For this mission, we were sent to participate in extreme sports at the AGA games and try to pick up a few tips from the pros. They make it look so easy!

This month was Social Activism Month so Mission Control and our mission was to hold a can drive to benefit a local charity. On top of that, Ford kicked in a check for $500. Jen and I put the call out to all of our friends and filled up the fiesta with food and hauled it on down to Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit. Thanks to every one that donated food!!!

This month was Style Month, and Mission Control sent us $400 in AmEx gift cards and asked us to eat our way through the day from breakfast to dinner at 5 of the best-designed restaurants around the D. The objective was to find out if the people that work there are inspired by the environment they work in. So, we hit Toast, The Emory, The Elwood, Ronin, and The Whitney (which is haunted!). Here’s what we found out.

Jen and I were one of one hundred “Fiesta Agents” given a 2010 Ford Fiesta. Each month for 6 months Jen and I are sent on a mission. Each month has a theme. This month’s theme is Technology, and the mission we were assigned was geocaching. We got a box in the mail that contained a GPS unit, and instructions to log in to www.geocaching.com.  Our assignment was to find a cache and leave an entry in the log that included a link to our fiestamovement page. We had never heard of geocaching, but we packed up in the Fiesta and headed out to give it our best shot. Here’s how it all turned out.

Here’s a little tour of “The D” Jen and Marc style.  I put together a list of links about the places we visited in our Fiesta Movement video for Mission One: Show Us Around. There are a couple more relevant Detroit links in there as well.

The Spirit of Detroit is a city monument with a large bronze statue created by Marshall Fredericks and located at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It was commissioned in 1955 for a cost of $58,000, and dedicated in 1958. In its left hand, the large seated figure holds a gilt bronze sphere emanating rays to symbolize God. In its right hand, is a family group symbolizing all human relationships. The 26-foot (7.9 m) sculpture was the largest cast bronze statue since the Renaissance when it was first installed. It was cast in Oslo, Norway.

Motor City Blog ~ www.motorcityblog.net ~ Probably the best resource for happenings around town.

detroityes.com ~ http://www.detroityes.com/home.htm Fantastic website chronicling The Ruins of Detroit. Urban decay.

The Heidelberg Project http://www.heidelberg.org/ ~ This is worth Googling, this a well photographed landmark and there is lots of info out there >>>  (from Wikipedia) The Heidelberg Project was created in 1986 by artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey (”Grandpa Sam”) as an outdoor art environment on Detroit’s McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on the city’s east side, just north of the city’s historically African-American Black Bottom area. The Heidelberg Project is, in part, a political protest, as Tyree Guyton’s childhood neighborhood began to deteriorate after the 1967 riots. Following his stint in the Army, Tyree Guyton described coming back to Heidelberg Street. He was astonished to see that the surrounding neighborhood looked as if “a bomb went off”.

The Fist of Joe Louis ~ Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. Louis’ cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. Louis is widely regarded as the first African American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II. He also was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport’s color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor’s exemption in a PGA event in 1952.

Hamtramck Disneyland ~ A retired gentleman named Dmytro Szylak — who came to Hamtramck from the Ukraine right after WWII — created Hamtramck Disneyland. It took him from 1997 or so until 1999 to put it all up. Several of the displays are wired-up and move when he flicks a switch. He also has lights and music wired-up. It’s in the back of an unassuming house on Klinger St. right in the alley. It looks like a carnival for gnomes. Roadside America post , Metro Times Article, Flickr Photo Set

The Old Train Station ~ Michigan Central Station (also known as Michigan Central Depot or MCS), built in 1913 for the Michigan Central Railroad, was Detroit, Michigan’s passenger rail depot from its opening in 1913 after the previous Michigan Central Station burned, until the cessation of Amtrak service on January 6, 1988. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest rail station in the world. A perfect example of Urban Decay in America known as Detroit’s abandoned train station. A.K.A. Michigan Central Station. Michigan Central Station once was a thriving epicenter for the city of Detroit and the whole Midwest. Now the abandoned train station sits with most of it’s windows broken. seedetroit.com story, Wikipedia article. Google this one, there are tons of great photosets out there.

Tim Burke/Detroit Industrial Gallery ~ Tim Burke is a Detroiter who is known as many things – a visionary, a rehab counselor, an educator – and most proudly, an artist of unclaimed, dismantled, tossed aside gems. This treasure hunter is devoted to reusing and recycling the refuse that many of us pitch in the curbside and turning them into artistic gems. www.detroitindustrialgallery.com

Belle Isle ~ (from Wikipedia) Belle Isle is a 982  island park in the Detroit River managed by the Detroit Recreation Department. It is connected to the rest of the city by the MacArthur Bridge. It is the largest island park in the United States. It is home to the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory (1904), the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a Coast Guard post, and a municipal golf course. The city maintains a Nature Center where visitors are able to traverse wooded trails and view wildlife natural habitats. The island includes a half-mile (800 m) swimming beach and hosts indy car races.  Google this one.

The Model T Plant ~ Granddaddy of them all and possibly the most famous factory in history, the remains of Henry Ford’s Model T Automobile Plant in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park is still in partial use as a warehouse. Home of the moving assembly line and designed by industrial architect giant, Albert Kahn, the world beat a path to its door fueling the second industrial revolution and catapulting Detroit to wealth and fame.
Built in 1909, it  ceased production in the 1970’s. It has suffered greatly from neglect and faces an uncertain future…  link to detroityes.com story