Detroit has a vacation destination

[Király]

I rarely hear people say "Hey, we're going up to Detroit for the weekend!!!"

Well, I am one of them, and I did exactly that right here in Vancouver where I live. People did indeed give me strange looks; some of them even told me that I was reckless or crazy or both. But go I did, and spent two unforgettable days. August 27-29, 2011. Except for two hours in Highland Park, ten minutes in Grosse Pointe Park I stayed in Detroit the whole time, and spent 100% of my tourist money in the city.

Detroit needs to play to its strengths if it is to offer something to tourists. It needs to ask what unique experiences it can offer to visitors, and build on that. Building more casinos or tacky museums is the wrong approach. I came to see:

• the fabulous Art Deco architecture, both the crumbling and the intact [[some of your schools are absolute masterpieces)
• vast empty fields in front of the city skyline
• the abandoned buildings, both outside and in
• Boston-Edison, Indian Village, Palmer Woods neighbourhoods
• The Birwood Wall
• Some of the grassroots urban renewal projects like community gardens
• Heidelberg Project
• Brush Park
• the Eastern Market
• Stepping across Alter Road to see how the landscape changes
• Belle Isle
• Duly's Coney Island on Vernor Hwy
• Some of the more wild neighbourhoods, like the area north of the City Airport
• and of course, to meet some of the locals.

I crammed all of that into less than 48 hours and it was an unforgettable experience. I hired the tour guide from detroiturbex.com and he showed me some hidden gems, like the Palmer Park Apartment District [[WOW! Amazing buildings.)

My only regret is that I didn't spend more time. I could have [[and should have) stayed a week. Other things I wish I had seen but didn't:

• The Guardian Building
• Motown Museum
• Detroit Institute of the Arts
• A Detroit Tigers game [[or Red Wings vs Canucks!)
• Midtown [[I know that that's the most happening part of town but I hardly saw any of it)
• Woodbridge
• Museum of African American History
• Slows in Corktown
• Motor City Blight Busters or Detroit Mower Gang in action
• Windsor [[flew in and out of there but hardly saw any of it)
• A gospel choir at one of the big Baptist churches
• Much more of the Eastern Market [[only stayed 10 minutes because I was rushing to meet somebody)

See? Lots to offer. And there's almost nothing of the above anywhere near where I live. There really is a gold mine of potential to market towards tourists like me, who admittedly may be small in number, but may be much more numerous than many realize.

I really must come back. Someday. And I'll bring my spending money with me.