By Pradip Rodrigues
Having visited most destinations within a four-hour driving radius of Toronto, Ontario, we were looking to find one across the border that we had not visited for our next long weekend. Detroit came to mind but others who heard about our plan thought we’d lost our minds. Some were convinced we’d be getting mugged, others assured us there was nothing to see in Detroit unless admiring an apocalyptic landscape of abandoned buildings was my thing. We spoke to two Windsor, ON transplants living in Toronto who spoke authoritatively about their visit to Detroit- 18 years ago. Their information was slightly
Bell-Isle
dated, we relied instead on the VisitDetroit.com website which convinced us to make that 72-hour getaway to Detroit, the Comeback City.
A lot of bad news has come out of the city that has lost half its population since 1950, from 1,850,000 to 701,000 in 2013. There are over 78,000 abandoned buildings, many neighborhoods are economically and socially devastated but despite the odds stacked against it, we discovered a city on the mend and stumbled upon evidence of a new Detroit emerging from the ashes.
A great road trip
Getting to Detroit from Toronto is no more than four hours on the 401 to Windsor. Unlike going across to Buffalo on the QEW, we sailed along the 401, made a couple of pit stops along the way and spent less than 20 minutes at immigration after we emerged from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Our hotel, the 70-storey Detroit Marriott which is one of the tallest hotels in the western hemisphere is minutes away. We get a room on the 64th floor from where we have a panoramic view of Detroit and Windsor separated by the Detroit river. The hotel is in the sprawling Ren-Cen complex made up of six gleaming glass towers which is home to the GM headquarters. When it comes to service and location the Detroit Marriot is quite possibly among the nicest addresses in town.
We checked in Friday evening, parked our stuff and then got onto the Detroit People Mover, the monorail system is the most efficient way to tour the downtown. We head to Greektown which has the reputation for being among the cooler and livelier neighborhoods in the city, its smart restaurants, dives and the Greektown Casino bustle with activity. We dined at Niki’s at 735, Beaubien Street, it has great ambience and its Greek food is one of the best I’ve had in North America. We gorged on sumptuous portions of Lamb Souvlaki, pizza , Chicken Souvlaki and wash it down with chilled beer.
Thousands of Canadians cross into Buffalo primarily on shopping expeditions but according to a recovering shopaholic, Detroit’s Great Lakes Crossing Outlets offers a greater shopping experience and variety than what’s available in Buffalo. There are other shopping outlets and malls in the surrounding areas. We take an after dinner walk along the Detroit Riverfront which is filled with families and joggers. Hundreds of music fans have congregated there for the Rockin’ On The Riverfront Concert Series where we happened to catch the legendary Rockets, a popular 70s Rock band belting out all its classics, the baby boomers went wild.
When it comes to food, there are more and more destination restaurants and chefs setting up in the city where prime real estate is available at rock bottom prices. Talented artists, chefs and others with a Bohemian streak are gravitating to Detroit and are transforming the city landscape in a way artists and poets in the 60s and 70s did in New York City’s SoHo district now a trendy and lively arts district.
Something for everyone
There are great hotels like Greektown Casino Hotel, Westin Book Cadillac Detroit and the DoubleTree Suites at Fort Shelby, as well as the Crowne Plaza where you can find rooms at rates that won’t break the bank. And plenty to keep you occupied from as long as a weekend to a week. The three casinos, Greektown Casino, MGM Grand and Motown Casino, can satisfy that urge to gamble. Bus tour operators
Greektown Casino
in Toronto should consider shopping /gambling weekend packages!
On Saturday, we visited the Ford Museum in Dearborn, the hometown of Henry Ford is now home to the largest concentration of Arab-Americans outside of the Middle-East. The outcome is predictable- great food. There are scores of restaurants offering inexpensive and authentic Middle-Eastern cuisine. Al-Ameer, which by all accounts is a household name, has two locations, we visit the one on 12710 W. Warren Ave ,we sate our apetite with delectable Hommos, pita bread, Baba Ghanoush and the highly recommended Shish Tawook. Dearborn is a veritable foodie paradise for anyone seeking Middle-Eastern cuisine, culture and other nouvelle cuisine.
