Brief outline of events from Monday to Wednesday - Flint and Detroit

Monday 6th August

Sloan Museum - We visited Flint's Cultural Center and the Sloan Museum. The Sloan contains exhibits documenting the history of the area; its native American days, the lumber trade and the development of the automobile industry. Unfortunately, the state has been hard hit by a falling demand for locally made cars (apparently, more people are now buying into non-American products).

Buick Gallery and Research Center - A large collection of vintage American vehicles and cars with bonnets as long the Nile. Gareth, I have photos that will drive you wild.

Cody's Friends - Monday evening we met up with one of Cody's closest school friends at a local bar in Flushing (I had Guinness - what else). Kyle is looking to train as a social worker in the Flint area and I could certainly see why he and Cody click. I was also encouraged to talk at length about England, which I'm always happy to do, and Kyle is now working on his Mancunian accent (oh boy!). If he's looking for a challenge I'll have to introduce him to the Geordies!!!
____________________________________________________________________

Tuesday 7th August

We got off to a slightly later start than hoped for but we eventually decided that we would take a trip across to Detroit to see one or two museums, although we weren't certain which one we'd visit first; the decision was made for us when we got off the freeway and found ourselves closest to the Motown Museum. The museum is contained within two houses, where many of the Motown label records were recorded. It was a relatively short tour but with some interesting artifacts along the way. "The" white glove and hat worn by Michael Jackson were displayed in a secure glass container (after some smart Alec had stolen them, signed the guest register on the way out and returned with the item after a reward was offered). I found myself in an embarrassing predicament when I semi-volunteered to be one of The Supremes and was then asked to sing and dance, at which point it dawned on me that I do not possess the ability to sing AND dance (given that I do not possess the skill to do either of these in isolation with any real pizazz) at the same time.

Once we had finished at the Motown Centre we were low on time for visiting another museum, so Cody gave me a drive-through tour of downtown Detroit. I loved the skyline of the city and on reaching the Renaissance Centre Cody pointed out a white building, not more than a couple of miles away I'm guessing, on Canadian soil - in fact we drove right past the "Tunnel to Canada".
____________________________________________________________________

Wednesday 8th August

Back to Detroit. Say, 2 hour drive. This time we pulled up at the Henry Ford Museum. The complex is huge, which forced us to make a choice between the exhibits centre and Greenfield Village; we chose the exhibits, due to the roasting heat outside and the refreshing air con inside. In fact, the air conditioning was so efficient that I had goose pimples by the end of the visit. There was so much to see in the museum that it's difficult to write about it all but we stood next to the JFK car, took a seat on the Rosa Parks bus (on the seat behind Rosa Parks) and, last but by no means least, posed next to a Wiener van.

High Fructose Corn Syrup and other stories...

When I came to the U.S I was worried about how I would handle the food, given that I have to be very careful about such things. On the whole I have been fine but I noticed that I was feeling unwell after foods that normally wouldn't be a problem. It was only when it was pointed out to me that almost everything contains high fructose corn syrup that I realised why. This seems to be the primary sweetner in the U.S and it's not one I handle well. HOWEVER, Shannie's cooking (including the delicious homemade bread and salmon & bean dish) has done me the world of good and everyone has been very sensitive to my situation. THANK YOU!

Food servings are certainly very generous here, with unlimited beverage top ups and ice cream portions to last you a week.

Previous post continued...

Tuesday 31st August - Manhattan

Tuesday was the day we hit Manhattan on the New York subway. We crossed over on the train from Brooklyn and came out next to Carnegie Hall. I was keen to see Central Park so we made this our first stop. Although we were able to observe the immensity of the buildings from the park, I somehow felt a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and it certainly appeared to offer office workers an escape from the busy, humid streets; I hadn't expected to see such beautiful greenery and a sanctuary for wildlife in the centre of North America's largest city. It was here that I sighted a species, native to the U.S, in its natural habitat...the baseball player.

For the city that is sold to us Brits on its shopping opportunities and elevated skyline, it is exceptionally peaceful in places and I felt far less intimidated and hemmed in than I have on my trips to London.

5th Avenue, however, was something else - lined with shops you know you could never afford to enter and heaving with full-time, die-hard shoppers. The architecture truly is awesome (and I apply this word in the less frequently used British sense, to mean really AWESOME) though, and for all that we hear about the Empire State Building, and despite it being the one thing that really does stand out when travelling away from the city, it was the Rockefellar Centre that particularly caught my eye at close quarters; It is very tall, narrow and less enclosed by other high-rise structures.

The humidity by early afternoon was suffocating, so we eventually retreated to a café, where we consumed slices of pizza as big as your head, and took a bit of a breather. We didn't climb anything tall but I hope to have the tall building experience, either in Chicago or on our return to NYC in a few weeks time.