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Detroit seen from the Canadian side |
A jewel of a city tucked along the banks of the Detroit River, historic Detroit—which dates back to the 1700s—may have been hit hard by the auto industry's struggles, but there's a momentum and energy that belies the news stories. The city's gems include historic landmark buildings, great music venues, high performing sports teams, a plethora of restaurants and one of the largest theater districts in the country.
For someone with 72 hours to spend here, the question isn't what to do, it's making the hard choices of what to leave out. So let's get going on the best picks for a fun time in the Motor City.
DAY 1
Detroit's downtown neighborhoods buzz with hotel offerings from the palatial MGM Grand Detroit Resort & Casino, the newly renovated Motor City Casino with its high tech rooms and pillow library for those who need just the right style to rest their heads and the awesome river views from the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center. But those looking for historic ambience should drop their bags off at the Inn on Ferry Street located in the East Ferry Street Historic District near the cultural corridor of Midtown Detroit before fortifying themselves in the gracious Gilded Age dining room with a cup of tea served on fine porcelain amidst late 1800s splendor. After all, it's going to be a fun—but long—day.
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Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts
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Begin your day by heading over to the classic Beaux Arts style Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Built in 1927, it recently underwent a 57,650-square-foot, $158 million addition and renovation. With 152,379 square feet of gallery space—including two-story Diego Rivera Detroit Industry frescos—the DIA has always been on the cutting edge of the art world, boasting the first Matisse and Van Gogh ever obtained by an American museum.
The museum showcases art from millenniums ago in the Antiquities Gallery to the more recent past (check out the Decorative Arts Gallery, which takes you through a day in the life of a French aristocrat through displays of their furnishings, accessories, art work and even a virtual table where elaborate menu items are presented by liveried servants). Modern works can be gleaned in the Contemporary Gallery.
Like your art somewhat grittier? Just down the street is an abandoned-looking building with a chipped, graffiti-covered façade that could fit into any transitioning urban streetscape. But this is no everyday urban scrawl; it's a mural by graffiti artist Barry McGee, a.k.a. Twist. The old auto garage is home to the renowned Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). Inside, chain-link fences protect exposed silver HVAC tubes, and concrete blocks with bitter, cracking green paint are part of the unadorned, rough-hewn interior that backdrops the work of emerging artists.
Blockbuster hits started at Motown, the powerful label that produced such artists as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Supremes; now, an expansive museum chronicles its history. The label was started by Barry Gordy who dreamed of creating stars much in the same way as he made cars on the Lincoln-Mercury assembly line. "I wanted a place where a kid off the street could walk in one door an unknown and come out another a recording artist ... a star," he once wrote.
This Detroit must-see museum, housed in two of the eight buildings that comprised the record company, still sports the Hitsville USA sign out front; the inside is filled with decades worth of memorabilia (think Michael Jackson's jeweled white glove and black fedora hat as well as the original control room where the Motown Sound first emanated).
Next, enjoy lunch at renowned chef-owner Jimmy Schmidt's famed Rattlesnake Club in downtown Detroit. This eatery is located at Stroh's River Place, one of the stops on Detroit's RiverWalk, which is scheduled to connect the five miles of river frontage between the Ambassador Bridge and Belle Island. Here, the ambience is hip and urban with a host of renovated lofts, eateries, micro-breweries and shops.
If walking is your thing, see Detroit on foot by joining one of several Saturday walking tours offered by Preservation Wayne. Each tour starts at 10 a.m. and focuses on a different aspect of the city's rich history. Choose between Auto Heritage, Cultural Center, Downtown Detroit or Midtown. Or, visit the 164-year-old Eastern Market, 43 acres of retail and wholesale food vendors that attract more than 42,000 visitors each Saturday. It's a must-stop for serious food lovers.
Afterwards, allow history and shopping to commingle. Designs from past and present meld together at the Detroit Gallery of Contemporary Design, the oldest American crafts gallery in Metro Detroit. Located for over 30 years in the historic Fisher Building, the stylized Art Deco mosaic floors and stairs are original and make a stunning contrast to the contemporary arts, crafts, furniture, hand-blown glassware and designer clothing sold here.
Make sure—at some point—to indulge yourself at Immerse, the spa at the MGM Grand Detroit. Its ambience is one of transcendence, moving to a level of unmatched serenity and indulgence. A personal spa concierge helps select the luxury options best needed to sooth body and soul.
For a light dinner, procure the classic Maurice Salad—iceberg lettuce loaded with ham, turkey, Swiss cheese and topped with a honey mustard dressing—which was the signature dish of Detroit's famed downtown Hudson Department Store. Once the store closed, this magnificent concoction was almost lost. But now those who pine for it can have that yen fulfilled at the Woodward Restaurant, located on the first floor of the magnificent CompuServe Building in the downtown.
Finish the evening with a classic movie. For the last 30 years, the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which is located near the Inn on Ferry, has been a Mecca for serious cinema buffs. Showcasing contemporary as well as classic movies from around the globe, the films are shown in the DIA's stunning 1200-seat theatre. The setting, a combination of the opulent design common to many theatres of the early part of the last century and engineering sophistication for perfect sound, was built in 1927. Since then, it has served as a venue for film, lectures and live stage performances. Both pilot Amelia Earhart and explorer Richard Byrd appeared here to provide live narration to films of their expeditions.
Continue to Day 2 |
