Detroit!

[horseoutside]

H and I are headed to Detroit for the weekend and I'm just starting to do a little research (yay for spontaneity!). Any suggestions on places to stay, restaurants, places to visit etc.? We're big into food, drinking (lol!), music and architecture.

Thanks

[keweenawlove]

We normally go for Wings games so we always have to start at Cheli's Chili. It's bar food but good bar food. It's always been a fun atmosphere when we were there. It's right across from the Tiger's stadium and I think you can see games from the roof.

[katieh]

Yay for Detroit - my hometown.

eat and drink
Coney dogs! Middle Eastern Food, Polish food (Polish Village), Greek Food (check out Astoria bakery in Greektown), Union Street, Motor City Brewing, Cadeuix Cafe (the only place with Belgian feather bowling in the US - also great mussels and beer), Slow's BBQ, drinks at the Old Miami, Cass Cafe, Majestic, brunch at La Dolce Vita

stay
Inn on Ferry Street - I stayed here the night of my wedding and loved it - great staff, beautiful rooms, excellent free breakfast

do
DIA, Historical Society, Motown Museum, Henry Ford, Heidelberg Project (one of my favorites), Tigers Game, casinos, pop over to Windsor, Canada or head to Dearborn or up to Grosse Pointe.

[horseoutside]

Thank you so much!!

Jul 17, 2012 14:24:11 GMT -5 katieh said:

Yay for Detroit - my hometown.

eat and drink
Coney dogs! Middle Eastern Food, Polish food (Polish Village), Greek Food (check out Astoria bakery in Greektown), Union Street, Motor City Brewing, Cadeuix Cafe (the only place with Belgian feather bowling in the US - also great mussels and beer), Slow's BBQ, drinks at the Old Miami, Cass Cafe, Majestic, brunch at La Dolce Vita

stay
Inn on Ferry Street - I stayed here the night of my wedding and loved it - great staff, beautiful rooms, excellent free breakfast

do
DIA, Historical Society, Motown Museum, Henry Ford, Heidelberg Project (one of my favorites), Tigers Game, casinos, pop over to Windsor, Canada or head to Dearborn or up to Grosse Pointe.

[woowoo]

A Segway tour is the most fun and easiest way to learn about the architecture of downtown Detroit. Check out music in Campus Martius, do a progressive dinner in Greektown, PLEASE eat at Slows BBQ (it's not really walkable to get there but you can drive or take a cab, but it's a must-do). The DIA is really one of the best art institutes in the country. Sit on the steps on the river side of the Renaissance Center and just people watch. Go up to the restaurant at the top of the Marriott at the Renaissance Center (the name escapes me right now) and have dessert and a cocktail and just enjoy the view.

Have fun! I lived in Downtown Detroit for about 2 years before I moved to Chicago and really loved it. It is nice to hear about folks going to visit for a fun weekend!

[Étoile]

Restaurant in RenCen = Coach Insignia

Ditto all above recommendations. I stayed at the Westin Book Cadillac recently and thought it was great; a bit of a walk from the main stretch but it's not bad at all.

[horseoutside]

Thanks for the recs!

We will definitely go to Slows. I had actually read an article about them in the Chicago Trib a few months ago and was wracking my brain to try and remember the name.

I've been interested to see Detriot for a while now so I'm excited to finally be going.

[digitaldiva16]

I used to work at the Inn on Ferry Street. Beautiful architecture, great service (if I may say so myself, lol) and plenty of amenities. The best part is the free shuttle service. It goes anywhere within a 5 mi. radius of the hotel. If you stay there, ask for Steve the bellman/shuttle driver. He is really passionate about Detroit history/architecture and will even give you a tour of the city if you don't mind tagging along on his shuttle runs.

For nightlife, visit Cliff Bell's or Baker's for jazz. Motor City Wine, Cafe D'Mongo's, the Majestic complex, Greektown.

For food, look into Roast at the Westin Book Cadillac. Slow's, Vicente's, Traffic Jam. I've been hearing great things about Seva, the new vegetarian place.

If you're in town on a Saturday, definitely visit Eastern Market. It gets crowded quickly, so try to go early. Great people watching and some great restaurants (Russell Street Deli, Supino's Pizzeria, Louie's, Sala Thai) and shops (DeVries, Rocky Peanut Co., Savvy Chic, Eastern Market Antiques)... not to mention all of the vendor stalls.

I recommend visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts if you have time. The Detroit Historical Museum is closed at the moment for renovations. Motown Museum is smaller than I expected but worth a visit. Since you're into architecture, be sure to see the Guardian building. The GM Renaissance Center offers free tours from the Wintergarden, which includes a ride up to Coach Insignia on the 72nd fl. for the view.

[definitelyO]

What did you think? Last time I was in downtown Detroit I was really impressed with the great changes. (used to live near there)

[jenni232323]

Jul 17, 2012 14:24:11 GMT -5 katieh said:

Yay for Detroit - my hometown.
eat and drink
Coney dogs! Middle Eastern Food, Polish food (Polish Village), Greek Food (check out Astoria bakery in Greektown), Union Street, Motor City Brewing, Cadeuix Cafe (the only place with Belgian feather bowling in the US - also great mussels and beer), Slow's BBQ, drinks at the Old Miami, Cass Cafe, Majestic, brunch at La Dolce Vita

Mmmmm baklava from Astoria is the best!

[horseoutside]

Jul 23, 2012 16:31:05 GMT -5 definitelyO said:

What did you think? Last time I was in downtown Detroit I was really impressed with the great changes. (used to live near there)

Well, I loved it! It's really a fascinating place. We drove in on 12 instead of the highway and it was sad/shocking to really see how run down everything is. The rebirth they're trying to create downtown is really fantastic though! There's so much beautiful old architecture and we saw a bunch of community gardens.

We ended up staying at the MGM because the Inn at Ferry St and Book Cadillac were both booked. I'm not a casino fan so I was reluctant, but the hotel has it's own entrance and our room was gorgeous. Seriously, one of the nicest we've ever had! The shower was massive and it's walking distance to everything downtown. Obviously, it's not the safest walk ever but we didn't really feel unsafe at all. Just used a little extra caution.

We did the Eastern Market (so amazing!) on Saturday morning and then took a picnic to Belle Isle and lazed for a few hours. The view of Detroit and Windsor is really cool.

We ate at Slows and Cliff Bell's and drank at fabulous speak easy called Cafe D'Mongo's. Met lots of locals who were surprised to hear we were visiting just for the sake of it but everyone was super friendly and we had a blast! I think it's a great city to visit for a weekend. Oh, and the DIA and Henry Ford museum were both great.

[peachdragon]

Glad you had a good time! We're only about 35 minutes away from downtown, so we enjoy heading down there every so often.