motown

 we took a little of the summer vacation time allocated for houseguests and used it for a 2 day kid-free get-away in detroit. i've never been to detroit, and david only has memories of a dangerous city with a baseball stadium from his 80s childhood. i've heard a LOT about detroit over the years: motown, automotive wealth, race riots, white flight, blight, danger, poverty, and now post bankruptcy rebirth. i had to see it, and i'm glad we did. what a place, full of committed local folks who are pouring their hearts and their energies into their home city, and opportunity is everywhere. so many razed homes are now green lots of opportunity, so many burned out and crumbling factories are slowly converting into urban farm spaces, and there is art art art art everywhere. i never felt unsafe, despite long walks through neighborhoods far from the scrubbed up and sparkling downtown core. lots has been said about detroit, and lots will continue to be said, but our two days introduced us to a city worth keeping and loving. 

we stayed in a new building, built to look like a spaceship in the forest. it was just opened in may 2021 and the redbud saplings were just planted, but it is well on it's way to achieving the ufo-appearance-aim. the caterpillar is a quonset hut divided like a sushi roll into apartments, and one of them was our airbnb. the site was a full block of grassy field after all the houses were abandoned and demolished in the neighrborhood of core city. core city is where we stayed, and appeared to be one of the worst 'hoods hit by abandoned homes. now, it's grass, fields, broken sidewalks, and the rare house here and there. 

upon arrival we walked a few blocks to core city park and found the jam-packed ochre bakery and astro coffee and feasted on divine sandwiches in the shaded park, upon the stone foundation remains of a demolished fire station. 

then we headed downtown, grabbed some rental bikes, and biked over to the dequindre cut and the river walk with prime views of a beautiful aquamarine river full of kayaks and jet skis and a stone's throw from the canadian shoreline. 

dequindre cut is a worthwhile ride, through some cool neighborhoods and transitioning warehouse areas (the bike path follows old rail line). the whole path is coated in art. we stopped for a cold drink and a game of  connect four on a giant homemade board. i won. 

we took the bikes to the sprawling and impressive eastern market, and walked our way to the eastern market brewing company.

couldn't get away from all the wall art, though!

i saw a mural of a woman selecting a record that floored me. it was gorgeous. just take my word for it. the giant stevie wonder mural alone is worth the visit.  (*ok, a little internet research tells me these were done by the same artist, so now i'm a super fan).

later, we took a cab to the art house heidelberg project (whole block, really) that i've been reading about for years, and it was really something. 

we wandered around all the many many installations on this block, and then took the mile long stroll to the highly recommended restaurant marrow, but first stopped off at a place called two birds. both are strict DO NOT MISS, particularly two birds and their rose slushy machine. marrow's tasting menu is serious and here is a serious man getting down on some serious food. 

our cab ride home after dinner featured intense lightning and thunder, a flash flood, all followed by the most spectacular rain downpour while we sat up and listened to the rain and the records in the airbnb. it was pretty magical. 

the next morning brought us a trip to shinola, third man records, and other finery in the cass corridor, an easy walk from our place. 

we found some electric scooters and decided to ride those around, and it was totally awesome, so we dropped our wares back at home and kept scootering back downtown for a late brunch. 

no kids = standing in line for brunch again. ah, sweet freedom of extra time! what a gift!

we poked around a gorgeous building downtown (we are in the middle of making all our house renovation selections, and this tile spoke to me). we also peeked down cool alleyways, checked out the new tigers stadium, and overall enjoyed getting lost and turned around in a downtown that is ready for prime time. 

and then we roller skated.

after the roller skating and park hopping, we made our way up to corktown for dinner, and then collapsed back at the caterpillar, happy and satisfied.