mom's macular degeneration has gotten worse, we've been to Florida and back twice (not vacations) and a bunch of small stuff going on in between all the big stuff-you know...life--- all within just about 2 years. One of those things alone would have been hard to deal with, but add all of them in together and my head is spinning and my heart sometimes felt like it was going to burst!

My heart has also been very heavy for my family and friends! So many friends and family members are losing their parents, dealing with grim diagnoses, having financial difficulties, family heartbreak, marriages tearing apart, parents children or grand children battling serious health issues-the list can go on and on and each one seems to have lodged in my heart and in my mind. When I pray for these dear family members,  friends and their families, my heart aches for them and what they are going through!

Why am I even rambling? I don't know...maybe someone will read this who is going through some of the same things I've been going through will be encouraged to see that even though you are going through tough times, you can cling to the promise that God will NEVER leave you, or foresake you-no matter how hard it gets-He will be right there walking through it with you (or even carrying you!).

I know from experience.

So, if you've got something big or little that you are going through, keep reading your Bible, keep trusting God, keep believing for miracles and know that even when you are in the pit of despair-you are never alone! Maybe even take a minute to re-read the 23rd Psalm, and find a friend who is a good listener, that you can trust with your junk, and let them help you process it. Prayer is also a very big key to getting through whatever you are going through. Not just prayer, but time to be still, and listen for the still small voice of God speaking to your heart.

Back up a few days...

Last Thursday after work, I went to a sale in a church parking lot, where people rent space and set up their tables and sell their stuff. From the ad, I was expecting a full parking lot. When I got there, I'd say there were only 10-12 vendors and not very many shoppers (maybe 5 or 6 including me).

There was a wide range of things for sale, from baby and kids toys, vintage items, handmade items, produce and newer items. I picked up a basket of beautiful and amazing tomatoes, a copper bundt pan (for a project I have in mind) some little individual casseroles with lids a picnic basket and a package of brand new outdoor tablecloth weights-for quarter-that I actually used today when we had a group of family and friends over for a summer potluck!

After I left the church sale, I just stopped at random sales all the way home. The first sale I went to looked to be pretty much all "guy" stuff and just as I was getting ready to leave, I spotted a big box on the floor full of deer antlers. The box was marked "FREE"! Immediately I thought of my son's friend who makes pens, and thought maybe he'd like some to make pens out of. Then I thought about my parents, who's house is rustic-and they might want them for cabinet handles, or something.

So I told the guy I'd take them! He was happy, he said he figured some crafty person would come along and take them. As I gingerly folded the flaps in and bent to pick up the box, He assured me it was taped on the bottom and the box was sturdy, I told him I wasn't worried about the box, I was worried that when I put my hands through the handles that I was going to touch them. Ha!

He laughed at me and reminded me that they were dead. I told him I knew that, but they were still gross! He got a good chuckle out of it, and I managed to balance them so that I only had to slightly touch them as I practically jogged back to the car.

I stopped at a little antique mall on my route home, but didn't find anything, and I hit 3 more sales on the way home. At one sale, I picked up a couple of white kitchen cabinets for $5. I plan to router out the center of the larger cabinet and put in a piece of glass, add a lock and take it to the booth for some of my smaller stuff that should be locked up. I couldn't leave the small cabinet, because the man threw it in for $1. I figure Kevin can use it in his garage or pole barn for storing stuff and it was only $1.

I also picked up some wire baskets that were pretty big for only fifty cents each-no idea what I'm going to do with them just yet, but I'm sure something will come up that they will be perfect for!

The last sale was the best sale-not that it had the most stuff or the best stuff-it had just that one item that made my heart beat a little faster... I got a very cool chamber pot with a lid-no chips intricate detail, very pretty-and I LOVE it! No stains either! I put it in the middle of the table in the sun room and my youngest son told me it was just wrong to put a toilet on the table like that. It is spotless-no stains, no wear-maybe it wasn't ever used (that's what I'm believing!).

Hope you had good luck at sales this weekend!! I'm heading over to visit and see what you've found!!

Michigan's Yard Sale Trail 2013

Yesterday was the start of the Michigan Yard Sale Trail. I left my house at 7am on the dot! I got home at 7:30pm with a few treasures, lots of memories of the great scenery and views of Lake Huron and awesome girl time with my sister-in-law!

I picked her up at 8am and we went to Algonac where we started the yard sale trail. The last time I went, I started in Marine City. Boy, was I missing out! We found a lot of great sales starting right away in Algonac. There were several stops along the route where several vendors had setup tents/canopies in large yards and open field type areas.

This is a really fun sale/event! It is very much like the World's Longest Yard Sale, but less congested (don't get me wrong it was pretty congested in some areas) and less people (still a LOT of people though). At times it was pretty crowded and hard do go the speed limit down the road, you have to be careful all the time to not step out in front of a car or semi truck, and you have to be careful to watch for people walking out into the road so you don't run them over.

Some sales were just people selling some stuff to get rid of it, and some sales were obviously dealers. Some prices were very good, some were very high. Some places had nice stuff, some places had junk. It all goes back to my favorite phrase about kissing frogs and finding princes...sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.

Prices were all over the place, ranging from people just wanting to get rid of things, to dealers who sell things for a living. Some prices were incredibly cheap, some incredibly high. The things that stood out as most ridiculously high were some old Pepsi glasses, that I think originally came from Hardees. Usually you can find them at sales for between a quarter and a dollar each. In antique shops, they go between eight and twelve dollars each. One sale (garage sale) had them for $30 each and they were filthy dirty!

