At the Dixon/Watson Homestead
Monroe, Michigan

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Hell Creek Dam
Hell (Portage) Creek
Hell, Michigan

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I guess you could say I've been to Hell and back. On our trip to visiting friends who live near Detroit, Michigan we decided to visit Hell. Located north west of Ann Arbor, Hell reminded me a great deal of the biker destination Rabbit Hash, Kentucky. A quaint little town, Hell had a store, an ice cream parlor and a restaurant/bar. While mulling around behind the ice cream parlor I noticed the creek had a great deal or swirl action in it and decided to see if I could capture one or two of the elusive natural occurrences, to no avail. In the distance I could hear the dam and for the hell of it (pardon the pun) I decided to have a peek. I had no intention of shoot the dam but to my amazement the water flowing over the spillway was gold. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have never seen water of this color, the creek water color reminded me of the watercolor from a recent trip to West Virginia, but the spillway color is has a uniqueness all it's own. I would love to know what caused this unusual phenom.

Tags:   Hell Hell Michigan Hell Creek Hell Dam Dam Hell Why the hell is there a dam in Hell? HDR HDR Hell

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The Packard Plant Ruins
Detroit, Michigan

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What, in my opinion, could be the best example of urban abandonment in the United States, the massive Packard Plant in Detroit has been dormant since 1958. What makes this so awesome is that it the complex covers 6 square blocks, inside it's walls sits stolen cars, boats, debris, garbage and graffiti by artists from across the country. Constructed in 1909 the complex was the first industrial concrete structure in Detroit. The city has been pledging to take legal action to have the buildings demolished, however there's some question as to who owns the building.

We would have liked to have spent more time here, however this wasn't the most comfortable area to be in. The surrounding residential area was nearly in as bad of shape as this buildings. Many of the homes nearby were in complete ruin, yet still had folks living in them. Some blocks would have one or two homes that were livable, beside them would be burnt residences never torn down after the fires. In a lot of cases the the city blocks were overgrown with vegetation and in some cases overtaking the homes. My favorite was a house that was clearly falling down in need of a new roof, new paint, new siding, new windows, had a fella sitting on the front porch and in the driveway was a brand new 2011 Camero.

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The Packard Plant Ruins
Bellevue Street
Detroit, Michigan

Probably one of the more bizarre aspects of Detroit suburbia was that this road is just blocked off by debris that was dumped there. The other end of the street has a "Road Closed" sign and some concrete barriers but the opposite end had nothing but these piles of hay, concrete and tires. It reminded me of the 1980's movie classic Escape From New York, the only thing missing from this scene is Issac Hays in a white chandelier adorned pimpmobile. The Packard plant in the background is a massive abandoned six square block monstrosity that has stood unused since 1958. Nearby was an older man who had a hammer walking around striking the hammer into objects that laid outside the plant, wasn't really sure what that was about but he was clearly not interested in us.

Tags:   Packard Plant Detroit Michigan

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The Corner Of Fredrick And Bellevue Street
Detroit, Michigan

Probably one of the more Bizzarre things we found throughout suburban Detroit was the strapping of Stuffed animals by their necks to sign posts or telephone poles. It was everywhere too. One pole had at least 20 stuffed animals tied to it. This particular animal was the largest that we saw and what made it really messed up were the X's across the eyes, which to me has always signaled death. After some online investigation we still haven't really figured out what this is, is it a gang sign of "beware" or is it a tribute to a fallen resident who fell victim to violence? In the background is the southernmost section of the Packard Plant. The grass and weeds you see in the foreground are growing from the sidewalk.

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