21 down and 9 to go

Rogers Centre, the home of the Blue Jays, was visited stadium number 21.

The only ones left are St Louis, San Diego, Minnesota, Denver, Philadelphia, both Texas and both Florida.

We were not very impressed with Rogers Centre. The huge back wall and retractable roof gives it a very small feel. The seats are the squishiest seats that I've ever sat in.  I was uncomfortable so you can imagine that Butch was downright miserable.

He cheered up when he discovered that they sold Budweiser.

Food was quite good with a decent variety and some local favorites like poutine.

A lot of Yankees fans in the crowd.  The Blue Jays fans welcomed Jeter with a loud applause before each at bat.  The only negative about the crowd is that they do the wave. Really? At a baseball game?

We are currently sitting in the bar at the hotel hoping to see some of the Yankees.

This is my last post unless something amazing happens between now and the plane trip home.

Hello Toronto

The drive from Detroit to Toronto was not bad.  Here's the summary... corn field, Tim Horton's, windmill, cornfield, windmill, Tim Horton's, etc.

It took us about 4 hours. We were making great time until we got to Toronto itself. All the roads appear to be under construction and traffic was heavy.

We are staying at The Four Seasons which is also where the Yankees are staying. Autograph seekers are lining the sidewalks outside the hotel.

Butch approves of this hotel. His only comment about the Westin in Detroit was "it's clean."  When did he become such a snob?

We went to the top of the CN Tower before the game.  Pictures of Butch and I standing on the scary glass floor.  As you can see from my face, this counts as my "Do something everyday that scares you" moment.

Goodbye Detroit

This is my last post from Detroit.

We did everything on our list including the tasting room at Two James Distillery

and BBQ at Slow's

Detroit is a very strange city. The downtown area is deserted. You could walk down the middle of Michigan Ave at 8 pm at night. As you walk down the streets, you'll pass a bunch of falling down and abandoned buildings followed by a great restaurant likes Slows BBQ followed by more abandoned buildings. There are these little bright spots amongst all the darkness.

The saddest building of all is the abandoned Michigan Central Station.

Next post from Toronto...

Comerica Park

A beautiful day for a ball game.  Only a Yankees win would have made it perfect.  The Detroit fans are great baseball fans and gave Jeter a huge ovation before his last at bat of the game.

We sat in the Tiger Den seats which are extra comfy wooden seats on the field level.

The concourse in the outfield contains statues for the Tiger greats and there are media booths throughout the concourse with details of the rich Tiger history.

The food is nothing special. Everything was tasty but nothing unique. The standard hot dogs, sausage and fries. In addition to Miller Lite, they sell local Michigan beers.

The outside of the stadium is decorated with Tigers and baseballs including a giant Tiger statue at the main entrance.

It is a post apocalyptic wasteland

Butch and I decided to go for a walk from our hotel to the Shinola flagship store.  We asked our waiter if the walk is sketchy. He said it's not sketchy but there is not much to see. Not much to see is relative. If you want to look at abandoned buildings and parking lots and broken windows then there is a lot to see.  Butch asked me like 3 times if I was sure we were walking in the right direction. Needless to say, we called Uber to drive us back to the hotel.

Most of the buildings look like this

And more views of the scenic downtown Detroit

It is mind boggling that a store as expensive as Shinola can exist in the middle of such horrible neighborhoods.

Detroit

Detroit looks exactly as we were expecting. It's run down and depressed but is fighting for its life.

Obligatory view from our hotel room.  That's Ford Field and Comerica Park in the distance.

I watched a Munchies video about Detroit before we left.  Recommended places to visit include Two James distillery and Lafayette Coney Island.

Lafayette Coney Island is a hole in the wall hot dog place.  A "Coney Island" is a Detroit hot dog covered in chili, chopped onions and mustard. We went to Lafayette Coney Island for dinner. It did not disappoint.

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

Butch and I are exhausted.  We walked over 6 miles at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

I highly recommend a visit.  I was not prepared for the size of the museum or for the vast array of items in the collection.  Just some of the things we saw today... the Lincoln that JFK was assassinated in, the Rosa Parks bus, Lincoln's chair from Ford's Theatre, the Wright Brothers bicycle shop, one of the only 6 made Bugatti Royale cars and a Tucker. Everything is elegantly displayed in both an indoor and outdoor complex.  This place puts the Smithsonian in DC to shame.

The area around the museum complex is surrounded by Ford building after Ford building. Engineering, research and development and testing. Ford this and Ford that. It's all you see here in Detroit.