I saw lots of crafts, lots of new purses and other new things, lots of antiques and vintage things, as well as lots of clothes, so it was a wide, eclectic range of stuff. I re-read my post about this sale when I visited in 2011, and I laughed out loud when I read "all the sites were worth visiting once---not something I want to repeat." Oops! I guess time does make a difference because I totally planned to go last year, but it was pouring rain, so we cancelled, and this year I couldn't wait to get on the trail!

I think I talked so much yesterday that I don't really need to talk for at least a week! It was great chatting with and catching up with my sister-in-law. I don't think we've ever had a full day of just us hanging out together all day long like today-it was fun! Usually we have other family members around, and we've never had the luxury of a whole day to be on our own little adventure.

When I went in 2011, I drove the trail all the way up and around the thumb and then on to West Branch to pick up Eric from my parents (the halfway point between our home and theirs in the U.P.) and then all the way home. I don't know how I managed to do all that driving in one day!!!

I am exhausted!! We only went as far north as Port Sanilac, which is only half way to the tip of the thumb. There has got to be a better way to figure out the driving/route for next year...that is if I didn't wear my SIL out so much that she doesn't want to go next year.

If you plan to visit the trail, I would suggest going on Friday if you want the best selection, but if you are just in it for the adventure, any day will work. It was a nice adventure, and even if I hadn't bought a thing, I would still recommend it.

We stopped at one house along the route that was amazing! My SIL suggested to the woman running the sale that she should charge for tours of her house-she'd probably make more on that than on her garage sale! She said she was asked to have her house be a part of a tour but she declined because she would have had to dust her house-sounds like something I'd say-I hate dusting! She also told us her house is haunted and her grand kids refuse to sleep upstairs.

Since part of her sale was on her porch, we accidentally peeked in the front window-what a gorgeous house!!! I was drooling over all of the leaded glass windows, and all of the details in the craftsmanship of the the front porch. I can't imagine the details on the inside of the house!!

If the World's Longest Yard Sale is something you've always wanted to try, but live too far away, this would be a good way to get a taste of it, on a much smaller scale. I think I kind of like this a little better knowing I'll be in my own bed at the end of the day, and not facing another 2-3 days of driving and sales like I would have had I went to WLYS this year.

Things seemed to have popped up more along the trail route from two years ago, I noticed more gas stations and fast food places-always a bonus to be able to get gas and a quick bite to eat to keep you on track. I think there were a lot more places with multiple sales than two years ago too. That makes it nice to hit a bunch of sales all in one place-gives your rear end a break from the car seat too!

If you go, I'd suggest sunscreen, lots of ones or small bills, good walking shoes, comfortable clothes, a vehicle with the rear seats removed (in case you find something big and beautiful that you just gotta have), a camera and a good GPS. Sometimes the route kind of wanders...or the road seems to wander and we got off track a couple of times. Could have been too much talking while driving, I'll admit that, but the GPS got us back on track.

What a FUN day!!! Way too much driving, but a really FUN day!!!

 This covered butter dish was a picture I took and sent to a friend. She collects covered butter dishes. She didn't get back to me in time for me to buy it for her, I was over a half an hour away when she said she wanted it!

 This was a "show" in a wonderful little park. I bought a lot of stuff here, and I even got fresh kettle corn! The park even has a splash and play area for kids.

 Canada on the other side.

 This doll and 3 others that were just as beautiful were on the porch of the amazing house. They were right in front of a huge picture window that had amazing beveled and leaded glass flowers above the big window. It was as we were looking at the dolls that we realized we could see into the house. It was pretty awesome!!

 This was sitting on the front lawn of the house with the porch sale. It was off to the left side-loved it!!

 I have no idea what I did, but this picture came out awful! This is the house with the porch sale.

 There were so many houses on the route that were absolutely stunning. It isn't just the sale that makes it such a great day. It is also the scenery-whether that is the water, nature, homes, etc. it all comes together to make a great adventure.

 Another large sale with many vendors.

 These were at another large sale-I'd love to make some of these some day!

 This house was a museum. There were several vendors on the grounds, and a few old buildings that looked to be authentic that were moved (I am assuming) to the property.

 It was HUGE and so amazingly beautiful!

 This little general store was from the 1800's and on the rear of the property-look into the trees to the left of the store---see the chapel?

 Front view-I was really hoping we could have went inside.

 This is a quilt my SIL picked up for me at an estate sale a week or so ago.

 Honey whip jars!

 I've never seen one with a red handle on the lid. It says "Tom's" in the red.

 Galvanized pitcher to eventually go into some yard art thing I hope to make!

 These were NOT the $30 each glasses!

 Amish made apple butter (reminds me of my dad's mom-she loved it and always had it in the fridge) and oatmeal cookies. They were really, really hard when we ate them while walking around, but later after I'd been home a couple of hours, they were chewy and much better!

 Old wooden rolling pin-don't you just wish some of these old things could talk!?!? Oh, the stories they could tell!!

 3 half aprons and 1 hanky.

 Stained up tablecloth, but no holes.

No stains, no holes, clean---PERFECT! It's already on my table in the sun room and looks gorgeous!

This bike was parked at the side of an apartment building (maybe 6 apartments) that was right on the water.

 I plan to paint the frame white-I don't think the dark wood does anything for this picture.

Fifties end table

Mark your calendar for next year's dates-August 9-11.

Hope you are having a great weekend! I've been busy getting my house ready for a get-together tomorrow, and busy making food. It looks like it's going to be a perfect day mid to upper seventies!!