Category Archives: Michigan

November 3, 2010 · 9:21 pm

More Detroit hotspots – pt. 2

I forgot to mention another NYT story in its fall 2010  T magazine about Detroit – this one about “artists in residence” in some struggling Motor City neighborhoods.  It likened the city to a modern-day Rome. um, not exactly.  But here are more suggestions of things to do, places to see:

Restaurants – Atlas Global Bistro, 3111 Woodward Ave!; The Cass Cafe, 4620 Cass Ave; El Barzon (Mexican-Italian?) 3710 Junction STreet; Russell Street Deli, 2465 Russell Street.

Museums/Galleries: The Butcher’s Daughter, 22747 Woodward Ave.; Detroit Institute of Arts (duh); G.R. N’Namdi Gallery; Heidelberg Project – between Mt. Elliott and Ellery streets heidelberg.org; Lemberg Gallery, 23271 Woodward Ave., Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, 4454 Woodward; Paul Kotula Projects, 23244 Woodward; Susanne Hilberry Gallery, 700 Livernois. Sad not to see my parent’s gallery, The Rubiner Gallery, in the list but it’s been closed for many years after a long run in suburban Detroit.

Hotels: The Inn on Ferry Street.

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November 2, 2010 · 10:30 pm

More Detroit hotspots

The NYTimes seems to be promoting Detroit as a tourist destination these days and why not. Here’s some suggestions from their latest travel piece on the Motor City:

– Roast – “Detroit’s most talked about restaurant”…..

– Rub BBQ Pub – with a sandwich named after local boy gone rocker Ted Nugent

– Detroit Beer Company – behind the Opera House beer. And my favorite beer name “People Mover Porter” – with chocolate tones.

– Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Take off the first name and it feels like the good old days. or the bad old days. take your pick but nice to see this place open again after a $200 million renovation. What’s next – the downtown Hudson’s???

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October 21, 2010 · 5:52 pm

Detroit’s new cool…

It’s not often that I read a story that makes me want to rush back to my old hometown of Detroit but one in the NYTimes food section yesterday did. It was about a young Detroiter, a former male model no less, who has a bunch of entrepreneurial projects going on downtown including a barbecue place called Slows Bar B Q, in the Corktown neighborhood.

(Slows was also named by Budget Travel as one of the ten best bbq spots in the nation this year – and had good company, including two other places I’ve been to –  Abe’s in Clarksdale, Ms. and Arthur Bryant’s in, of course, Kansas City.)

Other groovy new places in Detroit mentioned by the Times include Supino Pizzeria, serving artisanal pie near Eastern Market, and Roast, a restaurant in a luxury hotel downtown. Soon to open – SLOWS TO GO,  at the corner of Alexandrine and Cass Avenue in Detroit’s  Midtown district and Sugar House, a classic cocktail bar opening next to Slows.

see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/dining/20Detroit.html?pagewanted=1

 



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September 8, 2010 · 11:20 pm

Wine, beer, hard cider in the Leelanau Pennisula, Mi.

During our visit to the Leelanau Peninsula last month, we visited only one winery (Black Star) and weren’t impressed (although pretty place.)  But my sister J and her husband want to go winery hopping up there this month so here’s one suggestion – based entirely on a knowledgeable friend’s review of the wine, not the winery persay: Forty-five North Vineyard and Winery – which gets its name from being located on the 45th parallel – is good wine, we’re told. So maybe the winery will be worth a visit too. see http://www.fortyfivenorth.com Tasting Room Hours are Mon-Sat, 11-6
Sun, 12-5

Another option: visit a hard cider maker. Tandem Ciders – near Black Star – looked like a neat place but it was closed when we dropped by. The season is more likely to be happening in September. We also found two local beers we liked – North Peak (out of Traverse City) and Bell’s (from Kalamazoo). Bottoms up!


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August 25, 2010 · 11:59 pm

One more Northern Michigan tip

A woman who runs a chocolate shop in Empire, Mi. recommended another website for renting places in that area – vrbo.com (which stands for “vacation rentals by owner” – she says it cuts out the middle-man/woman fee. worth a try although i was happy w/our visitupnorth.com rental.

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August 24, 2010 · 3:52 pm

When we next return to Glen Arbor, Mi.

At the end of most vacations, I always have a list of things I wish I’d done and hope to do next time (like the time I went to Spain and skipped Grenada – although I did get to Seville. Someday.)

So here’s my list for the Glen Arbor area:

1) canoe or kayak on the Crystal River. Our tubing on the Platte was a bit of a bust – too slow and sleepy. The Crystal River looks fun – narrower and more winding and mysterious. And we’ll skip the tubes next time.

2) visit the Old Mission Peninsula, especially the general store in an old  wigwam.

3) visit Traverse City – we didn’t even get close to the place.

4) check out the towns of Maple City and Cedar something or other. (uh oh, I’m already forgetting names.)

5) do more hiking on the dunes and the other ride with the ranger on Point Oneida.

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August 22, 2010 · 12:57 am

Leaving northern Michigan

A huge storm knocked out the internet access at our cottage on Big Glen Lake so I’m running behind in my blogging. Yesterday we took a very short hike at Empire Bluff for another spectacular view of the lakeshore and dunes, then checked out Esch road Beach – a relatively remote beach known for nude bathers (although we saw none.)