The Ford Museum
Exploring Ford Museum requires two full days. There is the Ford Museum, The Greenfield Village, The Imax Theater and The Ford Rouge Factory Tour. I had imagined touring Ford Museum to be like visiting an Auto Show. It brought to life inventions and ingenuity that changed the modern world. There is a fascinating ‘pop culture’ section spanning from early 1900′s to present time giving visitors a sense of life in each period, there is lots about industrial machining. In one section is the bus Rosa Parks famously rode, the bus has been lovingly restored and everyone takes turns sitting in the bus and solemnly tries to imagine the atmosphere in the bus on that day.
In another section, an old diner car exhibit is a working restaurant which takes diners back to 1958. We order Sloppy Joes and wash it down with old-fashion soda. It is impossible not to be swept up by a wave of nostalgia.
Another notable exhibit is the Presidential Limousines, few visitors fail to stop and stare at the Limousine in which President John F. Kennedy was traveling when he was assassinated in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963.
Greenfield Village
Other notable exhibits include items from the Titanic as well as the rocking chair where President Lincoln sat when he was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth, the blood stain from his head wound is still visible on the upholstery. ‘This is so ghoulish ‘ whispered a visitor in front of us.
On this particular morning, there were hundreds of visitors from all over the US and Canada as was evident by the car license plates in the parking lot. By early evening, we head to Bistro 222 on 22267, Michigan Avenue which is packed, fortunately we manage to get seats, ordered the scrumptious shrimp scampi ravioli and veal-stuffed pasta, the meal was divine.
The next morning, we surface lazily, then head off to look for Bob Evans, the famous breakfast chain, we settle for the one at 32701 Concord Dr. Madison Heights, where we enjoy a gut-busting brunch of sausage, gravy and biscuits, and the wildfire chicken breasts. We waddle back into our car. Mercifully the weather was perfect for a visit to Greenfield Village which sits on 200 acres. It was established in 1933 by Henry Ford, close to 100 historic buildings have either been relocated or reconstructed from across the US, they include the home of the Wright brothers’, the courthouse where Abe Lincoln practiced law and even Thomas Edison’s laboratory.
We took a ride in a Ford Model T car admiring the quaint homes, offices and workshops that line the streets. After a delightful four hours here we head to Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills, a half hour drive away from Ford Museum. If we had more time, we’d hit the Motown Museum, a must-see for music buffs. It revolves around the story of how a man’s vision turned into one of the largest, most successful record companies of all time and how the music— the Motown Sound —captured the hearts of young people across the world.
The way back home
On Monday it is time to wrap up our 72-hours in Detroit, we check out of our hotel and head to Michigan Science Center, which is a great place for our 9-year-old and for us adults approaching our second childhood. We watched Flight of the Butterflies at the Chrysler IMAX® Dome Theater and let the inner child in us take over. Science Centers do that to adults. We enjoy exhibit galleries focusing on life, space and engineering physical science.
Monorail
Driving back to Toronto, I realized there were at least ten more reasons to come back to Detroit, a visit to the 982-acre Belle Isle is one of them. It attracts thousands of nature buffs as well as those interested in architecture, history and botany. Then there is the midtown area which has several unique shops here as well as antique stores, restaurants like Traffic Jam and Snug that brew their own beer, make their own ice cream and cheese…
And then like hundreds of tourists who make it a point to cruise through neighborhoods like Brush Park and Delray taking in apocalyptic visions, touring these ruins the same way as they would if they were visiting the ruins of Pompei. In the years to come vestiges of its grand past will serve as reminders that nothing in this world is permanent or irreversible.
Detroit is experiencing its modern-day renaissance period, its story is being written by its residents who are working on the chapter about the city’s re-invention. Visiting Detroit will make you part of that story.
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