After having learned so much about architecture during my morning walking tour of downtown Detroit, we embarked on another urban discovery: a walking tour through Brush Park, one of Detroit’s historic residential areas with a location very close to downtown. Bob Goldsmith, our local expert from Detroit Tour Connections, met us at 97 Winder Street, location of a recently restored bed and breakfast, and started explaining the history of the area to us.

In its Victorian heydays, Brush Park was an affluent neighbourhoood with numerous mansions for upper-class families. The area’s beginnings date back to the 1850s when local entrepreneur Edmund Brush started subdividing his family’s property. Construction activity peaked in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1906 one of the last mansions to be built was renowned Detroit architect Albert Kahn’s personal residence.

The neighbourhood stretches for 24 city blocks and originally included about 300 homes of which 70 were Victorian mansions. As transportation and the use of the automobile expanded in the early 20th century, people started moving further afield, and the Brush Park area started on a long road of decline. Many of the houses were subdivided into smaller apartments during the Great Depression, and during the post-war years numerous houses were abandoned altogether and fell into disrepair.

Many of the abandoned mansions started to attract criminal activity and in many cases the city moved to demolish the homes, leaving large empty lots of land behind. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as “urban prairie.” At the turn of the new millennium, less than half of the original structures were still standing in Brush Park.

Bob, a true Detroit connoisseur, came equipped with a series of articles about the various historic structures, many of which outlined the new owners’ story and the cost and extent of the renovation effort. Brush Park was truly an interesting experience, with its mix of beautifully restored mansions that might sit right next to a burned out ruin which in turn might be located adjacent to an empty plot of land where one of the former buildings had been taken down.

The highlight of our tour was when a local resident invited us to come inside her apartment: Lisa Rush, a friend of Bob’s, recently bought a renovated studio apartment in one of the historic apartment buildings in Brush Park. As we were walking through the neighbourhood, Bob called her and she invited us in to show us the apartment. She even offered us to use her washroom if we needed to.

Lisa’s apartment is a sleek studio with a living room area and features a kitchen with an island and a bedroom area that are all aligned in a long rectangular space. Off to the side was the bathroom. Lisa is a member of Preservation Wayne, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting and protecting Detroit’s defining neighbourhoods and structures. Lisa was just celebrating with a few friends, and I was amazed that she would invite three complete out-of-town strangers into her beautiful apartment. This local connection was definitely unexpected and totally exceeded my standard expectations of hospitality.

Walking further north on John R Street we turned left and walked by a mansion that is owned by a University of Windsor professor who restored a beautiful Victorian era home that dates back to 1870. Similar to Lisa, this professor has also invited Bob’s tour participants into his personal home to show them his art collection. A welcoming attitude like this where locals open their private homes to complete strangers would probably be unheard of in many other places.

We also saw two churches, right next to one another, one boarded up and out of use for several years now while the neighouring church was a fully intact impressive Richardson Romanesque sandstone building. A few steps further up the street is the Bonstelle Theater, which was originally designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn as Temple Beth El in 1903. Historic buildings abound in this area of Detroit.

On our way south on Woodward we stopped at the upscale Zaccaro’s Market at 3100 Woodward Avenue which offers a variety of delicatessen and fresh, organic foods. Detroit has a marked absence of large supermarkets, so stores like Zaccaro’s fill in an important need for local residents.

Our tour was slowly coming to an end and Bob took us back to Winder Street. This walking tour had certainly started to introduce us to some of the historic and socio-economic issues of Detroit as well as some of the recent rejuvenation efforts that have happened over the last 10 years.

After a coffee inside the stunning Guardian Building and a brief rest at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel my travel partner Linda and I were ready to head out again and decided to explore another Detroit landmark: the Detroit People Mover. This 3 mile (4.5 km) long transportation system hauls people through downtown Detroit on a single-track one-way loop. It only moves in one direction (at present in a clockwise direction) and encompasses 13 stations throughout the central business district.

We entered the People Mover at the Renaissance Center, and the two rail cars were absolutely packed due to a Detroit Red Wings game. Detroit is a big sports town, with six professional sports teams, the most well-known of which include the Detroit Tigers (baseball), the Detroit Lions (football) and the Detroit Red Wings (hockey). Fans dressed in red hockey jerseys were entering the vehicle, and things were getting crowded. For tourists, the heavily subsidized People Mover transportation system is a great way to get around the downtown area and even do some sightseeing from the elevated vantage point. At a cost of only $0.50 per ride it is an absolutely affordable and fun way to see different parts of the city.

The entire People Mover loop took us about 20 minutes and brought us right back to where we started. We went inside the Renaissance Centre, the world headquarters of General Motors since 1996. The seven building complex includes the 73-storey Marriot Hotel which is the highest hotel in the Western hemisphere. The top of the Marriott is crowned by the Coach Insignia restaurant, which is also the largest rooftop restaurant.

We admired the large GM showroom on the main floor as well as the five-storey Wintergarden, an airy glass enclosed space which provides access to the Riverfront and a great view of Windsor across the river. Now hungry from all our explorations we headed straight to the rooftop to see if we could have dinner at Coach Insignia.

