I grew up in Waterford, north of Detroit and took many day trips to the “D” over the years to sporting events, Greenfield Village, The Detroit Institute of Arts and other attractions.
Since I moved to this area, I have continued to take day jaunts to Detroit, taking in a game, a concert, etc.
Last summer, I drove to Detroit and spent about ten hours exploring all over Detroit – the new and polished and the old and gritty.
I got off I-94 onto Michigan Avenue, west of downtown Detroit. This was once a major shopping mecca and is the final stretch of the U.S.12 Highway that stretches 2,500 miles across the country, beginning in Aberdeen, Washington. Sadly, Michigan Avenue has seen better days, but is experiencing a great transformation around the Corktown area.
I headed south off of Michigan Avenue into an area known as Central Southwest and Mexicantown, along Vernor Street. This area is on the upswing, with many interesting stores and restaurants. I stopped into the Flamingo Vintage, one of the best vintage clothing stores I have seen and Duly’s Place, a circa 1921 coney island restaurant.
Duly’s has one long counter and about 15 stools. I was greeted warmly and vowed to come back on my next visit. This ended up being only a few weeks later for breakfast, when I returned for the Detroit Tigers’ opener. I brought a friend with me for the experience. As we ate breakfast, we watched in amazement as the waitress waited on customers, filled coffee cups, made toast and didn’t miss a beat while chatting with a packed house of hungry customers.
My next stop was Hitsville USA – the Motown Museum. Motown once owned nine neighboring houses on West Grand Boulevard. The original house (now the museum) was once the studio and the adjacent houses were used for publishing, artist development, etc. A new multi-million-dollar museum is being built behind the current museum.
Our tour group was led by a very energetic young man with a great voice, singing many of the legendary Motown hits as he took us through the hallowed halls. The Velvelettes, an early Motown girl group from Kalamazoo, were prominently featured in the museum. The highlight of my day was singing “My Girl” in the original studio with our small tour group. This brought chills down my spine, and a few tears to my eyes.
Next up was the Detroit Institute of the Arts, a classic building on Woodward Avenue, which was completed in 1927. Diego Rivera painted his famous industrial murals which adorn the walls, in 1932-33, with his wife, Frida Kahlo, at his side. The museum is one of the top six art museums in the U.S., packed with paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Cezanne, Munch, Monet and so many others. It is well worth a drive over.
Jack White’s Third Man Records, Shinola Detroit and the historic West Canfield Street are just a few of the highlights of the Cass Corridor. The block-long West Canfield is like stepping back in time with its wide brick street and twenty or so restored early 1900’s era mansions.
My final stop was a few miles east, to the area known as The Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art project in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood, just north of the city’s historically African-American Black Bottom area. It was created in 1986 by the artist Tyree Guyton, as a political protest after the decline of the neighborhood beginning with the 1967 riots.
The project began with Guyton painting a series of houses on Detroit’s Heidelberg Street with bright dots of many colors and attaching salvaged items to the houses. It is a constantly evolving work that transformed an inner-city neighborhood where people were afraid to walk, even in daytime, into one in which neighbors take pride and where visitors feel welcome.
I met Tyree Guyton about 25 years ago in one of his houses. I popped my head in the door and he said, “Grab a brush and start painting.” I helped him paint a few car hoods, to be displayed along the street out front.
I had a great day in Detroit and can’t wait to get back to visit the Detroit Historical Museum, Eastern Market, King Books and many other locations.
