Each year, residents in and around the city of Ypsilanti carry on a tradition started by a group of community members enrolled in a city leadership program, a sort...read more
The weather has turned, the trees are budding and the flowers are popping out of the ground; time for a cruise through town. But don’t be so quick to hop in the...read more
About 50 Ypsilanti Township residents gave the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office their input about law enforcement in the community Tuesday evening.
The information...read more
Ypsilanti has many faces, and Erica Hampton wants to share a few of them with you.
Over the past year, Hampton created the The Ypsi Project, a series of portraits...read more
Ypsilanti's newest concert venue is preparing for its grand opening weekend April 23, more than a month after its soft opening March 13.
Formerly Club Divine,...read more
-- Editor’s note: Eastern Michigan student and Ypsilanti resident Portia Mathews left to attend the inauguration in Washington D.C. this weekend.
The journalism student will be writing regular reports on her experience in our nation’s capital for those of us in Ypsilanti. Please stay with the Citizen to keep up to date on her travels. --
Michigan weather tested the dedication of its inauguration-goers Saturday.
Continuous snow through Sunday caused a slight delay for our travel plans. We set out about 3 a.m. from Ypsilanti onto the 10 hours of open road ahead. The roads were plated with pearly white snow and the frigid temperatures were unkind. Despite the heavy snow fall we climbed into my orange Saturn Vue, pacing at a steady 30 miles-per-hour down I-94 toward Ohio.
Once we crossed into Ohio and got onto the turnpike, the roads were plowed well enough to travel the speed limit, which is 65 compared to Michigan's 70. The snow continued to fall making it difficult to see more than a mile ahead, but we endured on.
Halfway through Pennsylvania, the traffic increased. The roads drier, not a drop of rain-repelling washer fluid left, and a windshield covered in dirt, we stopped at the South Midway Service Plaza. This historical marker is one of the nation's first on long-distance superhighways. They offered a small selection of comfort food, caffeine, and were conveniently adjacent to a gas station. Some 30 minutes later we got back on the road.
Three hours to go.
Exhausted with driving, I hand over the reigns. It was nice to just kick back and enjoy the ride. The snow covered the mountains like a whipped cream on a sundae. Winding down and around the mountains, I dosed off for about 40 minutes. The car brakes and I wake up. We are in Maryland!
The concert at the Lincoln Memorial is playing on the radio. The highway is infested with Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey plates... there are Maryland plates too. We travel to Bethesda, Md. to drop off our friend Joey.
While waiting for his sister to get home, we get out of the car to stretch, and realize how cold it isn't. The filthiness of the car was a clear indication of the horrible weather we left behind in Michigan.
Minutes later, Rashon and I hop back into the dirty, orange car and head 20 minutes to Fairfax, Va. This county is Forbes' no. 1 in America's richest counties, and only a train ride into Washington D.C.
Tomorrow we will be taking at the Red-Line Metro, getting on at Shady Grove, and getting off a Judiciary Square. Jud Lewis, who is an Eastern Michigan University Alum and D.C. native, will be guiding us through the busy capitol.
"It is best to get on at the first stop and get off directly at Judiciary Square, avoiding overcrowded train stations," Jud said. "Transferring from one train to another is not gonna happen."
Maps of available transportation can be found here.
We will be visiting the museums and monuments, enjoying the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. day, while anxiously awaiting the Inauguration of 2009.