Later D and I rode our bikes from the cottage to Glen Arbor and then to Glen Haven which has a little maritime museum and a couple of old restored buildings, plus a lovely beach. We stopped at Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor for a drink and some free samples of dried cherries in various forms. Kitschy place but fun and generous spirit. Bumped into Ranger Ryan – who we’d gone on a bike tour with the day before – and he seemed a bit taken aback that we spotted him in civilian gear. Also stopped at Becky Thatcher’s Jewelry design which has gorgeous jewelry made with local stones – including Petoskey stones, which I failed to find on my own, and a pretty blue/green stone from Leland that I”m told is not technically a stone.

The huge storm rolled in around dinner time and fortunately we’d already decided NOT to cook out. We went to Art’s Tavern, the local hang out in Glen Arbor which was jammed packed but we managed to cram into a booth after a half hour wait and had the best cheeseburgers of our trip (they made mine rare!). More tomorrow. we’re safely in Chicago now although D is still searching for a parking spot.

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August 20, 2010 · 1:31 pm

Riding with the Ranger – Empire, Mi.

One of the best things we’ve done here cost no money – yesterday we loaded our bikes onto our car and drove about 15 minutes south to an old school house south of Empire where we met up with a young forest ranger – Ranger Ryan – and 9 other people for a bike ride and ranger talk. Beautiful morning and lovely terrain. We rode on gravel and sand roads (a mountain bike would have been handy but not essential) through deep woods, wide open meadows with the occasional perfect white farm-house and red barns and outbuildings, to the sandy shores of Lake Michigan (near a nude beach, we were told). we stopped occasionally for a talk by Ryan about the invasive species in the ecosystem (not good) and the local lore (pretty darned good) about a ghost town and hard drinking lumber boss with a great baritone.

Outside Empire we stopped at the Grocer’s daughter – a fancy hand-made chocolate shop started by a Danish woman who was indeed a grocer’s daughter in Denmark. Good price chocolates. Then back to our favorite farm stand just north of Empire and then home to Brook haven where we met up with the kids who had done some kayaking on the lake and eaten at the Foothills Cafe nearby (good). Returned to Empire beach where the waves were much calmer and had dinner at the cottage, followed by ice cream (still not Mooners but delicious and good scoops) at the Pine Cone in Glen Arbor. waiting now for the weather to clear

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August 19, 2010 · 1:42 pm

up a river w/out a paddle – platte river

Last time we tubed in Boulder Colorado it was terrifying and the water was freezing. This time, tubing in the Platte River near Honor, Mi, it was boring and the water was warm. I’d love something in between. We debated tubing vs. canoeing beforehand and the Platte River vs.Crystal River and ended up on a three hour very very slow float (it was supposed to be two hours) along a pretty narrow river that leads into Lake Michigan that was full of canoers, tubers, and kakakers. There was even one guy swimming or snorkeling, since he wore a face mask. Oh well. I do remember tubing on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania Years ago and it was a lot of fun – speedy but no sharp rocks and swirling gullies like in Boulder.

We had a picnic on windy Empire, Mi. beach – which also has a small inland lake South Bar Lake. We again chose Lake Michigan, where the beach was busier than north bar Lake but a sandy not rocky bottom and great waves and warm water. fun. Onto Laker Shakes, a gourmet market near Burdickville along Big Glen Lake that specializes in yes, milk shakes. I had some Hudsonville (michigan brand) double chocolate almond on a cone – the scoopers around here do not skimp on the scoops. This is the second ice cream stand we’ve visited in the area where the scoops are really more like three scoops. My mother would be pleased.

We had friends over for a cookout – very good homemade brats from IGA Anderson in Glen Arbor; fresh produce (tomatoes, corn, herbs, from a farm stand just north of Empire; smores at a fire we built with our neighbors on the beach. Nice.

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August 18, 2010 · 1:33 pm

Sleeping Bear – Doing the Dunes

The breeze  died down yesterday morning and we were left with sunshine and a slight wind so perfect day to explore Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Park. We started at the Dune Climb – a wide wall of sand bordered by brush. At the top we kept climbing on narrow sandy trails until we got to a spot with a spectacular view of thepale turquise  waters of Little and Big Glen Lakes to the east and the dark navy blue waters of Lake Michigan to the west..

onto Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (great name) just south – a seven-mile one way loop along the coast where we stopped for a picnic on Picnic Mountain and for another spectacular view – this time atop a high sand dune that dropped steeply into the lake. Lots of other tourists but not oppressive.

Thanks to my willingness to ask park rangers questions, we found a gorgeous beach that was somewhat hidden off a dirt road just south of the drive. North Bar Lake is more like a gentle little pond, separated from Lake Michigan by a tiny strip of sand. Perfect for families with little kids. My teens opted for the wild beach of lake Michigan where we body surfed in the big waves and hunted for petosky stones. no luck yet. water was remarkably warm – again.

Forgot to mention that we began the day at the Glen Arbor Farmers market which was small but good. Some good crafts too – made out of the raw materials of my youth. petosky stones and birch bark. Got good blueberries, tomatoes and corn.

we met my friend polly and her twins at Joe’s Friendly Tavern in Empire, which lived up to its name. Good burgers, fried smelt, sweet potato fries, oberon beer. like the town of Empire a lot. Then onto the Cherry Bowl, a drive in movie theater near the town of Honor. Chilly but lot of fun – real step back in time. kids were intrigued.

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