Detroit Trip ( 23rd June 2012)
Rarely suburbanites think about Detroit when they are looking to have fun. To entertain my parents for a weekend, I was thinking to take them to Traverse City or Walloon lake area this year, but they were not too crazy for a 4-5 hour drive to visit sand dunes or stay in a cottage. So I started looking on the web and came across this video at http://www.detroitriverfront.org/. I was thoroughly impressed. It reminded me of a business meeting I had at UAW-GM almost 10 years back and how much I enjoyed being at the riverfront just outside their lobby.
Well, the plan was set. We started our day with a brunch at Original Pancake House in Gross Pointe, MI (I wish they had a branch in Detroit as well). They serve a pretty good breakfast besides pancakes, they have awesome crepes and omelettes. They also serve fresh orange juice.
Once we were done with the food, we started driving on the Mack avenue towards Eastern Market. Just in few minutes we had crossed over into Detroit and one can tell. Manicured lawns gave way to dilapidated buildings. My son commented “dad, looks like a hurricane has run through this neighborhood”. Unfortunately it did look like that. Wait, don’t judge Detroit yet, till you have read this whole blog.
Well we reached Eastern Market at about 2:30 PM or so. It is open on Saturday from 8 to 5 PM. Eastern Market was full of hussle and bussle. Lots of people, lots of vendors selling all kinds of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, fish, bread, cheese etc. One of the vendors was selling fresh Walleye from straights of Mackinaw. I would have bought some, if we were going back home straight from the market. We ended up buying flowers, plants (including a special kind of mint), fruits, hanging basket for backyard etc. It was lots of fun for kids. Lots of young people were buying and selling stuff, all good signs for the rebirth of Detroit.
From Eastern Market we drove to the “waterfront”. If we all had bikes we could have biked to the Waterfront through “Dequindre Cut Greenway” a special corridor to bike/hike from Eastern Market to the Waterfront. Earlier I had called http://www.diamondjack.com/ for Detroit River Boat Tour. They have a location at Rivard Plaza where one can take the boat tour on Detroit River. I asked the lady for a good location to park (parking is always a big worry of mine in Detroit). She suggested we park at Beaubien Street and Atwater. There are couple of large parking buildings on Beaubien street (very close to river), we were able to park there for $10.00. From there it is only 3-4 minute walk to Rivard Plaza. Also this map does a good job in laying out the Detroit Waterfront area and parking.
Interestingly that weekend was the “River Day Festival”. There were thousands of people, all having a great time. There were lots of rides for kids and places to eat etc. Because of festival the boat tour company was offering one hour tour (normally their tours are two hours). It was $10.00 per person. We took a 5:30 PM tour. This tour gives a good history of Detroit as well Windsor, ON Canada. It is also a great way to take the photographs of Detroit skyline.
Overall it was a great experience for my family. If you have not been to Detroit in a while, I strongly recommend to visit the Detroit River Waterfront. You will find tons of families enjoying biking, hiking and just having a great time. I have been reading and hearing about all the good things happening in Detroit, finally I was able to see it for myself.
Well, it was hard to get kids out of there. So by the time we left it was almost 8:00 PM. For Dinner we had planned to go to Dearborn. Cedarland Restaurant is one my favorite restaurants in Dearborn. They have a family platter for $64.95, which fed all of us (7 adults and 4 kids) with plenty of leftover (they also offer smaller platter for $24.95 which will easily feed 4 adults with plenty of leftovers). Out next and last stop for dessert was at Shatila Bakery on Warren avenue as well (less than half a mile East from Cedarland). Shatila has a very festive atmosphere when ever you go there. They are known for their baklava and pastries. They have their own brand of ice cream and carry some of the rare flavors like pineapple, Mango, Kashta, Kashta-Pistachio (my favorite) etc. We reached back home at 11:00 PM.
Rarely suburbanites think about Detroit when they are looking to have fun. To entertain my parents for a weekend, I was thinking to take them to Traverse City or Walloon lake area this year, but they were not too crazy for a 4-5 hour drive to visit sand dunes or stay in a cottage. So I started looking on the web and came across this video at http://www.detroitriverfront.org/. I was thoroughly impressed. It reminded me of a business meeting I had at UAW-GM almost 10 years back and how much I enjoyed being at the riverfront just outside their lobby.
Well, the plan was set. We started our day with a brunch at Original Pancake House in Gross Pointe, MI (I wish they had a branch in Detroit as well). They serve a pretty good breakfast besides pancakes, they have awesome crepes and omelettes. They also serve fresh orange juice.
Once we were done with the food, we started driving on the Mack avenue towards Eastern Market. Just in few minutes we had crossed over into Detroit and one can tell. Manicured lawns gave way to dilapidated buildings. My son commented “dad, looks like a hurricane has run through this neighborhood”. Unfortunately it did look like that. Wait, don’t judge Detroit yet, till you have read this whole blog.
Well we reached Eastern Market at about 2:30 PM or so. It is open on Saturday from 8 to 5 PM. Eastern Market was full of hussle and bussle. Lots of people, lots of vendors selling all kinds of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, fish, bread, cheese etc. One of the vendors was selling fresh Walleye from straights of Mackinaw. I would have bought some, if we were going back home straight from the market. We ended up buying flowers, plants (including a special kind of mint), fruits, hanging basket for backyard etc. It was lots of fun for kids. Lots of young people were buying and selling stuff, all good signs for the rebirth of Detroit.
From Eastern Market we drove to the “waterfront”. If we all had bikes we could have biked to the Waterfront through “Dequindre Cut Greenway” a special corridor to bike/hike from Eastern Market to the Waterfront. Earlier I had called http://www.diamondjack.com/ for Detroit River Boat Tour. They have a location at Rivard Plaza where one can take the boat tour on Detroit River. I asked the lady for a good location to park (parking is always a big worry of mine in Detroit). She suggested we park at Beaubien Street and Atwater. There are couple of large parking buildings on Beaubien street (very close to river), we were able to park there for $10.00. From there it is only 3-4 minute walk to Rivard Plaza. Also this map does a good job in laying out the Detroit Waterfront area and parking.
Interestingly that weekend was the “River Day Festival”. There were thousands of people, all having a great time. There were lots of rides for kids and places to eat etc. Because of festival the boat tour company was offering one hour tour (normally their tours are two hours). It was $10.00 per person. We took a 5:30 PM tour. This tour gives a good history of Detroit as well Windsor, ON Canada. It is also a great way to take the photographs of Detroit skyline.
Overall it was a great experience for my family. If you have not been to Detroit in a while, I strongly recommend to visit the Detroit River Waterfront. You will find tons of families enjoying biking, hiking and just having a great time. I have been reading and hearing about all the good things happening in Detroit, finally I was able to see it for myself.
Well, it was hard to get kids out of there. So by the time we left it was almost 8:00 PM. For Dinner we had planned to go to Dearborn. Cedarland Restaurant is one my favorite restaurants in Dearborn. They have a family platter for $64.95, which fed all of us (7 adults and 4 kids) with plenty of leftover (they also offer smaller platter for $24.95 which will easily feed 4 adults with plenty of leftovers). Out next and last stop for dessert was at Shatila Bakery on Warren avenue as well (less than half a mile East from Cedarland). Shatila has a very festive atmosphere when ever you go there. They are known for their baklava and pastries. They have their own brand of ice cream and carry some of the rare flavors like pineapple, Mango, Kashta, Kashta-Pistachio (my favorite) etc. We reached back home at 11:00 PM.
