Nicholas Quirke was determined to make the most of his day and put his frustrations behind him and waking at 7am, excited for the 10th December which lay ahead of him, was the best start. This positive ‘vibe’ was compounded by a FaceTime chat with Harvey and Grace before he checked out and revved up. He now had 3 items on his itinerary for Detroit and he was determined to get through them in 2 hours. This proved to be easier than he imagined. The Motown Museum he hoped to see yesterday was shut as was the opulent movie theatre turned into a car park so though he photographed the exterior the secrets of the interiors were lost to him. Did this sum up Detroit he pondered. The Heidelberg Project was open to all and on the cold winter day he was a sole visitor and had this inspiring playground to himself. He was not disappointed with the Detroit experience as again he saw an unusual side of America and at one point was convinced he was on the set of Gran Torino and as he headed further west and south he pondered the movies he was experiencing. Nicholas had earmarked the town of Marshal, which had aspired to be the Michigan capital but lost out, as his next visit. However, this was an extraordinary experience of America. The towns high street looked like a set from a western; the streets were filled with cheesy music pouring endlessly out of speakers. It felt really old and the story of the Honolulu House gave credence to that feeling. The names of the inhabitants were all known and items of furniture in the house from the original owner were still there as if passed down from owner to owner. Nicholas was unable to pay for a tour with a card  and had no cash. The towns 2 ATM’s were closed and the strangely unhelpful curator could not tell him where else he could obtain $5. As he stood on the steps pondering how he could obtain some hard cash he was called back in,  2 visitors, overhearing the exchange, had paid for him to join their tour.  It was an engrossing experience and he was deeply grateful to his fellow visitors on the tour. It was then off to his final destination and hotel for the night. He however had misread the address and google maps gave him a location 40 miles away from where he needed to be. Again this was a welcome diversion as he found himself in both Edward Scissorhands and It’s a Wonderful Life territory. He was completely lost.  He asked a lady if she knew the hotel and she thought she knew and he offered her a lift home if she could direct him, Nicholas was very concerned that for the last hour of his trip he had a ‘Change your Oil’ alert and he was worried the engine would seize up. He felt a good ‘Pay it Back’ deed was worth running the risk in this extremely cold weather. He got to the hotel which was better than he had expected and with a mechanics name and number safely obtained he looked forward to the treats the next day would hold.