How often do you cross the river into Canada?

[night-timer]

I'm curious to know how many Detroiters make use of Ontario's close proximity to Detroit? Under-age US drinkers might like the lower drinking age in Canada, but apart from that, do many Detroiters cross the river for fun or day-trips?

[smallferret]

I and ny husband used to go over frequently, especially to Spago for their excellent veal dishes.
We haven’t been since the border reopened because of the nose swab requirement which I see as a pain in the neck. We’re both triply vaccinated but the Canadians don’t care.

[mkd]

During ages 19 and 20, at least once a month. After that, maybe a few times a year. Since the pandemic, not once. My favo[[u)rite part of going to Windsor is the view of our skyline.

[Meddle]

70s we'd go over when ever we felt like it. Just to get gas sometimes when prices were lower there. Grab a snack maybe, check out the river. Sometimes we might only be there for an hour or less. Back then, you crossed with a wink and a nod. 'Citizen of what country? Anything to declare? Enjoy your stay.' No ID or anything. We had front license plates then, so they'd run that as you approached.

I can't remember crossing after the mid 80s and with being a few hundred miles away since the late 90s, well ....

[EastsideAl]

I crossed the border regularly, until the pandemic. But then I have relatives and property on the other side. I usually go across more than a dozen times a year.

Like Meddle I miss the days when the crossing was usually much easier. Often I would get to the booth and only be asked one or two basic questions before being waved through. We used to take my grandfather's boat regularly out to Peche Island to swim and hang out and then over to a bar/restaurant in Tecumseh for drinks and dinner and no one bothered, or even considered, dealing with Customs.

Now, we have to have passports or enhanced documents and must endure the rude third degree when you return to the US, as if you had just gone to Iran or North Korea. It's become significantly less pleasant and inviting. Of course, the pandemic effectively closed the border for over a year and since has made the crossing more of a hassle, especially dealing with the Canadians' extra testing requirement even for us fully vaccinated people. I have been over there exactly once since the border reopened, and I will not be going back now until late May at the earliest.

[MikeM]

Last time across the Detroit River was in 2003. Before that, 1997...or maybe once in between. Before that, not since the 1980s. I have crossed the St Clair at Walpole or Port Lambton several times in the past few years.

[401don]

As a Canadian going the other way, I can agree since 911 the border has become a real hassle. We used to go over for a Tiger game, come back to Windsor to our motel for a swim and then go back over to Detroit for dinner and the bars. Now we are forced to stay on the American side and give you all of our tourist dollars.
Of course I haven't been since the pandemic started and just cancelled my trip to Florida yesterday but that's as much due to the MLB lockout and probably no spring training as the pandemic.

[Zacha341]

Yes! There's nothing like the riverside view of Detroit from Windsor. Awesome! If you stand at the base of Ouellette Avenue near the river, it almost parallels Woodward - like you can walk right across to Detroit. The Ren-Cen [the old name] building looks great.

Used to be able to go over easy. We preferred the tunnel to the bridge. Just say casino or dinner downtown, show passport/ or ID you were in. Their casino was smoke free early on. I miss going over to Windsor regularly. Parking and driving along Riverside Dr. etc. Very nice!

...My favo[u]rite part of going to Windsor is the view of our skyline.

[DetroitSoldier]

4-5 times a year. My wife has family in and around windsor so we usually go for a couple of holiday celebrations. I also enjoy the golf over there so I make a couple trips across for that.

[GPCharles]

In the late 80's, weekly for lunch at either a Chinese or Italian restaurant.

2010-Covid - weekly for golf at Roseland. Great, authentic Donald Ross course.

Covid - never.

[Johnnny5]

Sometimes a dozen or more times in one day! I fish along the borderline on both the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers and it's fairly routine to zigzag back and forth while moving between fishing locations. It's probably been a decade or more since I crossed at an actual border crossing into Ontario, but in the late 90's when I was 19-20 the trip to Windsor was basically a bi-weekly ritual all Summer long, and then again every holiday break.

[softailrider]

Used to go over the border a few times a year. After 2001 we pretty much stopped going, you would never know if customs was going to be a nightmare. It's okay though, if I want to lose money at a casino, I can do that on this side of the border.

[mkd]

The nice thing about Caesars Windsor is that it is entirely smoke-free, unlike the three over here. Although, I think they've too become smoke-free since re-opening in the pandemic.

[DetroitSoldier]

I have no idea why everyone says customs is a nighmare. As I stated before we go half a dozen times a year. My daughter is a born-abroad American/German dual citizen with a dizzying amount of paperwork [[3 birth certficates, 1 birth-abroad certificate, and an American passport with a different birth country listed). Yet not once has customs ever been more than a few questions and sometimes a few extra questions related to citizenship.

Unless you are moving products across the boarder, or you dont maintain your paperwork, I really dont see how a customs check is not routine for 99% of us.

[preserve]

Used to cross a couple of times a month in the past, loved Leamington and Pt Pelee and taking the old Rte 3 through Maidstone, and the other small towns. Haven't been across since 2019 and sorry that the Diamond Jack Tours had to use different channels too that took away from some lovely views of the Canadian homes on the water.

