The section of Detroit we have consistently conquered is the Delray area.

There was one property which always eluded us though.

Most of Delray was empty & easy to infiltrate, but one stronghold at Jefferson & Livernois kept us out & maintained its sanctity.

That property was Fort Wayne.

Now that I was over in Detroit without 23 holding me down, I could finally go about seeing Fort Wayne, after passing by the Jefferson Avenue fence line for nearly a decade.

With 38 buildings on the property, I certainly couldn't go about seeing everything today. Although I love red brick structures, I couldn't help but appreciate & focus on getting inside the imposing, limestone barracks; constructed in 1848.

I'm going to go ahead and blame my lack of an exterior on nervousness with this unfamiliar territory.

Construction of Fort Wayne started in the 1840s, as the Americans wanted a fort at the narrowest portion of the Detroit River; a location from which they could fire upon Upper Canada & keep the Canucks at bay.

My friend Adam pointed out that if I was to be caught here, that I would certainly be tried for espionage & hung at the gallows (or thrown into the Detroit River).

In the 1850s, definitely. Have things changed since then?

I wasn't taking any chances. At the sight of an American, I ducked off to the side of the star fort, into the nearby bushes.

It worked out quite well as I happened upon the ruins of the old Detroit City Hall! Demolished in 1963, they must have stored a bunch of important stones here for safekeeping...

Surely the City of Detroit would be watching something like this very closely! I needed to keep moving...

The sun was setting, and while I had just had that close call, the photography nerd in me couldn't pass up this light.

I cued up some distracting bald eagle shrieks on my phone, but it didn't seem like I would have any more run-ins...

I made my way to the east end of the Fort, then left to go hang out with my South Carolina buddy who was in town.

In the end, everything went well & my sagacious exploring skills paid off yet again. I think I might even be able to hold 23's hand and guide him around the Fort sometime in the future.

*This entire post may or may not be fictional & you may or may not be able to pay $5 to visit any Saturday or Sunday during visitation season.
** Thanks Adahm.