I’ve been eager to return to my hometown (suburban Detroit) for a visit and here’s one more reason to do so before mid-July: new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts is awe-inspiring, arriving as Detroit attempts to revive itself from financial ruin.
As a kid, I loved visiting the DIA and a highlight was Diego Rivera’s famous murals of industrial Detroit/America. Now the DIA has that and a whole lot more!
Filed under Detroit
Somehow forgot to post this — over a year ago. But has lots of good stuff on Detroit!
I have been reading Hour magazines “101 things every detroiters should do” and assume it pertains to former detroiters as well. So here’s some things that made my list:
– Roller Derby Motor City style: see the Motor city disassembly line, the Motown Wreckers, the D-Funk all stars and my fav, the Detroit Pistoffs.
– the Rust Belt Market in Ferdale, where Old Navy used to be. Weekend art fair of sorts.
– Ernie’s sandwich shop, Oak Park
– Ford Rouge Factory tour
– Detroit Mexicantown, churros at Mexicantown bakery
– Inn on Ferry Street
-cliff Bells jazz joint, Bakers Keyboard Lounge
– Detroit soup
– Mon Jin Lau in Troy
– Motor city wine bar, 608 Woodward
– Russell Industrial Center, artist in Albert Kahn former factory
-Funk Night, monthly at the contemporary art institute
– Motown museum
– Yemen Cafe in Dearborn
– :Dorothy turkell house (by FLWright)
– Royal Oak lost and found vintage
– pewabic Pottery,
– cadieux cafe… Mussels and feather bowling
– Arab American National Museum, sole museum in US dedicated to such
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Filed under Detroit
So last week we also discovered another corner of the food court at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak and darned if it wasn’t an outpost of Papa Joes, the fabulous gourmet market a little further north on Woodward (or Hunter) in Birmingham. Food there and here looks great. Gateway Market in Des Moines listen up….you could do this in Des Moines at Iowa Methodist!! (and maybe you already are)
One might get the impression that all I am doing during this visit to suburban Detroit is eating which isn’t entirely true but not sure you really want a blow by blow account of the molasses slow days in the Intensive care Unit of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. Food, even more than usual,
has been my main source of comfort and entertainment, hence you get yet another gastro post. We went last night to a place on Woodward Avenue I must have passed a bazillion times and not noticed. The Redcoat Tavern. That’s the downside of having a business on a retail-lined main drag. Takes a lot to get noticed. it’s got a faux New England exterior of grey narrow wood slats and a Redcoat portrait. inside it feels like a warm and cozy pub with lots of red leather and wood and really superb burgers…hulking patties of beef cooked as rare as you want (a rare find, mine was pink enough that the bun was a bit gooey from the juice) and thick battered onion rings, a great beer list. perfect place to unwind from the real world of a hospital.
another good place to do that is Ray’s ice cream on Coolidge where I did the highly unusual and went for a “kids cup” by myself that was about four heaping scoops packed into a paper cup for $3. Cannot imagine how much ice cream the adult cup holds. but as comfort food goes, it did the trick. I had chocolate with bits of malted balls and coffee with bits of heath bars.
Filed under Detroit, DINING, Uncategorized
We got a rude reminder of how bad hospital cafeteria food can be when we found the Mackinac Cafe at Beaumont hospital closed in the evening (we’d dined there well for lunch)and had to go to the nearby cafeteria, although the tuna and egg salad was okay.
But we also got out of the hospital a little for lunch and had some solid Greek diner fare in Birmingham at Greek Islands, where we had: chicken/lemon/rice soup, gyro, Greek salad, baklava, the whole shebang. Across the street is a trendy cafe, Commonwealth Cafe, that comes well recommended for its fried egg sandwich and cappuccino, among other things.
In Royal Oak, we went to a good Middle Eastern restaurant, Gemmayze Lebanese Kitchen, sitting at the bar on high stools watching fresh pita come out of the rustic oven and eating it warm with hummus.
City of Royal Oak
Pictured left to right: Downtown Royal Oak, the National Shrine of the Little Flower church, the Rackham Memorial Fountain at the Detroit Zoo, and the Woodward Dream Cruise.
Surprised to find a farmers market outside Beaumont Hospital where I am spending the day awaiting my fathers surgery to be completed. Nice idea and picked up some blueberries. Also a
Surprisingly good cafe inside the hospital, the Mackimac Cafe, with an excellent tuna sandwichand peanut butter cookies. Bakery looked great. Takes the edge off to have this. Comfort food when we need it
Filed under Detroit, DINING, Uncategorized
News that there is now someone producing vodka in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb near where I grew up, first struck me as odd, then as amusing and then I thought, well why not? Ferndale was a worn out place in the 1970’s, when I lived in Michigan, but when I’ve returned home of late, I’ve found it emerging as a hipster haven, with interesting boutiques and restaurants. So vodka production – bring it on. The company is called Valentine Vodka and according to a recent story in Midwest Living mag, it was started by a former Wall Street trader who suddenly felt inspired to return to his native Detroit and start producing domestic vodka (to save us from having to drink that Russian stuff, perhaps.) Apparently Valentine Vodka also has a “speakeasy-esque lounge” for visitors. (If only I liked vodka.) It’s good to see people producing stuff in Detroit – more encouraging than the depressing documentary I watched recently about the city (Detropia).