[Lowell]

Two or three times a year for me. I always intend more. I love the panorama of the Detroit skyline, visiting friends and dining. I miss it. 911 really messed it up and Covid has pounded more nails in that coffin. The economic losses created by the border have to be in the billions.

I hope and pray for the day we can negotiate a Schengen-like treaty, as they have in the European Union, where one crosses the borders freely. If that can be done between France and Germany, who slaughtered millions of each others youth in the last century, certainly we can find a way to do that between two countries that have been at peace of over two centuries, allies in wars, and share so much in common.

[Zacha341]

I have a passport and I've found them ok, but far more strident at the bridge. Once I saw them with drug-sniffing dogs, going between cars, while they banged on someones car exterior looking for stuff stowed.

I got a bit of 'lecture' from having my cars backseat junked-up [it really was - LOL]. Sometimes they want to see clearly into your car.

I have no idea why everyone says customs is a nighmare. As I stated before we go half a dozen times a year...

[Meddle]

But even back then, there was a physical border inspection point on both sides. There were places in Montana, Minnesota and Washington where there was nothing of the kind. Nothing but a flag or sign with a phone number to call to report your crossing. 'Hey, this is Bob Jones, going over to the emporium for coffee, eh?' 'OK, Bob, let us know when you go back and tell Carol howdy for us.' Those all have physical checkpoints now.


There's a place between Quebec and Vermont where the border goes down a residential street. Just walking across the street to chat with you neighbor meant crossing the border and nobody cared or even knew. Now that's patrolled.

[GPCharles]

Nothing better than having a Nexus card for going back and forth.

[401don]

I have no idea why everyone says customs is a nighmare. As I stated before we go half a dozen times a year. My daughter is a born-abroad American/German dual citizen with a dizzying amount of paperwork [[3 birth certficates, 1 birth-abroad certificate, and an American passport with a different birth country listed). Yet not once has customs ever been more than a few questions and sometimes a few extra questions related to citizenship.

Unless you are moving products across the boarder, or you dont maintain your paperwork, I really dont see how a customs check is not routine for 99% of us.

My friend who, like myself, has been crossing a few times per year since the '70's, had a couple of bad experiences the last two trips before covid. He was with his common law spouse of 10 years, who is a landed immigrant. U.S. Customs kept him 3 hours while they searched his vehicle. We were supposed to meet for a ballgame, which of course he missed. His very next trip he was pulled over and asked questions for a half hour for no reason. Even though he is a classical pianist, he's decided no longer to give his occupation as self-employed musician. Some of those guys are just on power trips.

[Tramhamck]

Used to be several times a week. My [[now) wife lives in Windsor and many of my best friends do as well. Used to utilize the Tunnel Bus on a frequent basis when I didn’t have a car. Have had a mixed bad with the border officers that I would rate as mostly unfavorable, even pre-covid. This largely stemmed from me not having a legal status in the country, but visiting frequently as I was in a long-term, committed relationship. We’re currently going through the sponsorship process to get me across permanently, but in my experience I have found many of the officers to be largely unsympathetic to the [[relatively common, in a border community) experience of people with family on both sides of the river. Since covid, it has been incredibly difficult for us to see each other. For a while I was able to cross, but to do it with the testing requirements for “non-essential” travel meant that I needed to plan several days in advance to get the necessary PCRs. She has been unable to visit me for the most part, because even though the border is “technically” open, with the current return testing requirements to enter Canada and the threat of quarantine and time off work in their absence, has made it all but impossible for her. Covid has been exceptionally hard for us these past several years now, especially because we have not been able to be with each other for support during this difficult period. Her father died early on in the first lockdown and I couldn’t even get across to help her plan the funeral or to provide any comfort. I know that my situation involves straddling the border more than many people, but I cannot wait for this to be over. I miss getting to be around the people who make my life My Life. I miss Windsor too, even if they do have an over-inflated sense of pride in their pizza.

[Ray1936]

Living in Nevada, I guess my visits to Canada are long gone. But I do travel across the border into California once in a while, and stop at the citrus inspection station, which is pretty much the same. [[Think I'm kidding? Try it.)

[Meddle]

' Your Peppers, Please!!! '

[Gistok]

I've not crossed over into Canada since before 9/11. The American border patrol folks have always been assholes. My brother-in-law's elderly mother and grandmother used to smuggle liquor up their dresses when returning to the USA with cheaper Canadian liquor. They never did get pulled over... which reminds me of this video...

[DetBill]

I still cross regularly, as I’m from Windsor originally, a dual citizen and much of my family is there, of course I am triple vaccinated but I still have to get the pre 72 hour Covid test , update my arrival data and itinerary details on the ArrivCan app and test results before I cross constantly, it is a pain, but I just figured you do what you need to do, The customs officers I have encountered on both sides have been, at least in my own experiences, extremely nice to me and accommodating, I was very accustomed to the Canadian side being fairly friendly, but often the American ones I found rather unpleasant, but not so now, The Canadian ones have often said to me welcome back, and the American ones on several occasions have even said to me welcome back home! I always think if that’s the worst thing I have to put up with in life ,I’m still pretty darn lucky.