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Detroit 12th June to 15 th June
Monday 12th June
We have breakfast at the hotel and set off on our journey to Detroit on another gloriously hot day we leave Illinois and cross the state border and enter Indiana for a short while until we then go over to Michigan,the journey is a little boring as it is all on the interstates but is soon livened up when we are pulled over by the police at a little place called Decateur the reason being that apparently I was driving too close to the car in front,
After checking my details and giving us some advice on places to see in North Michigan he sends us on our way.
We stop at a huge visitor centre in a place called Highland where outside the centre there is a statue of a boy with his tongue frozen to a lamppost which is from a film called a Christmas Story which neither of us know.
We enter Detroit and pass by the Joe Louis Arena name of Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League team,after losing aour way a bit we find our hotel,the Greektown Casino Hotel right in the heart of downtown we check in and go to our room on the 23 rd floor which has floor to ceiling windows which give the most incredible views of East Detroit.
It's a huge hotel but very clean and shiny,we venture out to the street outside which is a bit like a small version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans and go into a restaurant called Pizza papalis for dinner where we watch the nba play offs game 5 where the Golden State Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers to win the cup 4-1
Jackie has a pizza and I have the spaghetti and meatballs which are both massive and very good,we wash this down and tired go back to the hotel and are soon fast asleep
Tuesday 13th June
We wake early and walk out to get breakfast and find a place nearby called the Ham Cafe which is frequented by quite a few of the Detroit police department,I have the corned beef hash and Jackie has the 2 egg breakfast it's not bad and incredibly cheap.
It's a gloriously hot day so we wander armour a bit and come to Ford Field home of the Detroit Lions,National Football League team and next door is Comerica Park home of the Detroit Tigers NBA baseball team,the baseball stadium is amazing with loads of statues of stone tigers all around it,we go inside the foyer of the Detroit Lions stadium where we are quickly ushered out by security.its absolutely baking now so we head back to the hotel
Now a lot cooler in the air conditioned car we drive North and go to the Heidelberg project which is a housing project where an artist has placed various items on and around the derelict houses in this area it is an absolutely amazing place and is hard to describe in words as it needs to be see,sunken car,a speedboat with toys overflowing from it,teddy bears in chairs and a vast array of unusual things,we now head to West Canfield Street and home to Jack Whites Third Man Records,WOW what a place this is its amazingly cool with the way its laid out and the colour coordination huge back drops of The White Stripes,the Dirtbombs and the MC5 adorn the back walls and there is a little stage for their in store performances,the staff are al in colour coordinated uniforms and look really good
I'm like a kid in a candy store and look around for ages and spend a fortune on 45s,cds,badges,stickers,a book,a lighter,a t-shirt and a plectrum and Jackie gets an amazing yellow and black snake formed out of unused vinyl from the on site pressing plant before we leave we get a token from th staff and play the Syncopators machine which is an old fashioned juke box with above it on old toy machine that has a curtain that opens and an old time band play the song you have chosen which was Let's Shake Hands by the White Stripes.
After begrudgingly leaving the greatest shop ever we drive North on Woodward and stumble across rhe old Henry Ford plant which is in a chronic state of decay and is commemorated with a green marker out front,its sad to see the decline of this business and the immediate area around it but also fascinating.on the way back towards downtown we stop on Cass for me to get a picture of what once the Gold Dollar,the club where the White Stripes made their debut.
Further south we stop and go into the Detroit Historical Museum which is fascinating and is done in a really great way so as to keep it interesting touching on the rise and decline of the motor industry,civil rights,sports and music history, a great museum and free to entered head back to downtown and shower and head out to dinner which is in a place called the Bangkok Kitchen,the food isn't very good an it's not at all memorable,we walk down to the river and take photos of the statues one of which is of Joe Louis fist which is brilliant,it is a stunningly clean city and nothing like people back home imagine it to be.
We get the people mover(a monorail train) and do a loop of the city and back to our hotel where we finish the day with our usual Bourbon and beer a great day
Wednesday 14th June
We wake to our last full day in Detroit and go for breakfast in Cadillac Diner where I have eggs with Corned Beef Hash which is absolutely enormous and Jackie has the two egg breakfast it is all very nice and unbelievably cheap and massive,
We go and get the car and today we drive out toFarmington Hills and Marvins Marvellous Mechanical Museum and it is one of the most amazing things we have ever seen,it's absolutely ram packed with mechanical toys of all descriptions from all eras there are pinball machines,and video games but the best ones are the old time ,machines made to scare you which certainly seems to work on Jackie as she is scared of them all,this is an incredible place and a real assault on the senses but we're glad we have made the effort to venture out here,again WOW.
WE hard back towards downtown and stop off at the Motown Museum for a couple of photos then go to Michigan Central Station which is a now derelict train station,an amazing huge building that's just left there to rot.
We now head up to the Eastern Market area of Detroit that has some of the trendy shops and bars it's a really nice area but we haven't really got time to look around for long so we head back to the hotel.
After showering we walk up to the stadiums where the Tigers are playing against the Arizona Diamondbacks you can see inside quite a bit of the place and it is far from full,we take a few more photos and go for food at the Foxtown Grill inside the Fox theatre building an upmarket place where Jackie has the Gnocchi and I have chicken with asparagus it is all delicious but a bit pricey.
We get some beer and wine and head back tired from another busy and great day in this wonderful city
Thursday 15th June
Went back to the Cadillac diner for breakfast and I have the 3 egg meal so does Jackie then we return to our hotel and pack our final things and check out with heavy hearts and proceed to go on our way from Detroit to northern Michigan and Harbour Springs,we take the I-75 Jackie gets very excited about seeing a Delphi building on route just before Flint,we stop at a lovely place in a state park on Lake Huron then head on up the coastline through Petosky and into Harbour Springs which is stunning and full of very large wood cladded homes looking over Lake Michigan,the weather is a little cooler which suits us,we find the Colonial Inn our home for the next 4 nights and it's a lovely place,very serene and just set back from the lake,we unpack and take a stroll along the lake Ito town for dinner,
It's a beautiful stroll along the lakefront into town where we settle into a bar to eat
Jackie has shrimp salad and I have a chicken and roasted garlic pizza,mine is a bit sickly but Jackie says hers is nice.
We stroll back to the hotel and stop to watch a duck mother guide her ducklings into the water,we get back and are soon asleep
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