Metro Monday and Kitten Questions

Today's Metro Monday is a story of childhood nostalgia, of urban decay and loss, a reflection of the roller coaster ride that we as Detroiters have endured.

You remember last week's edition when I told you about Sugar Island, the first island amusement park in the Detroit River (which isn't really a river, but a straight)?  Sugar Island was closed by the end of World War II, left to disintegrate and decay.  In fact, I had even heard of it until this summer.  But I had passed by it many times on my way to the island amusement park that endured... Bob-Lo Island.

I didn't even have to go to YouTube in order to hear this song in my head.  I'll bet many native Michiganders can remember this commercial as clearly as I can.

The name "Bob-Lo" is an English corruption of the original name given by the French.  Bois Blanc Island or "Island of White Woods" was an important source of building materials for the French as they built their forts on either side of the river.   The island lies in what is now Canadian waters, but  just a quick boat ride from southeast Michigan.

The Boblo Island Amusement Park opened at the turn of the twentieth century.  While it could be accessed on the Canadian side by a quick ferry ride from Amherstburg Ontario, part of true Boblo experience for any Michigander was riding on the Boblo ferry boats.  The SS Ste. Claire and the SS Columbia.  These excursion steamboats conjure images of old time Mississippi River luxury steamships.  

SS Columbia

Four decks high, complete with snack bars, gift shops, and a dance floor, these steamships made the 18 mile trek downriver from Detroit to Boblo Island several times per day.  Standing on the deck in a cool summer breeze, drinking Faygo and throwing popcorn to the seagulls who flew alongside during our ride, I made this trip at least once per summer with my friends during every one of my teenage years.

Boblo Island Amusement Park from the air (probably from the Sky Tower at the back of the park)

While not an amusement park on a grand scale, Boblo was still a place that could entertain a family for a full day.  Built alongside the original dance hall (in the photo above under the blue roof) and picnic area, roller coasters, ferris wheel, bumper cars, and a full midway greeted the passengers as they disembarked. 

A postcard of Boblo from the 1980s.  The boat dock (in the lower part of the photo) led into the amusement park.  Check out the roller coaster along the other shore.  This would be the Boblo that I remember.

Competition from Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio (just a couple hours away from Detroit) combined with the deterioration of the steamships and local economy led to Boblo's decline. When the steamships ceased making their island runs in the early 1990s, Detroiters stopped making the trip to the island entirely.  The park closed just two years later.  The rides were dismantled and sold to other parks throughout the country while the boats sat and crumbled.

From this:

To this:

After nearly twenty years of disuse.  Both ships have now been sold to private investors who are working to restore them to their previous glory.  Click here for more photos of the interior of the SS Columbia.  It's a little worse for wear, but with some imagination you can clearly see the ship I loved just a couple decades ago.

Although the park is gone, Boblo Island remains (obviously).  Overgrown with greenery, the only remaining structures from the Boblo that I knew are the Sky Tower and the dance hall.  The boat dock, faded and crumbling, still serves passengers who travel by ferry from Canada.  The island, which uses its original French name of Bois Blanc, is being developed into high-end real estate... large mansions line the shore and a condo community is being developed.  It was almost fitting for my mood, that when I returned to Boblo it was a grey, overcast day.  Today's Boblo is almost unrecognizable to me.

The dock of Bois Blanc Island once greeted amusement park visitors.  It is now a welcome home for those who ride the car ferry from Amherstburg.

A leftover from the amusement park days... "Boblo" spelled out in white rocks on the shore.

The Sky Tower in the distance, the dance hall is behind the trees to the right.  Other than that, the Boblo of my childhood is gone.

As I rode back to shore with a heavy heart, I saw something that reminded me that the beauty I remembered was not completely gone.  That happiness can still be found on the river...

Photo credit: PublicDomainPictures, by Barb VerSluis

I didn't really see this, but someone (**cough**Holly Waterfall**cough**) might owe me something after this ;-)

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Questions... She's got questions

My kittens, while noisy when demanding their dinner, do not create the kind of cacophony of chaos that I expected from the tales of other fosterers.  They are, however, constantly hungry. Seriously... how much do you all feed your kittens?? Mine have 24/7 access to kitten kibble but what they really want is stinky canned goodness. How many times a day should I indulge them? They would prefer that I open one every time I open the door to the room.  I'm thinking a bit less. What are your thoughts?

"The Ellie Belly is empty and can only be filled with canned treats.  Hop to it, Lady."

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Penny is a dinner time diva (and a breakfast time brat).  She began her stay with us refusing to touch canned food and now she refuses to eat kibble.  She would starve herself rather than crunch.  Now that she's out in the general population of fat boys, mealtimes happen twice a day and she's proving resistant both to eating kibble and eating when the pack eats.  Any ideas of how to get her to indulge in a more varied diet and/or come around to our schedule?

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"Not another bath!"

"Eloise will just wait here while you get another idea, Lady."

Kittens are getting stronger and wiser during bath time.  Bathing them is becoming more of a struggle.  While I used to bathe them in a plastic container in the bathtub, they're becoming fighters so I had to change the game plan.  Sunday's bath took place in the bathroom sink and went a bit quicker and easier, but I'm anticipating needing a back-up plan soon as they learn the new drill.  I'd love to hear your kitten bathing strategies as I anticipate needing to bathe them for another couple weeks.

"Please don't do this, Lady..."

"Henry loves you."