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There are a lot of companies that offer team outings for their employees. But how many of them give you a chance to go on a boat tour of one of the world’s busiest international waterways – The Detroit River. Probably not many offer such an experience but Quicken Loans does. The Content and Creative teams got out of the office on Friday and took a tour of the Detroit River.

Mid afternoon we went down to the RiverWalk and waited for the Diamond Queen boat to dock. The Diamond Queen is one of the boats used with the Diamond Jack boat tours. The tour is a two-hour long ride narrated by people who know all the historic stuff about Detroit and Canada.  Pretty cool to be able to see Detroit from the river and then learn about its history!

Before boarding the boat, I saw a little bit of the amazing RiverWalk. I have heard about it but never experienced it. It is beyond nice. I was really impressed with how great it looked. It even has a merry go round.  There was so much to take in and see. A granite map on the ground highlighted the Detroit River and its importance to international waterways. There is a café, the Wheelhouse, and a splash area for kids, just to name a few activities along the RiverWalk.

We boarded the Diamond Queen boat, which has both an upper and lower deck. For more than 20 years, Diamond Jack boat tours have been cruising the Detroit River. I have lived in Michigan my whole life and have never done this tour of the Detroit River. Working downtown I have discovered so many things I never knew existed.

We all relaxed on the upper level of the boat and took in the sites of the river. On the tour, we got to pass under two bridges, one being the Ambassador Bridge, the other being the MacArthur Bridge. The MacArthur Bridge is the smaller of the two, and connects Detroit to Belle Isle, while the Ambassador Bridge connects Detroit to Canada. Passing underneath the Ambassador Bridge was really cool – I’ve crossed that bridge many times but I’ve never seen this unique perspective.

One of the cool things to see on this tour is the Manoogian Mansion. I’ve seen it countless times on the news but I’ve never seen it from the river. It’s a big house but it didn’t look as big as it does on TV, but still pretty cool.

The Detroit side of the river is pretty amazing, a lot of historic spots along the river like the replica of the Tawas Point lighthouse and the Milliken State Park. There are some really breathtaking views of the city sky line. I was also impressed with the Canadian side of the river. There were many homes with different designs which were really eye catching.

What I really enjoyed was getting a chance to talk to other team members and hear things about them. For example, Amanda went to Eastern and so did I, which I did not know. Go Eagles! I got to chat with Amber too and she told me a little bit about her time at Quicken Loans. I had the chance to chat with Rebecca, where I learned that she is not from Michigan! But you would never know it because she is so passionate about Detroit. The team outing was a great learning experience.

I have told everyone I could about this boat tour because it is so cool. I got to take so many amazing pictures that you normally wouldn’t get unless you were on that boat tour.

The last day of the season for public tours with the Diamond Jack is September 4^th. Make sure to mark your calendar for next year and put this on your “To Do” list because this is something everyone needs to see. If you don’t make it to the tour be sure to check out the RiverWalk.

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