A friend of mine who is a graduate of BGSU asked me to go to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl on Thursday.  We will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express downtown for just 1 night.  We will probably get into town around 2pm.  We also won't be in a hurry to leave town Friday.  Are there any must do's/see's in the near vicinity while we are there?  I have never been to Detroit (only Windsor when I was younger).  We would like to find a good bar or two to go to before the game at Ford Field but we're also open to seeing any sights while downtown.

 

Any suggestions/advice is much appreciated!

Hamtramck is a really cool suburb/neighborhood.  Reminds me a lot of Lakewood.  The Eastern Market is similar to Westside Market/Findlay Market/North Market.  Downtown and Midtown have a lot of great architecture and are worth a walk around, and Greektown, which is within Downtown has a number of Greek restaurants.  Mexicantown (I think that is what it is called) along Vernor Ave, is an interesting ethnic neighborhood, with lots of shops and restaurants.

 

You should see the Detroit Institute of Art while you still can.  Because it is municipally owned it is in serious jeopardy with Detroit's bankruptcy looming.

If the Heidelberg project hasn't been completely destroyed by arsons yet, it would be a fun thing to check out. Beyond that, there are a lot of awesome looking buildings downtown to look at.

If you're even remotely a fan of music (Motown in particular) then you should check out the Hittsville USA Motown Museum. It's located in the actual house that served as the Motown recording studio. I went there last time I was in the Motor City and thought it was really cool.

 

http://www.motownmuseum.org/

 

 

As for food, it's fun going to both Lafayette and Amercan Coney Island. From what ive gatherded, it's Detroit's version of Pat's vs. Geno's or Matt's Bar vs 5-8 Club. They're nothing spectacular, but both are right next to each other and they're right downtown. My friend and I got a coney from both places (I preferred American).

 

Hipster-ish great bar:

http://greendotstables.com/

 

Beer hall:

http://www.detroitbeerco.com/

 

Breakfast (get the red-velvet pancakes):

http://www.hudson-cafe.com/

 

As far as attractions, of course there are the museums in Midtown, Eastern Market, Hitsville USA...and Windsor.  There's the Tunnel Bus if you don't want to drive it.

I lived in Detroit for 4 years, for whatever that's worth. 

 

if you're staying at the holiday inn express, you're right across from the Book Cadillac.  Have a drink in the hotel lobby bar & see as much of the place as you can, even if you have to bribe the hotel staff.  Ask to see the 24th floor conference room & the grand ballroom.  It's amazing.  While you're downtown, walk through the Fisher Building lobby and the Penobscot.  Fantastic architecture.

 

Skip the hotdog stands at Lafayette/Coney Island, they are both gross.  I don't know how they stay open. 

 

Check out Indian Village Historic District, up Jefferson toward Gross Pointe.  These were the homes of the mega-rich industrialists of Detroit around the early 1900's.  Amazing architecture, see the Dodge family estate, it's incredible.  Go a little farther up & drive around the loop to Belle Isle.  Only in Detroit could such a fantastic natural amenity be so neglected.

 

Spend at least an hour or two near Midtown, the cultural area near Wayne State & the Detroit Institute of Art.  Some cool hipster college bars scattered around to get a cheap PBR and a few nice converted warehouse loft apartment buildings.  See the Fisher building as well and the original headquarters of General Motors.  It's mind boggling.

 

If you are into ruin porn, you might as well swing down Michigan Ave to the west toward Dearborn on your way out of town & see the old train station.  It's always featured in articles on Detroit's decline but was also featured in the Transformers movie.

 

 

Regarding Belle Isle Park:  The State of Michigan's Department of Natural Resources is about to take control of this neglected gem in the middle of the Detroit River.  It is truly a spectacular park that is of world-class design that belonged to a city that could no longer afford to give it the care it deserves.  The DNR will be operating it as part of the State Park system and has much work to do but there are many outside of Detroit who are quite excited about what this park could become,  once again.

well, how was it

Thank you everyone for the suggestions!  We unfortunately got to Detroit a little later than we hoped.  We were able to get in the Book Cadillac and gottaplan is correct, definitely worth checking out.  We also took a drive down Michigan Ave and saw a lot of the abandoned buildings.  I love thinking about what once was so it really fascinated me.  We went inside the Quicken Loans headquarters (mostly because we needed to get out of the cold after walking a while & to see what Dan Gilbert's Detroit digs looked like). 

We went to one of the hotdog stands late night because we were hungry and we had had a few (a lot of?) beers.

We spent some time in Greektown to see the casino and I like Cleveland's better (thank God there's no smoking in Ohio casinos).

A lot of our time was spent just wandering around downtown before the game admiring some of the old architecture.  I made sure to see "the fist" because for some reason I really like it and what it symbolizes for Detroit.

 

All in all it was a great trip but I need to get back soon to solely check out the city because I was mostly there to see the football game with my friend.  It may be due to my love of Cleveland and their similar issues but there is a definite soft spot in my heart for Detroit.  I'm hoping in early spring to get back for a full weekend of urban exploring.

 

Thanks again for all of the suggestions.  Unfortunately my phone was nearly dead the entire weekend so I didn't get many pics.  I will be sure to document my next trip for UO.