Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!

Attending a wedding in Gross Pointe, Michigan, my family is pictured here in front of Gross Pointe Academy Chapel.  Gross Pointe is adjacent, seven miles away, to Detroit.  First settled by French farmers in the 1750s after the establishment of the French Fort Pontchartrain. Members of the British empire began arriving around the time of the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century Grosse Pointe continued to be the site of lakefront ribbon farms (which are long narrow farms that each adjoin the lake, useful for irrigation and early transportation needs). Beginning in the 1850s, wealthy residents of Detroit began building second homes in the Grosse Pointe area, and soon afterward, hunting, fishing, and golf clubs appeared. Some grand estates arose in the late 19th century, and with the dawn of the automobile after 1900, Grosse Pointe became a preferred suburb for business executives in addition to a retreat for wealthy Detroiters. 

The Marriott at the Renaissance Center, pictured here, is built on the Detroit International Riverfront.  The riverfront is a tourist attraction and landmark of Detroit, Michigan extending from the Ambassador Bridge in the west to Belle Isle in the east, for a total of 5.5 miles (8.8 kilometers). The International Riverfront encompasses a cruise ship passenger terminal and dock, a marina, a multitude of parks, restaurants, retail shops, skyscrapers, and high rise residential areas along with TCF Center. Private companies and foundations together with the city, state, and federal government have contributed several hundred million dollars toward the riverfront development.

In the photo of the river pictured here from our hotel room at the Marriott Renaissance Center, Michigan can be seen on the left, and Canada on the right.