GM Plaza and Promenade on Detroit's Riverwalk

The headquarters for General Motors is in the Renaissance Towers on Jefferson downtown adjacent to the Detroit River. The beautiful GM Plaza and Promenade are part of Detroit's Riverwalk and were donated by GM. The fountains are cool and refreshing and irresistible for children on a day like today! There is a free walking tour of the Riverfront sponsored by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and meets every Monday at 1pm at the GM Plaza. You will learn about the buildings, architecture and public art as well as Detroit's History and how Cadillac landed here in 1701.

Port of Detroit

The Port of Detroit's history begins with Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the explorer who first founded Detroit in 1701 as a fur trading port. Today the port continues to play a role in the local economy. The new terminal dock and facility recently opened on the Riverwalk and has already been visited by tall ships and Great Lakes cruise ships. We are excited about the prospect of many new visitors coming to our wonderful Michigan with their entry at this port.

Peter Stroh on the Detroit Riverwalk

There were a lot of people out enjoying Detroit's Riverwalk on New Year's Day as the freighters glided by under cloudy and windy skies. The guy with the binoculars is Peter Stroh, an important business leader in local history and great grandson of the Stroh Brewery founder who began making beer in Detroit in 1850. This philanthropic leader was also a huge conservationist who believed the riverfront should be open to the public and a habitat for wildlife, too.  The Riverwalk is a culmination of his awesome vision.

Roberts Riverwalk Hotel in Detroit

The Roberts Riverwalk Hotel proudly stands adjacent to the city's premier 5 and a half mile boardwalk along the Detroit River. Part of the Stroh complex, it used to be the Park Davis building's research lab that was built in 1902 and desginated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. This boutique hotel has 107 elegant rooms, many of which overlook the water.  Roberts Bistro and Bar is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering both indoor and outdoor seating. If you just want to come down and check it out, happy hour specials occur Mon-Friday.

The Detroit RiverWalk

The Detroit RiverWalk (our front porch) is just getting more beautiful with each successive visit. In our meanderings this weekend, we found the beautiful Great Lakes-themed carousel which has our familiar fish on it like sturgeon and walleye and, well, a mythical river mermaid, also! The standing glass sculpture, looking like a wave, shows us a map of the St Lawrence Seaway. All in all, the Riverwalk is pretty darn cool. They are currently expanding it and it will be 5 1/2 miles long when it is done. Awesome. On September 16th, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is holding a fundraising gala called the Shimmer-on-the-River-Party from 6-11pm. Be there!