Visitor

**Larry_from_Ohio** · July-15-11, 09:19 AM

I've seen pictures of that house before. Very nice. I guess another option would be to visit Greektown and have dinner there. I want to avoid wandering around at night and driving in and out of the parking garage. I'd like to try some local pizza on the trip, maybe something close to where I'm staying for some late night food. Someone mentioned Supino's. If that's in Eastern Market I could try that on the Saturday.

**Rocko** · July-15-11, 09:57 AM

I definitely recommend a circle or two on the People Mover. It takes 15 minutes to make a complete loop. As was said, only 50 cents per ride per person.....SUPER AFFORDABLE!! If you really want a treat, take a spin around during the day, then do it again after dark. The lights of our city are impressive.

**Maof** · July-15-11, 10:19 AM

absolutely faygo pop and better made chips. hubby working out of state and when he comes home for a long weekend, he always buys 4 - 1 pound bag of chips to bring back with him. the guys love them on the job.

**j to the jeremy** · July-15-11, 10:27 AM

Don't miss People's records on Woodward.

There's also another used vinyl place on Trumbull and Bagley that's pretty good, methinks.

**Detroitdave** · July-15-11, 11:15 AM

I mention Supino's s , but only AFTER you try Russell St Deli 1st,if the lines too long or the wait is too long then grab a couple of slices , but there will probably be a short line there.
Also a new place just open a couple weeks ago on Woodward call Texas de Brazil .
http://www.texasdebrazil.com/
if you like meat try this place out , it got pretty good reviews on yelp .
see here .http://www.yelp.com/biz/texas-de-brazil-detroit.
let me know if you need anything else .
have a wonderful time in Detroit !

**BasementBeat** · July-15-11, 01:14 PM

Wow. Love the suggestions!
I'm a Detroiter and this is making me want to build up a sort of 'staycation' weekend myself.

Have fun on your trip Larry, be sure to let us all know how it turns out!

**preserve** · July-15-11, 01:57 PM

When in Pittsburgh, I've taken one of their river cruises and found it to be quite nice, here in Detroit, we have the Diamond Jack Cruise, departs at 1:00 and 3:00 from Rivard Park. Not as expensive as Pittsburgh's, no real meal, just snacks, but a great view of the City and of
Windsor.

**Larry_from_Ohio** · July-20-11, 11:50 PM

I see that the people mover is currently running in shuttle mode. Does this happen often? I was wondering if it will be back to normal by next Thursday. Does it run clockwise or counter clockwise when not in shuttle mode? I can't seem to find that anywhere.

**Trumpeteer** · July-21-11, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Larry_from_Ohio

Guardian Building. Hopefully get a pic with the guy outside that was in the Chrysler commercial..

That guy is the concierge [[sp?) for the Guardian and will gladly give you a great tour of the building from the basement vault areas [[this was at one time a bank) up to the top floor ballroom with awesome views up and downriver. Even took us to the former Board Room where we could sit in those huge plush highback chairs! We gave him a $20 just as a small thank you for his time and incredible sharing of the Guardian's history.

**Kathleen** · July-21-11, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by Larry_from_Ohio

I see that the people mover is currently running in shuttle mode. Does this happen often? I was wondering if it will be back to normal by next Thursday. Does it run clockwise or counter clockwise when not in shuttle mode? I can't seem to find that anywhere.

The People Mover is running in shuttle mode because part of the track was recently damaged by falling bricks from the David Whitney Building. Doubtful that it will be fixed and running by next week, but you can keep on top of the situation through the DPM website at: http://www.thepeoplemover.com/WE-LL-...HERE!.id.2.htm

**stromberg2** · July-21-11, 12:24 PM

When is that guy available for tours?

Stromberg2

**Trumpeteer** · July-21-11, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by stromberg2

When is that guy available for tours?

Stromberg2

If he's working in the lobby AND has the time, I'm sure that he would accomodate you.

**Trumpeteer** · July-21-11, 12:51 PM

I hated that I couldn't remember the name of the Concierge at the Guardian that was so kind to give my wife and i a GREAT tour of this beautiful building. His name is Christopher Roddy.

**stromberg2** · July-21-11, 01:36 PM

Thanks, Trump!!

Stromberg2

**Rocko** · July-21-11, 02:06 PM

Beat the heat this weekend: http://www.diamondjack.com/

When in Pittsburgh, I've taken one of their river cruises and found it to be quite nice, here in Detroit, we have the Diamond Jack Cruise, departs at 1:00 and 3:30 from Rivard Park. Not as expensive as Pittsburgh's, no real meal, just snacks, but a great view of the City and of
Windsor.

**Kathleen** · July-29-11, 05:29 PM

A reminder to Larry....when your visit to Detroit is done and you get a chance, we want to hear about your visit to Detroit! What did you end up doing?? How did you like it??

