So, where did you go on vacation this year? What’s that you say? Detroit? You must be kidding.

Tell you what, folks, you could do a whole lot worse.

Marsha and I, along with our friends TDV and Becky Homecky,  Canoe Bark Bill and Babs spent a weekend exploring Detroit.  We had a ball and barely scratched the surface.

We had already done some of the usual things such as Tiger games, the Auto Show, Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum.  This trip, in the middle of winter, was to try new things.

It was great.

One cannot ignore the negatives in a city like Detroit---the poverty and blight and the mayor’s text-message scandal.  All but the last are evident everywhere.  Buildings with no windows, and trash blowing down the streets.  Homeless people and obvious substance-abusers lurking here and there. Burned out houses and entire blocks with no houses at all—just weeds.  Empty factories, and---my, oh, my, the list does go on.

But, what the hay---people pay thousands to visit Machu Picchu and that’s in far worse shape.

There is a rhythm and heartbeat in Detroit that is unmistakable, as well as fine, strong remnants of a glorious past when the city was one of the great and thriving towns in the country.

We visited the glorious Guardian Building, an art deco masterpiece completed in 1929 that simply must be seen---inside and out—to be appreciated.  One needn’t take a tour—just walk in.  There are shops inside, and a bank.  It is beautiful and simply amazing.  Take my word, and if you do nothing else, go see this building right in the heart of downtown.

Contrasting with the Guardian Building is the Heidelberg Project.  Imagine a short neighborhood of old houses, some of them apparently abandoned, some burned-out, and some perhaps still occupied but, to be kind, not likely to be featured in next month’s issue of House Beautiful.  Lots of vacant lots.  In other words, a fairly typical Detroit street in a predominantly former-industrial area where all the business have left.

Then, imagine artists with whimsical eyes, who live in this neighborhood, using found objects, decorating the entire neighborhood.  There’s a dead tree festooned with old shopping carts---all the way to the top.  Here’s a yard filled with vacuum cleaners, each with an old shoe perched on top, as if they were domestic soldiers ready to march in and start sweeping up the near-hopeless neighborhood.  More shoes, this time painted wild colors and all over and inside an old oven.  And, over there, an entire house totally covered in teddy bears.  Everywhere, there are bright colors.  Where is it?  On Heidelberg Street.

We tour the Renaissance Center, which is free, and which includes a ride to the top in the glassed elevator with amazing views, 740 feet up.  It is a clear, sunny day so we can see Lake Erie to the southeast and of course we can see Canada to the south and way up Lake St. Claire. 

We attend a string quartet concert at the Detroit Institute of Arts, followed by a personal tour of the museum by our good friend Linda who is a docent at the museum.  She is fantastic, giving us a terrific overview of the displays and leaving us hungering for a return visit.

We shopped at Pewabic Pottery, an historical place that made the very tiles that decorate the Guardian Building, and we walked the River Walk and drove around Belle Isle and played Scrabble into the night and ate well.

I’m tellin’ ya---don’t sell this place short.  It’s not all ball games, auto shows, festivals and casinos----there’s a lot else worth exploring, seeing and doing.  We had about 10 other things on our list that we never got around to doing, so we’ll be going back again. And again.

                                 © by Jim Whitehouse
  
                                                    Index