Summer Mini Vacation: Detroit



Welcome to part one of three on our mini vacation over the holiday weekend. Wyatt and I decided we would just take a long weekend vacation this summer rather than a whole week or attending our beloved Forecastle.  We still hadn't really decided on where we would go because we had different ideas about where we'd like to go when Wyatt found some great tickets for a concert north of Detroit. That made our decision for us.  We were going to Michigan.  We spent Saturday and Sunday in Detroit.

Our first stop once we arrived was Belle Isle Park.  I found this little gem when researching the city.  It could definitely use a little TLC but overall we really enjoyed our time on the island.  We first stopped at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory.  It's the oldest continually-running conservatory in the US. After that we took a little stroll and then drove around the island.  We just missed being able to go to the aquarium.





We checked into our hotel in Auburn Hills and refreshed before dinner.  Wyatt looked up a couple of places to try and we ended up settling on Green Dot Stables for dinner.  It was so good and I loved the atmosphere.  The menu was sliders.  We each had a few different sliders. I tried the mystery meat (slider of the day if you will) which was a hoisin sauced pork belly, the fried bologna, and the BCT which was a take on a BLT add cucumber.  I also tried part of the PB&J that Wyatt ordered as a sort of dessert.  They were so delicious!

The next morning we went to brunch at Parks & Rec.  I found this on a Detroit food blog that had mentioned it was, in their opinion, the best breakfast in Detroit.  I couldn't get over how adorable the restaurant was.  It was certainly popular.  We managed to get there at the perfect time.  Although we practically shared a 4 top with another couple, we still really enjoyed brunch there.  We walked out to a line of people waiting when we were finished.  I again tried a fried bologna sandwich.  I hadn't had fried bologna in years and something about it called to me on this trip I suppose.  I also had a Blood Mary that was one of my favorites in a while too.

 We wondered around downtown after brunch.  I was on a mission to go find the 'Greetings from Detroit' mural.  Once we found that, we just explored downtown for a little bit before making our way to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.  We found the neatest alley, the Belt while we were walking around.  We had a little time to kill before the museum opened so we drove by the old Packard Automotive Plant after seeing it featured on Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown: Detroit.  Then we made a quick stop at Eastern Market where we enjoyed some fresh squeezed lemonade.  The Wright Museum was a great little museum.  The staff was so friendly and inviting.  We discussed how some museums seems so stuffy and almost off-putting but the people here were very friendly and inviting and it made you want to spend more time there.  We only had limited time so we only went through two of the three main exhibits.  We wished we had more time to devote to the And Still We Rise exhibit but maybe we'll be back one day.  We had limited time at that museum because we had reservations at the Motown Museum to keep.  Luckily the two are only about ten minutes apart. I think my favorite part of the entire trip was the Motown Museum.  So much history took places within those walls. I definitely recommend both museums.  It was less than $30 for one person to go to both of them so they are affordable too!  We had to check out Lafayette Coney Island before we went back to our hotel to get ready to go to a concert.






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