Sunday Experiences

Sunday, August 30, 2015
This morning we were able to attend the church where we met, married and raised all of our children. I even worked there for several years after retiring from Ferndale Adult Ed.  But this morning we were attending with real mixed emotions.  Yes we worshipped but it was the last time we would have Dr. Thomas Rice leading the worship service with his wife Rev. Betsy Rice by his side.

Ken was thrilled to be back and singing with the choir which did a very special piece for the service.

And after the postlude, the choir did a closing piece before Tom and Betsy processed out to lots of heartfelt applause and thanksgiving for all they have done while here at First Pres.

Following the service there was a wonderful reception with several different speakers sharing memories of the eleven years that the Rice family was here with us. But one of the most memorable moments was the retelling of the story of the woman who wanted a fork in her hand in her casket when she died because it always meant "the best was yet to come" (in reference to meals when told to keep the fork cause dessert was coming). Then a large serving fork was presented to the Rices with that phrase engraved on the handle.  We sent them off with best wish and thanksgiving that we had had the opportunity to know and worship with them for eleven years.

We then went over to Beth and Dean's.  Once we'd changed clothes Beth, Jason, Scott and I went downtown first to drop Scott at the Hard Rock Cafe to cheer on his girlfriend whose band was performing.  Then the three of us parked at the Ren Cen and did the new River Walk along the Detroit River.  How beautiful!!!!!!!! Where we started there was this series of water fountains jutting out of the walkway with lots of kids having fun running through them.  The Ambassador Bridge to Canada can be seen in the background

This is a map of the walk from Joe Louis Arena to Belle Isle.  We did about half of it getting as far as Chene Park.

Huge pots of flowers like these decorated the walkway

Paintings like this stretched out for quite away with each featuring some photos of tourist areas within the state of Michigan

And then of course there was the beauty of the water and views of Windsor, Ontario in Canada across the water.  Lots of boats too,

We found this cute little library in one green area

And paintings like this featuring reproductions of art work that is at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

This little merry go round was drawing all kinds of visitors with its dolphins, herons, sea horses and even mermaids to ride.

There also was a sand volleyball court though noone was playing when we went by with a refreshment area next to it.

Beth and Jason stopped there for a slice of pizza and drink before we continued on

We continued on through into the Milliken State Park

that included a  wet lands area with signage and a walk way through the "weeds" and along side the water

These little ponds and the statue are in recognition of Peter Stroh who helped lead the creation of this walk

This is a little hard to read but gives some of the background information

Under this little shelter was signage about the freighter traffic and flags that help tell the story of the ship.  One of the fun things about being along here is watching all the freighters go by since this is part of the water way through all of the Great Lakes, the St Lawrence River all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

This lighthouse is at the head of an inlet into a small marina area

And on the far side looking back you can see the tall buildings of the downtown area including the Ren Cen.  Not only could we see that but all of these storm clouds gathering and we were now a couple of miles from the car with one umbrella.

But we continued on

hoping to see a bit more like several historical signs such as this one

And taking time to watch the Detroit Princess tour boat go by along with a freighter right beside it.

Then just after I took this shot of all the beautiful trees and grass along the walkway 

The heavens opened up and we were mighty wet within a matter of minutes despite ducking under one of the trees with our umbrella over head.

So we headed back to the car fully drenched and drove home to change clothes.  Once we were dry and warmed up a bit, we drove over to bd Mongolian Grill for supper.  Ken joined us but Dean had to forgo as he was in the midst of the prep for a colonoscopy on Monday.

While this is not the original restaurant it is the closest thing possible since the original is no more but was just down the street from this spot.  We've introduced so many people to the restaurant down in Florida we took this picture to post on Facebook and share it with them.