Hello Detroiters. I live in Vancouver. I just spend five days in your city and loved every minute of it. It was my second visit. I first came in 2011 for two days and spent most of my time looking at abandoned buildings. This time I wanted to have more of an authentic Detroit experience.
Things I did:
- Detroit History Museum - great old streets display downstairs
- DIA - absolutely incredible. Van Gogh, Gaugin, Matisse, Monet Rembrandt, Warhol, Picasso...my favourite was the stained glass from the old First Unitarian Church [[which burned two months ago.) The DIA is not to be missed. No matter what happens in the current financial crisis, the DIA MUST be preserved!
- Concert of Colors in New Center Park - this was going on a block from my hotel and I stumbled across it by accident. Lots of fun meeting the locals.
- Heidelberg Project - sad to see three fewer houses than in my 2011 visit, but I like how the remnants have been turned into art themselves.
- Historic Districts - I visited Woodbridge, West Canfield, Virginia Park, and Corktown historic districts. Took lots of photos. Met a couple from Austria who had bought a house in Virginia Park and were fixing it up.
- Eastern Market - I was impressed with how big this was. I bought a big basket of local strawberries and a couple of T-shirts for my kids.
- Guardian and Fisher buildings - I spent at least an hour in each building gawking and taking photos of the art-deco deliciousness
- Perfecting Church - I visited on Sunday morning and was blown away by the music. I am a choir singer myself and always like to check out the choral scene in cities I visit - well worth the trip.
- Midtown - I liked just strolling around. The Shinola store was interesting to visit and I like their story and their products, but they're waaaay out of my price range.
- Slow Roll - I picked up a bike on Craigslist for $40 and joined my Detroiter friend AL-B in Monday night's slow roll. This was one of the highlights of my visit. There must have been 2,000 people there. Fun street party afterwards. You put Vancouver's monthly mass ride to shame!
- Detroit Tigers - AL-B and I enjoyed watching the Tigers crush the Dodgers 14-5. This was my first MLB game.
Restaurants and bars I visited:
- Old Miami - a little too clubby for me when I visited. I didn't stay long.
- Abick's - Loved it. I wish we had places like this in Vancouver. It was pretty quiet but still had a great time with the locals.
- The Bronx - went in the afternoon on a weekday; pretty quiet. They had classical music on, which I've never heard in a bar before.
- Vivio's - stopped for a pint after visiting Eastern Market
- First Place Lounge - Played pool with AL-B and met the locals. Great people, great time, and pints at $1.75. Another type of place I wish we had more of here at home.
- Sweetwater Tavern - had some wings with AL-B after the Slow Roll. Nice place.
- Lafayette Coney Island - had my first Coney dog after the ball game. Love the frozen-in-time atmosphere and the real characters who work there.
I crammed a lot more things into my 5-day visit; too numerous to list. In fact I didn't get to do all of the things I planned to do. I'll have to save them for next time. You should be proud of your city, Detroiters. You have a great place. I hope I can come to visit again soon.
Gavin
Vancouver
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