It made no difference which way I went, the Ambassador Bridge or the Windsor Tunnel, the fact of the matter was that to get from Detroit over to Windsor, the Detroit River had to be crossed. If I had a choice when it came to traffic, I would rather wait in the custom lines on the Ambassador Bridge rather than the lines at the Windsor Tunnel. If I was going to wait, I wanted the option of having a view and the bridge provided that to me. Once clearing customs, I knew my way to the beautiful rose gardens the city of Windsor, Ontario maintained for years. Decades ago, I was coming back from South Carolina on the company plane and we came in over Windsor. I spotted the rose gardens instantly. We were headed over the top of the RenCen in downtown Detroit on our final into Detroit City (now Coleman Young) Airport. Low and behold, there was my crossing of the Detroit River with another option. One from about 1500 feet with one heck of a view. Sure beat the Ambassador and the Tunnel that day. And, from the Ambassador you could switch over to CKLW in Windsor, and get the top 40 songs playing.
A lot of people do not like Detroit. I have always loved the Motor City. Times have changed without question but the good 'ole days of Jimmy Lontz and J.P McCarthy coming into my car from the Golden Tower of the Fischer Building, from the studio's of WJR760, (The Great Voice of the Great Lakes) was something I still miss today. WJR was a 50,000 clear channel station that could be picked up in most of the mid-west and east coast at night. I've picked it up here in Dallas when there was a lot of bounce (skip) in the atmosphere. Both Jimmy and J.P. are now gone but I can't imagine Lakewood Ranch, Florida as a retirement home for Jimmy...he was a once-in-a-lifetime personality. J.P. was much the same but Jimmy had more humor than J.P. thumbs down. Yet both were at the top for radio personalities and I am better for having know them both.
