I went to central Detroit to see the Ford Piquette Plant. This was the first factory owned by Ford Motor Company, and was used from 1904-1910, when the company moved to the much larger Highland Park facility due to the popularity of the Model T causing them to outgrow this rather small building. A $12 entrance fee ($10 for seniors) gains you admission to two floors of the original factory. Ford Model A through Model T vehicles are on display, as are many other antique cars. A two-hour guided tour is included with your admission, with a knowledgeable and interesting tour guide explaining the structure of the building, its safety features, and the bit-by-bit improvements of the various early Ford models. You can follow the tour, or wander on your own, or mix the two. You can learn more at the website of the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant.

The next sight from my trip downtown was the Michigan Theater in the Michigan Building. It was a fancy movie theater attached to an office building, all built in the 1920s. After the theater closed in the 1970s, the owners converted the theater into a parking garage to retain the office building tenants. I think it's $10 to park there, and it was $5 to walk in and take some photos. Historic Detroit has a good web site on the Michigan Theater.

My third stop was at the Detroit Public Library. I used to go there many years ago to find some rare books on Astronomy that I couldn't find elsewhere. Nowadays I went just to see the building itself, and it holds some real beauty. The most beautiful parts are on the third floor of the old part of the building. Just take the grand staircase up from near the center of the building.