A Day in Detroit

Waking up at 5 a.m. is no easy task. Waking up at 4 a.m. because you forgot about the time zone difference after playing the Wii till 1 a.m. is even tougher. But let me tell you - it was well worth it.

Kurt and Jeff stayed the night at my house, and we we're playing the Wii the night before. We got up super early in the morning while it was still dark, and I made us breakfast. We then headed out at 5 a.m. for a 3 hour drive to Detroit that was actually 4 because we guessed wrong. Oh well. By the way, the sun is just rising at 5 a.m. so I'm glad I had my buff with me.

We we're halfway through Indiana already when I realized I had forgot my shoes at home! I was wearing my flip flops (thank you, Monticello). Luckily Kurt keeps many extra pairs of shoes in his car and I was able to wear his Nike Dart 7's. I was so fortunate.

We finally showed up a half hour late (10:30 a.m.) just in the nick of time - they were about to leave the area and we would have no way of contacting them! But it was just perfect. As soon as we got to the YMCA we met everyone, shook hands, signed waivers, and continued up to the roof. As Jeff pointed out, it was the first time we were encouraged to train parkour, let alone on a roof! Insane.

So, we were up on the roof and we started doing our thing. I was taking many pictures as well. Chase was moving around and doing some jumps. I find it very interesting and encouraging that I was able to do some jumps pretty easily that he had a difficult time with. Of course, I should never be surprised about that, but when someone as famous as Chase is around you tend to put them up on a pedastal.

One thing I really enjoyed was that Chase had me film him doing some moves, and he really liked the way I handled the camera. He said, "This guy knows what he's doing", and "Somebody employ this guy." Good times. I'm very happy to know my shooting skills are up there, and praised by Chase Armitage!

It was a very cool view of the city of Detroit. Which, by the way, took me by surprise in a few ways! First of all was how spacious the city was! Really wide streets and an easy view of everything around us! Just fantastic. I remember one of the main roads being made of brick. Meaningful graffiti was everywhere too, such as "zombieland" which was really appropriate considering the emptiness of the city. It was very strange, the city would be energized and active for a few streets, and then completely abandoned and somewhat scary the next. Then, an entire new city appeared. Very weird, and super awesome.

Plus, and I loved this, EVERYONE WAS SUPER NICE! Incredibly kind. I won't ever forget that. Detroit also has a lot of unique architecture and an awesome monorail that (still) runs throughout the city. One thing that was disappointing and really weird was the lack of Detroit pride merchandise available for tourists. I went to 3 different shops and only one of them had maybe 5 shirts, some magnets, and some shot glasses. That was it. I even asked the shop workers if they knew of a place and no one did.

I discovered a lot walking around by myself for 45 minutes. Amazing how much one can learn from a short walk. Jeff and Kurt remained in the car napping while I was roaming the city. I love how I can just get up and walk to wherever I want without a map and just go. Love it.

Had a good lunch as well with the team, very nice people with interesting stories. The more I meet people such as that the more I am reminded to not be so harsh on others because each person has their own unique story and each person is an individual that I have no idea about what is going on in their life.

Overall, really great time, absolutely loved Detroit and the people I came into contact with. Nice little cafe Kurt, Jeff, and I stopped at. Everyone was just super friendly, no tension. I would love to go back!

➜ Check out the Division 19 kickstarter site for a pretty cool trailer. 

   ▼This is a pretty interesting article on Detroit herself: 25 facts that will leave you shaking your head▼