A couple friends and I have been on the house search lately. We’ve probably looked at about 20 houses at this point, all in the Saginaw and the Bay City area. Of the Saginaw houses, a couple have been on Saginaw’s east side. For those unfamiliar with Saginaw, Saginaw is a city that frequently graces the FBI’s top 10 most dangerous cities in America with several appearances in the top 5 in this decade. The majority of crimes response for that rank happen on the east side. With that said I am super intrigued by the east side.

Some people might not know, but I have owned a house on the east side for about 2 years now. It’s been a good rental property because the value is so low any rent equates to an abnormally large return on investment. When I first purchased the house those were some of my first experiences on the east side. It’s such an interesting place. In some spots it looks just like a normal safe area. Then in others you see half burnt houses, overgrown vacant lots, and boarded up blocks. An interesting fact is that there is not a single full blown grocery store on the east side. There is no Meijer. No Walmart. No Kroger. The closest thing you’ll find is a Dollar General with no name dollar stores being even more frequent.

Driving on East Gennesse one would see a 10 story apartment complex and right across the street acres of abandoned land former home of the Saginaw County Fair. Due to crime and the general decline of the area the fair was moved in 2002. Left is the unkempt Saginaw Raceway. The raceway was popular before casinos were legalized in Michigan in the late 80s. With competition from casinos horse race betting fell out of popularity. Yet the grandstand remains. How there is a 10 story apartment complex across the road with no grocery stores on that side of the river is another mystery to me. I have so many economic questions raised from things that seem like inconsistencies like the situation above.

My photographer friend Kaitlyn wanted to practice shooting some more rustic, urban scenes so she turned to me to find a place. I decided to check out that abandoned raceway.

The structure was in surprisingly good shape. In the stadium we met two other people who were into urban exploration. They were doing some pretty cool graffiti. It really wasn’t that hard to get in. There were giant holes in the fences everywhere. I reckon it is probably a lot for the police to constantly patrol and repair the area. Really it provides the kids something interesting to explore and hopefully sparks an interest in history and how this happened.

It was a fun little exploration and it really peaked my interest even more in the east side. Not once did I feel unsafe. Even as we left we saw a bunch of young guys playing around in the old fair grounds. It really is a shame to see something that is so cool just completely neglected, but I’m taking it as a cautionary tale and maybe more optimistically as a symbol of hope.

Next post I’ll talk a little about some big commitments I’m making in my life. A little soon after that I’ll be headed out West to see some National Parks in the Washington, Oregon, California area. And who knows maybe there will be a post highlighting my move into a house on the east side (not if my roommates have anything to say about it)!

Where I left off in the last blog post I was trying to figure out air fare and travel back. It didn’t go how I had hoped with American Airlines and that flight was essentially trashed. Instead I ended up on a flight with Delta and about an additional $500 over what it would have cost if we had sailed to the US Virgin islands. Regardless I was super excited to get back and see family and friends!

My new flight with Delta took me from Antigua at 9am to San Juan, Puerto Rico where I had a 2 and a half hour layover. After Puerto Rico I got to another layover in Atlanta. Finally back on real, mainland US soil. Unfortunately, my next and final destination was Chicago which was experiencing some major lighting storms. My 7pm flight got delayed to 8pm, then to 8:45, then to 9, then to 11, and then again to 1am. It was delayed to 1am to allow for a crew change as their shifts were over. No new pilots showed up so we got pushed back to 6am. Delta gave us a bunch of airlines snacks and bottled water for the night. In the morning after another in air delay we finally made it to Chicago. I had a train and bus ticket booked out of Chicago, but cancelled them as my friend Ashley happened to be in Chicago for a job interview. Luckily she offered to drive me, so I got my train and bus ticket refunded which I would have actually missed anyways due to all the delays.

Sticking to my original plan I made it back to Central on the Thursday before their graduation weekend. I kept a surprise and just walked into the apartment to surprise them. They might have figured out the surprise, but we had a good time none the less. I am really happy with all travels and adventures, but part of me wishes I would had another year with these guys. Each one of them has shaped me in some sort of way and I am appreciative of that. As a boy from Pigeon, I have to say that my black cultural education benefited greatly from our diverse group. No matter what, I know this won’t be the last time I see these guys, but its sad, nonetheless, to close this chapter of our lives together. Though being in the US again was slightly emotional in itself, I am glad I could be there for the goodbyes.

After spending some time up at Central I headed to Saginaw and Bay City were I saw a lot of my close high school friends. I went to church in Bay City and got to see a lot of families that I am close with. Then a couple of us went golfing which was a lot of fun. That night at about 10pm I got dropped off in my driveway by some friends and surprised my parents! They were happy to see me and felt good to be home. I went in my room and noticed the painting my mom had bought for me hanging on the wall. That verse, unsurprisingly, had meant a lot to me as I traveled. Then I went out the next night to see one of my favorites things from home, a sunset over Lake Huron.

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

Then, after getting car insurance renewed and a little work I drove my car to the West side of Michigan to visit my aunt and uncle and my brother, sister-in-law and their little girls. It was really nice catching up with everyone and sharing my stories. It was especially fun to play with my nieces! They had grown a lot and the youngest who was barely talking when I left was now babbling in full sentences.

Overall, it feels good to be back! I have so much to look back on and be thankful for, but also so much to be thankful for right here at home! I am so blessed with amazing family and friends. I can’t wait to see what adventures lie for us in the future!