Last year I was on my way out west on the day of the fireworks. In fact, I believe the fireworks occurred on this day last year - occurring while I watched the sun set over the Mackinac Bridge.
I later talked to Don about his firework night and he had ended up in the D searching for somewhere to watch them. He told me about all the scene kids sitting on the edge and running around like fools on the rooftop of the MCS - which he saw as he crossed the Ambassador Bridge. Don grabbed some 40's and then went over to the MCS - only to be told my the same scene kids that the police were inside and throwing everyone out.
So Don thought about going to a certain 'Island Amusement Park' building that you can see from the bridge - but the police had the entire road blocked off.
I forget what Don ended up doing, but it didn't involve a rooftop.
Therefore I tempered my enthusiasm concerning our chances this year. We rested our hopes upon a certain apartment complex on Jefferson Avenue. We figured it to be a good target because it wasn't amongst the downtown buildings that people were caught at last year & it was hood enough to not be a popular choice amongst the suburbanites.
I became especially skeptical when we began to drive down Larned Street (the street parallel to Jefferson). There were people EVERYWHERE - but since we had already came over, we might as well give it a shot.
We walked to the entrance where thankfully a delivery truck blocked us from the view of a very large party. We caught another break as a Ford Bronco and a Ford Econoline van were parked in front of the entrance - effectively giving us enough cover to rush beneath the fence and into the building entrance.
More luck was needed even as we made it to the rooftop. This particular building has a very irregular roof where one can be easily spotted at all times. We found a small rooftop wall to disappear behind and consume our Camo Silver Ice 40's in anticipation of the spectacle.
Rain showers gathered and there was a gentle shower. We relaxed and occasionally peered over the wall at the traffic-jammed Larned Street. Night eventually fell and we made our way over to the Jefferson Avenue side of the building. We peered over the edge at the road below and eventually sat and gazed at the fireworks in the sky.
I initially dreamed of this great shot with the 'grand finale' occurring and the D skyline in the foreground - but that just wasn't meant to be. I was taking pictures and moved about 5 feet to get another angle. When I went to turn my camera back on, the good ole', breaks-all-the-time, Carl Zeiss lens was jammed. Another Sony broken. There was zero dropping or roughhousing, I just tried to turn it back on and the lens wouldn't cooperate.
I was really sour, but I wasn't going to let it ruin my night. I eventually gave up on it and sat on the edge of the building watching all the frustrated people in the Jefferson Avenue traffic gridlock.
We waited for the traffic to clear and I enjoyed the beautiful cars and women. About an hour later, Jefferson was empty and we made our exit.
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on MLB.tv: Derek Lowe vs. Orlando Cabrera
(O-Cab got K'ed up)