Other made-in-(or near)-Detroit products launched by entrepreneurs (and mentioned in this same Midwest Living story) include:
– Peteet’s Famous Cheesecakes in Oak Park (started by a guy after his real estate business crashed).
– Corridor Sausage, producing artisanal sausages near Eastern Market downtown
– Love’s Custard Pies – another Eastern Market hotspot serving southern-style custard and fruit pies
– City Bird – a “hip housewares and gift shop” near Wayne State’s downtown campus.
A reader requested ideas on traveling by bus and trains to get from Chicago to Traverse City then to Mackinac Island and the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. I’m no expert but when I looked into the Chicago-Traverse City public transportation options a few years ago, renting a car seemed the best bet. A few other things:
– Remember the boat option, but again you’ll need that car. You can take a ferry (see ssbadger.com) from Manitowic, Wisconsin (about 1.5 hours north of Milwaukee) to Ludington Michigan shore but you’ll land almost two hours south of Traverse City.
– When we compared the ferry/boat vs. driving around Lake Michigan option, we stuck with driving because as I recall the ferry/boat was pricey and didn’t save much time.
– My dentist recently returned from a drive through the Upper Peninsula to Mackinac and then the Detroit area. She does NOT recommend the major road through the center of the UP. Apparently the view is limited to dense forest. She wished she’d taken a road hugging either coast, if there is a viable one.
– When in Mackinac, make sure to venture off the main drag of touristy shops (although you might want to get some Murdick’s fudge first) and wander up the hill to the Grand Hotel and to the wilder areas of the island to enjoy its natural beauty. You can rent bikes to explore. (see: http://bikemackinac.com/)
– Around Traverse City, don’t miss Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Park. We also enjoyed staying in Glen Arbor and visiting Empire, Michigan (go to the Friendly Tavern) and the Cherry Bowl Drive-in Movie Theater in Honor, Michigan.
Filed under Michigan
arrgh…On both my departing and return flights between Des Moines and NYC, there were mechanical problems that caused delays and/or heart palpitations. En route, during the Detroit to LaGuardia leg, as we were trying to land in a cloudy rainy New York City, the pilot suddenly reversed course and went back up into the clouds. “You may have noticed we tried to land,” he explained over the intercom. “But we decided not to as a result of an anomaly in the braking system.”
WHAT???
He then told us he’d be trying to land again in 10 minutes and there shouldn’t be any further problems.
GULP.
After what seemed like a very long 20 minutes, he did successfully land the plane on what appeared to be an exceedingly long runway. (good idea) and as the wheels touched down and the pilot pumped the brakes, we passengers clapped. And eagerly deplaned.
Then today, we get in the plane at LaGuardia on a beautiful sunny day, taxi out to the runway for an ON TIME departure, only to return to the gate because some water is leaking in the bathroom. An hour and a half later, we are airborne and our chances of making our connecting flights (having lost our original one-hour layover) are slim. I did call from the stalled plane and was told my daughter – who was going onto Cedar Rapids – wouldn’t be able to go on the 4 p.m. flight to CR if she missed the 12:20 one – but there was one seat left on the 7:51 p.m. flight. Feeling like a contestant on Lets Make a Deal, I had to choose between door #1 or #2. And decided to book the 7:51 and try to go standby on the 12:20 should we arrive in time. So we arrive in Detroit at 12 and of course the connecting flight is miles away in another concourse but I run and run and get to the gate just as the door is closing and I BEG the already harried-looking desk person to let Lily get on standby. She balks at first but I look pathetic enough that she gives me the ONE SEAT left on the whole damn plane. And away Lily goes. And of course I’ve now missed my 12:24 p.m. flight to Des Moines (in yet another concourse) and the 4:35 p.m. is unavailable but, earlier, when the plane was stalled at LaGuardia, I grabbed a seat on the 7:30 p.m. flight.
Best of all, I call my dad in suburban Detroit and he picks me up and we have a very nice unexpected afternoon together starting with a delicious corned beef sandwich at a little deli on Woodward Avenue (Deli Unique in the Ramada hotel of all places.) So all ends well….and I’m finally home in Des Moines.
Filed under airfare, Detroit, New York City
TakeBetsywithyou
