Trip Report: Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Taking care of some business in the Detroit area this past Thursday, I included a quick visit across the border into Canada.

In this area The United States and Canada are separated by the Detroit River and going to Canada requires using one of only two methods available, the 1928-opened Ambassador Bridge.

After crossing one has to deal with Canada Border Services. My agent was a bit skeptical of my reason for this short visit to his country but he eventually gave me permission to enter.

Welcome to Canada!

Behind that large Canadian flag is the Detroit River and those buildings on the other side are in downtown Detroit in the United States. Windsor has a lively downtown area of its own with offices, shops, and restaurants. There are also clubs and we did some club hopping in 2014 as shown here.

There is a park along the river on the Canadian side with amazing views of Detroit. This is the only place along the Canadian-American border where Canada is south of the United States!

Looking down river, a nice view of the Ambassador Bridge too. The Detroit River connects Lake Huron to the north with Lake Erie to the south and eventually flows out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Ambassador Bridge will likely lose a LOT of its traffic when the under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge opens a couple miles further south. It's named for Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe who played most of his career over the bridge for the Detroit Red Wings. Since it will directly connect the American Interstate system (I-75) with the Ontario 400-series freeway system (Hwy 401) and also bypass local streets, most truckers will switch to the new bridge. The new bridge is likely to join the E-ZPass toll transponder scheme as well, something lacking at the current bridge.

The second current method for crossing the river is via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. It connects the two downtown areas directly but gets very congested during rush hours. With my quick visit, there was no traffic to contend with.

There it is, heading under the river!

It's always exciting to visit another country, even for just a quick visit, but it's also always great to be back in the United States of America!