Evening at Sleeping Bear Dunes!!!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake shore, Michigan is 288 miles driving distance away from Detroit, Michigan. It is approximately 5 hours drive from Detroit, Michigan on the border of Lake Michigan. The drive in itself is very scenic with all the fall colors in its full bloom if you happen to be at the right time of the year.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Google maps

Fall Colors, en route

Points of Interest at Sleeping Bear National Dune Lake shore- National Park:

• Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
• Lake Michigan Overlook

Things to do:

• Hiking Trails
• Dunes Climb
• Sit, Relax and enjoy

Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive:

It is one of the most beautiful and scenic, self guided 7.5 mile long drive. The scenic drive is 12 points drive that can be looped either by bicycle or car. Not every point is scenic some are meant for educational purpose. I highly recommend you to pullover your car at the side of the road and get some memorable pictures clicked on the drive. At the point of entry they give you literature about Sleeping Bear Dunes, along with the map of the scenic drive. The second point of the drive overlooks Glen lake which is another lake nearby. The 9th point of the drive is Lake Michigan Overlook, Which is our second point of interest. Here are some pictures of scenic drive. 

Overlooking Glen Lake

Overlooking Glen lake and Dunes

Midway through the Drive

En route scenic drive

Lake Michigan Overlook:

Point 9 and 10 are parallel points of scenic drive and share a parking lot. Lake Michigan Overlook is one the most breathtaking views I have scene. Do remember to bring the picnic chairs to sit on the sand bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The sand bluff stands at 450 feet high over Lake Michigan. We climbed down the sand bluff which is slightly dangerous due to the very steep slope and sand erosion. We had to be careful and slow while climbing down. Climbing up the bluff is another story. It is highly strenuous and physically tiring due the the unique aspect of the sand bluff. Firstly the climb is one of the steepest climbs, I have experienced and secondly it's on sand; due to the sand erosion it is a hard climb. There's also a wooden pier over the sand bluff which overlooks Lake Michigan. The place is very calm and serene makes you just want to sit, relax and overlook the Lake. Here are some pictures.

Sunset from Sand bluff

Sunset from the Lake Overlook Pier

Steep sand bluff and Lake Michigan

Overlooking Lake Michigan

Panorama view of the Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan and the Sand Bluff during day

All in all a must go place.
Hope you enjoyed this post! Do post your comments, suggestions and questions.
More about India in my next post. Till then hasta la vista!!!

"Motor City" - Detroit, Michigan, USA

Detroit, as seen on Google Earth. 

A few weeks back I had a chance to go visit a friend in Detroit, Michigan.We also went to Traverse City which is approximately 4 hours drive away from Detroit. But more about Traverse City in another post.

Detroit is the biggest city of state of Michigan, it is known as the "motor city". Detroit is home on the car manufacturers of USA; Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all have their headquarters in Detroit. Detroit is unique in its own way. I had a chance to go to GM world headquarters known as Renaissance Center. Renaissance Center (GM  world headquarters) is a grand, tall, glassy skyscraper sitting right at International riverfront in downtown. Renaissance Center is interconnected seven towers, which houses GM world car exhibit, GM world, Consulate-General  of Canada, Consulate-General  of Japan, Marriott hotel, HP enterprise services, USPS, Deloitte  and several other corporate offices, GM University, retail stores and restaurants.

Renaissance Center, seen from waterfront. 

Renaissance Center

International river front, as seen from inside Renaissance center.

The amazing thing about this picture is it was taken inside GM headquarters- Renaissance center but you can see Detroit's International riverfront through the glass. The water you see in the picture is Detroit river. The buildings right across the water is Canada. Isn't that fascinating!!!  If you notice carefully, on the pavement is a world map- in black stone.  If  you actually see and walk over the world map, which I did, there are white dots on the map, which are GM's all the offices across the globe.

Pods within the building.

Car's in GM world exhibit. 

GM headquarters is a well-designed architecture with structure's called pods. At places it looks like a maze and it's really easy to get lost. GM world car exhibit showcases their finest and best cars for the public. It is a car fanatic's paradise.

The International riverfront is a picturesque, calm and serene place.

Panorama picture of International River front.

Detroit's downtown is unlike other big American city's downtown I have seen. The first thing that is noticeable is it has fancy skyscrapers like other downtown but what it lacks is the people. It is awfully quiet and all you see is bunch of tourists and few locals. It gives an impression of deserted city which was once full of hustle bustle (which it is).

Detroit has a small downtown with a public transport within the city called Detroit People Mover. The train reminded me of Gotham city from batman movie where the trains rain above the ground level on the tracks all across the city. It's easier to get by in the downtown using the Detroit people mover. Let's have glimpse of Detroit's downtown, through few pictures.

The picture below is of statue called "Spirit of Detroit".

The Monument to Joe Louis, known as "The Fist".
  

Interestingly, Canada is only about half a mile away, and Windsor, Canada is 7.9 miles, or as my friend giving me the tour likes to call it "tunnel away". You can take Detroit - Windsor tunnel and off course if you have necessary documents you could be in another country in few minutes.

Most people live in the suburbs which are half to an hour away from Detroit's downtown. I had a chance to explore some of the suburbs, nightlife, and food of the great city, more about it in another post.

I hope you enjoyed reading. Keep checking for new post every week.