**sumas** · July-30-11, 05:30 AM

I am with you there Kathleen, do like hearing peoples experiences

**Larry_from_Ohio** · August-01-11, 01:15 AM

I'm back from my trip! Thank you all for the suggestions! My first trip to Detroit was an awesome experience. Much of what I saw was completely different from what I expected, and in a good way. People really need to give this city a chance and check it out. So here are my thoughts on Detroit, from an out-of-towner's perspective:

* My first impression was the city is way bigger than I expected, and not as desolate as it's made out to be. I found it to be rather busy. The downtown is a lot larger and is spread out farther than I thought. I know urban decay exists there being I've seen it in pictures, but it really wasn't as in-your-face as expected. I saw some abandoned houses here and there and the big train station, but I had pictured downtown having complete blocks of empty buildings. I live in a depressed steel area in eastern Ohio, so maybe being I'm used to vacant downtowns I wasn't alarmed by anything. I thought downtown was pretty clean and more modern than I expected.

* This city was made for driving! I have never seen lanes and streets so wide before! I had no trouble whatsoever at getting around.

* The people were super hospitable! Any time I would ask someone a question it usually turned into a conversation. We heard "Welcome to Detroit!" a lot during our stay. We asked one couple downtown where to find the Joe Louis and Spirit of Detroit sculptures and they walked us there and pointed out everything along the way.

* To me it seems like more like a city on the rise than a depressed city. It was nowhere near as scary and rundown as you hear. I saw some of the less-than-stellar areas, but you have that in every city. After seeing how much pride the locals have in their city I could tell that they just hold it to a higher standard.

Though we weren't able to do everything on our itinerary, here are some of the places we went and things we did:

Thursday, our first stop when we got there was the Motown Museum. That's the best tour $10 can buy! The tour guide was great. The tour was fun. It was a really cool experience. After that we went to our hotel, the Westin Book Cadillac, which was very nice. We took a walk down to the Guardian Building and checked out the inside a bit. After that we drove out on Woodward to Ferndale. That was a nice drive. We got to see a lot. We walked around Ferndale and ate at Fly Trap. Neat place. Another thing I enjoyed and will remember for a long time was Thursday night, after my girlfriend went to sleep, I poured a drink, got some snacks, and looked out the window while listening to the metal show at midnight on WRIF. That was a really cool experience.

Friday we had lunch at Lafayette Coney. That was some good stuff. We missed the Ren Center tour, but got to check out the bottom of the building and the river walk. That building is extremely cool, yet extremely confusing on the inside! After that we wandered around downtown taking pictures of everything. I found most of the things I wanted to see before the trip. Also, the people mover is great! It really came in handy, especially with all the heat and humidity last week. Friday evening we wanted to eat at Slow's, but couldn't handle a two-hour wait, so we went to Mexicantown and found a place there. After that we went down to see Grand Funk Railroad by the river, which was super cool.

Saturday we were going to go to Eastern Market, but with a five-hour drive ahead of us, we skipped that and went straight to the Heidelberg Project, which was surreal. We really enjoyed that. On the way out of the city we stopped at a Walmart, not exactly sure what town but we drove on Telegraph Road to get there, to pick up some stuff to bring home. I must've bought ten bags of Better Made chips, some Faygo Rock and Rye being we don't have that flavor down here, and a cheap Tigers hat for my friend who likes to dress as Magnum PI for Halloween.

Overall, it was a great experience. It's definitely a cool, underrated city and I intend to let everyone down here know that.

Not sure if this will work or not, but here are some links to my photo albums from the trip on my Facebook page if you'd like to check them out:

Detroit album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...d983f3c&type=1

Heidelberg Project album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...31f4e51&type=1

**sumas** · August-01-11, 03:51 AM

Detroit is under rated. Friendliest people everywhere. Met a new neighbor and he is a healer. He came over and did a sage purging for myself and a girlfriend. Too sweet.

Everyone on my block is devotely religious so I get blessed, hugs and kisses everytime I go out.

Glad you had a good trip

**Kathleen** · August-01-11, 05:14 AM

Thanks, Larry! Terrific recount of your visit!! Glad you and your girlfriend had a great experience visiting the D!!! Will check out your photos soon.

**animatedmartian** · August-01-11, 05:47 AM

Awesome experience! It always makes me laugh when people comment about how wide Detroit's roads are. Whenever I leave town, I wonder how the rest of the world survives with such skinny roads!

**Larry_from_Ohio** · August-01-11, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Awesome experience! It always makes me laugh when people comment about how wide Detroit's roads are. Whenever I leave town, I wonder how the rest of the world survives with such skinny roads!

I spend a lot of time in Pittsburgh being I live so close to there and the road system makes no sense there. They mostly have two narrow lanes due to the terrain on which the city was built. On top of that, add neverending construction, a confusing layout, and Pennsylvania drivers and it's a disaster! Detroit was great for driving!

**Maof** · August-01-11, 07:28 AM

glad to hear you had a nice time. enjoy your chips and pop...we don't call it "soda" here

**Larry_from_Ohio** · August-01-11, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by Maof

glad to hear you had a nice time. enjoy your chips and pop...we don't call it "soda" here

We call it pop here too, though I knew I wasn't at home when I heard someone pronounce it "pap" when we got to Michigan. Down here people say it more like "pawp".

**English** · August-01-11, 08:52 AM

So glad you had a great time here, Larry! Come again soon!

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Awesome experience! It always makes me laugh when people comment about how wide Detroit's roads are. Whenever I leave town, I wonder how the rest of the world survives with such skinny roads!

I feel the exact same way. I don't like driving in other places as a result -- not enough room for me!