Page 7 - 2009 Lake St. Clair Guide Magazine
P. 7

Red Bull Air Racing                                                 long day.
on the Detroit River
                                                                     Detroit Parking Structures: Looking over from Windsor to
At press time, the Red Bull Air Race had not yet confirmed if         the Detroit side, parking
they would return to Detroit. If they do, and you decide you         structures looked like
want to go, here are some tips.                                      the best bet for view-
                                                                     ing. (Windsor’s parking
Officially, Red Bull expected 100,000 people at this event last       structures were mostly
year. Unofficial totals said up to 750,000 attended, since there      obstructed view.) We
were so many other places to watch the race besides the official      assumed standing in the
ticket locations. Besides the excitement of the stunt flyers racing   structures was free, how-
through the pylons on the Detroit River, there were stunt para-      ever, my brother Ken said
chutists, a helicopter that would do complete loops upside down,     he paid $100 per person
photo at right, a Canadian aeronautics team, and an American         for 5 drinks and all the su-
F-18 flyby. We went, and also talked to different people who          shi you could eat it while
also went to different locations and here’s the story...             standing in a parking structure located at “Asian Village” which
                                                                     is at the base of the parking structure at the Renaissance Center.
The Windsor Side on Sunday: Because the Detroit side                 Although he had his own “wall space”, spending $200 for two
                                                                     wasn’t the greatest either since you didn’t know what was always
was sold out, we went over to Windsor. It took about a 1/2           happening. We, in Windsor at least, had speakers for the show
hour to get across the bridge, no big deal. After walking several    placed all over the park, so we could hear a play-by-play of what
blocks trying to figure out where to buy tickets, we then waited/     was going on throughout the day.
walked for 12 blocks in line for over an hour to get into the
waterfront park. No bleachers! So we arrived inside the park at      Verdict: PROBABLY NOT / but only had a report from one
1pm and stood until the racing was over, which was about 4pm.        location...but you’re still in a parking structure all day...
We hadn’t eaten all day, and were unable to go get something to
eat in fear of losing our mediocre standing spots. I could only      Sitting on your Boat on the River: From our vantage
see ½ the course, and that ½ was still looking in between the
heads of people.                                                     point, there were a lot of boats. Up river, toward Belle Isle, in
                                                                     front of Chene Park, had the most boats. As the planes took off
We then realized with the high capacity crowds, that we should       from City Airport, these boats were the first to see the planes’
stick around Windsor and eat our first meal of the day to wait for    approach to the “race course.” However, you still appeared to
traffic to clear. Downtown Windsor was in full swing with sev-        be far away from the big part of the course. The better position
eral blocks of streets closed off for pedestrians..fun, fun. There   for boats seemed to be on the Ambassador Bridge end. There
were several live bands and outdoor beer tents. We found a nice      were not as many boats and you were closer to see some of the
outdoor
location                                                                             big turns the planes had to make. No boat traffic
and spent                                                                            or freighter traffic came through the course during
a couple of                                                                          the day, so you’d have to get an early start to be in
hours letting                                                                        position.
the crowd                                                                            Verdict: If it’s a nice day, it would be the most
die down.
Leaving                                                                              relaxing, but you’re still kind of far away.
Windsor
at 7pm we                                                                         Buying Tickets in Advance Detroit Side:
had a 2 hour                                                                      Please continue reading on next page...
wait to get
across the
bridge. The
tunnel also
had a 2 hour
wait at that time. By the time we arrived in Fair Haven at 10pm,
the local radio said the tunnel was up to a 3 hour wait, the bridge
still at 2 hours!

Verdict: Not again. Getting in was too tough; if everyone “sat”                                                 Page 07
in the chairs they brought, everyone would have been able to see,
and be able to leave and get food, drinks, and use bathrooms...
and, the bridge/tunnel wait was just the last straw after such a

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