Vacationing in Detroit

I created a thread awhile back about considering moving to Detroit and several of the posters suggested that I needed to come to Detroit and experience it for myself before making a big commitment.

I would like to come out and visit Detroit and take in the major sights sometime this summer or later in the year.

I love baseball and I don't care who is playing. I just love to watch the game so a visit to Comerica Park is a must.

I love visiting zoos, aquariums and the like and I don't know what is open in Detroit in that time frame or if any sort of rennovations are going on so if anyone can suggest things in this area I would appreciate it since animals, unlike general attractions can be quite tempermental in their schedule.

I also love museums. I would like to see anything that can enlighten me onto the history of Detroit. I have a particular interest in Native American history as well as anything that relates to Thomas Jefferson. I also enjoy seeing famous works of art as well as modern art.

I also enjoy architecture and Detroit has an unspeakable beauty about it. I would like to at the very least take a tour of Downtown Detroit and familiarize myself with the buildings of this fine town. A drive by tour is more along the lines of what I am looking for since I am far too chicken to do any 'exploring' of vacant buildings and have no desire to have a brush with the law. Detroit has a rich architectural history and I would like to see what is left of it before it is scrapped completely or decays into history. If there is time I would enjoy seeing other famous Detroit buildings that are not located in downtown. Especially if they are related to Detroit's musical or theatrical heritage.

I do not know what Detroit holds in the way of good eats but I hail from the south so locating some southern comfort food locations that don't entail anything spicy is a must. I also have a huge sweet tooth so any candy shops or local stands or the like would make good stops for me. While I do enjoy my Starbucks and coffee from home I would like to see if there are any shops or diners that serve a good cup of coffee with maybe some cake, pie or macroons on the side. I would also like to do some shopping.

Locals do it best so I am counting on the folks on this board to help me plan out a good time and help me experience what Detroit has to offer.

I forgot to add that I would love a tour of Detroit's auto history if possible.

Oh and I know it makes me sound like a total geek but if there are any really good libraries or bookshops in Detroit I would love to take a gander at those as well.

Walking tours from May-Sept.:

http://preservationwayne.org/45-2/detroit-heritage-tours/

History Museum:
http://detroithistorical.org/

Art Museum:

http://www.dia.org/

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Originally Posted by Maria

Oh and I know it makes me sound like a total geek but if there are any really good libraries or bookshops in Detroit I would love to take a gander at those as well.

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The Main Library in Detroit is a beauty and gem and John King Bookstore is quite the establishment; it was a former shoe factory and is 4 floors of books, filled shelf to shelf and sill to sill.

That first link mentions an auto tour but it doesn't say what all it covers. I would like to learn more about that.

The Detroit Historcal Museum looks like a great spot to learn more about Detroit's history. I only took a quick glance at the sight but they mentioned a 19th century Detroit street exhibit as well as an auto mobile assembly line replica so that sounds like a visit that is well worth checking out.

The Art Musuem website mentions that it is going to have a Faberge exhibit but that it starts in October and I am concerned about the cold weather if I want to do the walking tour of the auto sights and if I go to the zoo the fall/winter is usually the worst time to go. I would like to try and keep things in the summer months if possible. Maybe there is something else that would catch my interest there but I will keep looking in the meantime.

Four floors of books? Sounds like my kind of place! :)

Check out our Best Foods in Detroit thread
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ems-in-Detroit

There is only one great bookshop in Detroit: John King Books
http://www.rarebooklink.com/cgi-bin/...oks/index.html

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Originally Posted by Kathleen

Check out our Best Foods in Detroit thread
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ems-in-Detroit

There is only one great bookshop in Detroit: John King Books
http://www.rarebooklink.com/cgi-bin/...oks/index.html

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I will certainly check out that thread. I have to disagree with there being one great bookshop however as I collect books and a small bookshop that sells hard to find first editions and notable copies with history can certainly beat out a huge bookstore.

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Originally Posted by Maria

I have to disagree with there being one great bookshop however as I collect books and a small bookshop that sells hard to find first editions and notable copies with history can certainly beat out a huge bookstore.

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I collect books too...John King Books rivals many of the country's great bookstores for rare, hard-to-find, collectibles, notable editions, and books in general. Certainly there are other good and near great bookstores in the metro Detroit area or southeastern Michigan, but I can't think of another such one in Detroit.

Kathleen knows of what she speaks, John King Books is the best in the area!

Stromberg2

If you like history go to Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Also in Dearborn, I think they still do the tour of River Rouge plant.

Also, If you are considering moving to Detroit you might want to visit during January or February too just to make sure you can handle the cold.

give us a rough estimate of how many days and time of year you're thinking about visiting...

Open 362 days a year.

http://www.detroitzoo.org/

Also, be sure to check out the Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle. Even if you're not into botanical gardens, it's still a pretty beautiful place to visit if you have time.

http://www.belleisleconservancy.org/

If you like museums and indian history conider heading south. Michigan was pretty much off the beaten path during Jefferson's day In Monroe Michigan you will find the Raisin River battlefield, which is a site of one of the many battles of the War of 1812. It has some great historical displays on the folks waring at that time and one of the major groups were native americans.

You can also hit Toledo where you will find another world class art museum, a small but very nice zoo, and the stadium for the Toledo Mudhens.