Red Dawn II

Burned out upside down car in the street. Did the Tigers win another World Series??? Actually, it's just those Red Dawn movie dudes blowing up props on Michigan Avenue.

The set was empty (although a few hundred extras were milling about on Woodward Avenue), so we wandered about without impedence.

Fake propaganda was tacked up everywhere....

Red Dawn in Detroit

The invasion has begun! Filming of Red Dawn II has officially commenced in the Central Business District of the D, and if watching Red Army personell carriers roam Layfayette Street in front of American Coney Island doesn't send a chill up the spine, nothing will.

In the distance is the set for one of the movie's Big Scenes, where the American generals meet the foreign generals and hand over the deed and title for the United States or something. The man with the rubber machine gun and surplus Polizei uniform was a production assistant who yelled either "Stay back!" or "No photography!" at the growing crowd. Listen here Bub this is Detroit and in Detroit a man carrying a rubber gun and shouting at a crowd isn't going to get a whole lotta respect.

A closer view of the set.

The camera boom was moving all around and people were yelling "Action!" and "Cut!" Getting some exterior shots before the extras arrived, perhaps?

Extras hanging around waiting for their cue.

More extras, heading towards the set for the Big Scene.

While looker ons checked out the props.

Chinese Democracy

Here's something you don't see everyday downtown in the D.... a Chinese army banner being hung from the Griswold/Lafayette parking garage. The P-O-L-I-C-E lettering is also new... and fake, all prep work for the remake of Red Dawn, a 1984 cheesy popcorn yarn about a foreign invasion on U.S soil. Very real in the background is the Lafayette Building (in the left) in early stages of demolition; could Hollywood ask for a better backdrop than Detroit for a movie searching for a bombed zone landscape?

The area south of Campus Martius is readying for the movie's big battle scene, or so insiders (the people standing around) tell us. 800 extras wearing Chinese army surplus garb will be running around with fake machine guns. Tanks will roll down Shelby and Griswold. Huge explosions will rock the streets and the resistance will take positions behind sandbag barriers. Stay tuned, kids, and we'll try to get more.

Jekyl Island, GA

The ocean and oak trees.

A sailboat heads to sea.

Sea turtle hospital.

Home to sick loggerheads...

...awaiting surgery to remove fish hooks and soda cans from their innards.

Darien, Georgia

Shrimping boats on the Darien River, coastal Georgia.



Darien is home to Fort King George, the southern-most British fort built in North America during the colonial era. Constructed in 1720, the fort's purpose was to keep Spain from encroaching north out of Florida. Note the Union Jack still flies above the cannons.

The fort was abandoned by the Brits in 1736, burned down during the Civil War, used as a logging camp during the early 1900's and finally restored to original condition in 1988. The only inhabitants now are the remains of sixty British soldiers who died during their tour of duty on this foreign land.


Located just outside the fort are the tabby blocks of an early Spanish mission built in the late 1500's. Little is known about the mission, other than the Gaule indians (a tribe that has long since disappeared into the vacuum of history), mounted a violent rebellion against the Jesuit priests stationed at Mission Santa Domingo de Asoa.

Sunlight passes through long beards of Spanish moss dangling from a live oak above the old mission.


Crumbling warehouse in Darien, once used to store tobacco, cotton, rice, and other goods destined for transport across the sea.
On the outskirts of Darien is the Cypress Lounge. The sign above the front door grabbed our attention- three sharp looking chaps enjoying frothy beverages as one vigorously raises his arm, a scene more akin to a Dartmouth debate than a Georgia fishing village tavern.

Inside, tattered Confederate flags hung from dark walls. Two leathered commercial fishermen wearing rubber boots sat at the bar nursing mid-day Natural Lights. "This yer first time here?" asked one of the grizzled boatmen. "Hot outside but the beer is cold." After discovering the Cypress Lounge was not a collegiate debate club, We opted for the door instead.

The absurdity of the moment was further compounded by this mannequin hog-tied to a telephone pole in the parking lot.

Savannah

If a tourist from another country were to ask RR what American cities are must-sees, Savannah would top our list. They would find a most unique mix of history, architecture, southern culture, a thriving art scene, and a town that knows how to have a good time.

It's also the first city we've visited that converted a crumbling cemetary into a park. From 1750 to 1853, the Colonial cemetary was the final resting place for hundreds of early residents. Many of the graves are encased in tombs made of brick and cement- a practice we assume was done to discourage robbers from obtaining the gold watches and gold teeth of the interred.

Crawdads and oysters on the deck at the Bayou Cafe- Savannah cuisine at it's finest.

Pull the handsome little critters apart, suck the spicy juices from the head, and eat the tail!

Countless unique features adorn many of the buildings, such as this iron dragon sign holder at the Bayou Cafe.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, one of America's oldest churches.