A Long Weekend in Detroit / October Photo Journal

WE SPEAK IN COLORS PHOTO JOURNAL

By Andy Armstrong / October 2026 / Detroit, MI, USA

Hello!

When I last wrote, we'd just officially crossed into fall and celebrated the Harvest Moon.

But with strangely warm temps all through October, it just hasn't fully felt like fall yet here in Detroit. I took advantage of the lingering sunshine with lots of jaunts to reboot the brain.

Enjoy some photos from a long weekend a couple weeks back:

1/ Finally made it to the Ivanhoe Cafe (nicknamed the Polish Yacht Club) in the Poletown neighborhood. A city treasure that's been in the same family since opening over 100 years ago. Incredible Polish platter.

2/ A walking path through the Lafayette Park townhouses. Designed by legendary modernist architect Mies van der Rohe in the ‘50s.

3/ Shadows of a tree on the Helen L. DeRoy Auditorium, one of a handful of buildings designed by Minoru Yamasaki on Wayne State University's campus.

Yamasaki was raised in Seattle by parents who immigrated from Japan. He moved to New York to study and work and was then recruited to Detroit, a hotbed for architects at the time. The city became his home base.

4/ Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township, another striking Minoru Yamasaki design. Its sweeping roof was inspired by the tents of the ancient Israelites.

5/ Saint Regis Catholic Church, just up the road from Temple Beth El. Another example of the area’s experimental religious architecture.

6/ Main Donuts. An old-school donut shop in Royal Oak, just north of the city. Run by a Cambodian family who relocated from California. The pumpkin cheesecake donuts are majestic.

7/ What remains of Detroit's Packard Automotive Plant. The historic complex was designed by Albert Kahn, another iconic Detroit architect. When you’re in the midst of these massive factories, you can imagine how they revolutionized modern society.

8/ The cafeteria at Henry Ford Hospital. I often stop here on evening walks around my neighborhood. I like being out in the world and around people when I'm working. Built-in inspiration and accountability.

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Now here we are at the end of October.

Leaves are peaking. But like the cherry blossoms in Japan, just as you start to get used to them, poof.

Tonight the clocks turn back. And by the time I write next, we'll be on the other side of Thanksgiving, with attention shifted to Christmas and the year's end.

For now, a solid 3-week run to get things straight before the string of holidays begins.

Hope it’s good,

-Andy