THIRTEEN – BELLE ISLE: SWIMMING IN THE RIVERBelle Isle is a small island in the middle of the half-mile wide Detroit River, located between the shores of downtown Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The island has a notorious background including its usage as a loading point for bootleggers, ferrying alcohol from Canada during Prohibition. One obtained access to the island by crossing over a quarter-mile long bridge from the east shore of Detroit, unless of course, one has a boat; several marinas with docks could moor any size watercraft. In 1906, it was from this very same bridge that the famed magician, Harry Houdini, attempted a dangerous trick called the “Overboard Packing Box Escape”. For the performance, Houdini was tied and handcuffed inside of a wooden box. The box was then naile