Although the restaurant was packed and we did not have a reservation, we were able to get a seat by the bar and were fascinated by the gorgeous view over the Detroit River, Windsor and the Detroit business district. Belle Isle was visible in the north and the Ambassador Bridge dominated the view in the south. We enjoyed a tasty series of vegetarian appetizers of which the asparagus with sauce hollandaise and the Caesar salad truly stood out.

We spent a fabulous evening at the top of Detroit and enjoyed the slowly sinking sun and the golden glow it cast over the city. Tired and satisfied after a long day of explorations we headed back for a good night’s sleep to the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. We definitely needed to rest up since tomorrow our discoveries would take us to The Henry Ford Museum and the recently renovated Detroit Institute of Arts.

Lightning is Mother Nature’s electrical power. It is responsible for more deaths per year than tornadoes. Know when there is severe weather approaching your area. Even if that storm is not right over you lightning bolts travel miles out from the base of the storm. You will not be able to dodge a lightning strike but you should know what to avoid, and how to be prepared, when there is bad weather.

Lightning strikes show how vulnerable we are to Mother Nature’s power. Spring, and into summer, is peak season for the nation’s deadliest weather phenomena. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lightning safety information indicates that ‘an average of 67 people are killed each year by lightning. Knowing how lightning enters a house or building and how to stay safe during a lightning storm may help protect you from injury and your personal property from damage.

There are three main ways lightning enters the home – a direct strike, through wires, or pipes that extend outside the structure and through the ground. Regardless of the method of entrance, once in the structure, the lightning can travel through the electrical, phone, plumbing, and radio/television reception systems. Lightning can also travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring.

To stay safe when you’re inside your home during a lightning storm stay off your ‘land line’ phone, away from windows and doors and avoid doing the wash. Phone use is the leading cause of indoor lightning injuries in the United States. Lightning travels long distances in both phone and electrical wires and can reach you if you’re using or near the appliance. Another direct path for a lightning direct-strike into your home is doors and windows. Concrete garage floors generally have wire mesh running through them so avoiding contact with that surface will also ensure more safety. Washers and dryers have contacts with electrical wires and plumbing pipes, both which can carry the lightning strike surge, but also contain a path from the outside through the dryer vent.

Protect items within your home, also. Remember your pets to ensure their safety. Dog houses, obviously, are not lightning safe and pets that are chained or in a wire kennel can easily become a victim to a lightning strike. Electrical surges produced by lightning can damage any electrical or electronic equipment. A surge protector will not protect this equipment from a lightning strike. Unplug your equipment, before the storm threatens, to ensure protection of this personal property.

Suggested tips from the National Weather Service include:

Outdoor Activities: Minimize the Risk of Being Struck: Most lightning deaths and injuries occur in the summer. Where organized outdoor sports activities take place, coaches, camp counselors and other adults must stop activities at the first roar of thunder to ensure everyone time to get a large building or enclosed vehicle. Leaders of outdoors events should have a written plan that all staff are aware of and enforce.

Helping a Lightning Strike Victim: If a person is struck by lightning, call 911 and get medical care immediately. Cardiac arrest and irregularities, burns, and nerve damage are common in cases where people are struck by lightning. However, with proper treatment, including CPR if necessary, most victims survive a lightning strike. You are in no danger helping a lightning victim. The charge will not affect you.

A little knowledge and some advanced warning of an approaching thunder storm will help protect you from the damaging effects lightning strikes cause and reduce your vulnerability to one of nature’s deadliest hazards.

Mafia Wars is a well known game that can be played on Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, Tagged and even a new iPhone app so you can play it right on your iPhone. I have personally been playing this game hours on end for over a year now and have learned Mafia Wars best cheats and tips. This articles purpose is to help you learn how to dominate Mafia Wars and teach you some strategies to get you further in the game so you can get the most out of it like I have.

First, I want you to know that there are NO cheats for this game. There are no cheat codes that will allow you to magically start dominating the game with a special code. There is no special cheat that will allow you to gain millions of dollars in a matter of seconds. However, there are different legal methods to get this done effectively and you will feel much more accomplished because you will have done it all yourself.

For you to learn how to dominate Mafia Wars, you need to have dedication towards the game and follow all cheats and tips thoroughly. The key to dominating your rivalries is to have a strong and dedicated family. You need to ensure that there are absolutely no weak players on your team and that each team member is going to put their effort in to helping each and every family member. To have a strong family, each member also needs to have access to weapons, armour and vehicles. This will ensure that if they ever get attacked, they are prepared to help themselves. If they can’t help themselves, then you should have other equipped family members to defend them.

The next method to learn how to dominate Mafia Wars is to ensure that you are constantly working and taking jobs. Money is one of the most important aspects of this entire came, and is probably the best tip I can give you. Working will give you the opportunity to purchase properties which will make you stronger and give you a good return for the money you have put into things. Don’t forget to always put your money in the bank, never keep it on you because it will make you much more susceptible to being robbed or getting in a fight.

This all being said, the most important tip is to completely put your efforts on building and strengthening your family. Work on having the biggest family in all of Mafia Wars. If you can do this you won’t even need to learn how to dominate Mafia Wars anymore because you will have it all figured out and under control. To have the biggest family will allow you to start dominating Mafia Wars very quickly. This article is just the start to learn how to dominate Mafia Wars; there are many different ways to start dominating quickly.