Around Detroit

Knowing that I’d only have about a week between picking up my passport and heading out to London, I chose Detroit as my next stop since it would be easy to make the round trip within that time frame.

Being from Chicago, I had always heard mixed reviews of Motor City but I wanted to finally see it for myself. Let me start by saying that my first impression is that Detroit may be underrated. For one…there is no traffic, which in my book is a huge plus. This was also quite convenient since the majority of my Groupons took me from one outlying suburb to another, sometimes travelling over 100 miles round trip to use a deal.

I found downtown Detroit charming and could imagine a vibrant city if there were more people around. It was actually quite sad seeing so much potential and yet at times it seemed like a ghost town.

An odd "park" of benches surrounding a couple trees.

In fact the only time I saw a significant number of people gathered anywhere in the city was for the sold out hockey game I attended.

Stephanie & Nyki almost refused to pose for a photo with a Hawks fan...they were a bit sore about the Blackhawks' victory over the Red Wings.

Stephanie and her husband Jared were my hosts for the week…they joked that a Hawks win might cost me a night sleeping out in my car. Instead I apologized by taking them out for dinner and bowling at Guiliano’s Italian Restaurant and Premier Lanes.

Jared & Stephanie

The game came down to the wire but the Pawn pulled off a clutch spare in the tenth frame for a win!

On Steph’s day off she took me to the Henry Ford Museum:

I didn't realize that there was so much more to it than cars...

Next to the Wienermobile you can dress up like a hotdog #noketchuponachicagodog

Conductorpawn...

and tons of other Americana.

For dinner we had some classic combinations from Classic Pizza and a local brewery:

Chili Cheese Coney Pizza w/Peanut Butter & Jelly Beer

The pizza was better than I expected…the beer didn’t quite live up to expectations.

The best meal I had in Michigan was Le Chef, a restaurant that puts a french twist on lebanese cuisine. I was quite excited by the menu since it presented a number of items that I’d never tried before, including…

A beautiful dish consisting of mashed fava beans, olive oil, onion, garlic, lemon and a vibrant sprig of mint...

and my favorite…

Kibbe Nayeh - raw ground lamb w/cracked wheat, onion and spices.

Everything was served with fresh baked mini-pita and the portions were huge.

All in all, I left with a favorable impression of the Michigan “thumb” and wouldn’t mind checking out the area again when I have more money to explore.