2014 Hamtramck Yacht Club Canoe Races

What better place to be on Labor Day weekend than the epicenter of the labor unions? As Kid Rock has so eloquently stated, "There ain't no party like a Detroit Party," and once a year, the great citizens of Hamtramck do just that at the annual Labor Day Festival. The Hamtramck Yacht Club Canoe Races are the highlight of the festival, and worthy of being at the top of anyone's list, when it comes to memorable events to occupy the weekend.

With Arts Beats & Eats, The Detroit Jazz Festival and The Labor Day Parade, there's no shortage of activities around town. Every year though, my wife and I find ourselves coming back to watch the insanely competitive daredevils of Hamtramck, navigate their street-canoes through the perilous inner-coastal waters of Jos. Campau Street, with the hope of bringing home the coveted wooden ship, steering wheel trophy.

With its rising popularity, a whopping eight teams registered for the event this year. New comers like Dunwell's Screen Printing, Schramm's Meadery and the Painted Lady Lounge, quickly found out  how difficult it can be running through the streets of Hamtramck in a ramshackle canoe, with a thousand crazed lunatics throwing watered projectiles through the air. The "newbies" were handily  eliminated in the first round of competition by experienced veterans from the Polish Sea League, Suzy's Bar, Jean's SS Holy Water and last years reigning champions from the New Dodge Bar.

The third and final round, pitted New Dodge Bar and Suzy's against each other, with Suzy's reigning supreme and exclusive bragging rights for the year to come.