Forget the Focus on the Bad & the Ugly, There’s Plenty of Good to be Found in Detroit

There’s been much conversation of late concerning the decline of Detroit.  From Time magazine’s Assignment Detroit to the recent (Relatively-speaking; the start of this post has been in my ‘drafts’ box since November. Hey, I’ve been busy!) NYT Op-Ed, titled “An American Catastrophe,” everywhere you look it appears that it’s time to turn out the lights and hope the proverbial door doesn’t hit the last to leave in the ass. But speaking as a proud Detroiter and one who spent some time downtown over the Thanksgiving (Repeat: been busy!) holiday, I know there’s plenty of good. Detroit’s a Northwest (Delta?) hub, so it’s easy to get a good rate flying direct from Boston. Take a weekend and check it out for yourself…you’ll see some bad, no doubt, but follow my suggestions below and I guarantee you’ll also see so much good.

Roast
Iron Chef Michael Symon’s newest venture brings sophisticated city dining smack in the middle of downtown. Located in the recently reopened Westin Book Cadillac Hotel (more to come), Roast is a carnivore’s paradise in the kind of sophisticated restaurant setting you’d expect to find in any bustling metropolis. All of their meats are dry-aged for a minimum of 21 days and grilled over hardwood. Favorite menu description: “Roasted Beast of the Day.”

Motor Bar at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit
Reopened after a $200M renovation, one of Detroit’s landmarks is now restored to its original grandeur. Built by Detroit’s famous Book brothers in 1924, it was the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world at the time. To be honest, I never knew of the hotel growing up, but Grandma sure did. Apparently, drinks at the hotel’s Motor Bar followed by dancing in the hotel’s nightclub while snacking on a bottle of wine and bowl of potato chips was the chic evening out in 1940s Detroit.

Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes
One of my favorite ways to pass a few hours is at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  It has a few great cafés that I love to chill out at after my senses need a rest from all of the visual stimulation, but knowing my Francophilian leanings, this time my brother suggested I check out a crepe shop located right next door.  The crepe I had was fine (not Parisian-quality, unfortunately) but the service was so damn nice, there’s no doubt I’ll be back.

Detroit Institute of Arts
I love this museum. It’s as simple as that. I’ve been going, often solo, since I was a teenager. Not only do I love the breadth and depth of the collections, but what truly makes it unique is the backdrop for the art itself. Far from the traditional vanilla galleries designed to take a back seat to the collections, walk through the DIA and you feel like you’re walking through time and place. From the awe-inspiring Rivera Court to the Gothic Chapel to the Egyptian Collection, the context in which they display the collections is as interesting as the collections themselves.

R. Hirt Jr. Co.
A trip to Detroit is never complete for me without a visit to the Eastern Market. The largest historic public market district in the US, one of my favorite stops is R. Hirt Jr Co. Three floors jam-packed with everything from specialty foods to a ginormous cheese selection to baskets for make your own gift baskets to unique home décor items, I never walk out empty-handed and am always disappointed that what I can buy is limited by the space available in my suitcase!

Eastern Market Antiques
This trip I wandered into a new spot for me; it’s now a “must do” for future visits. This multi-level shop is an antique browser’s wet dream. It’s huge.  I purchased a set of 6 gorgeous cordial glasses and a unique thimble-sized shot glass/mixing cup set for a friend. Can’t wait to go back and see what I’ll find next.

Pure Detroit
A mecca for all things Detroit, I remember the days when there was just one shop in the Fisher Building. Their expanding bricks ‘n mortar empire, combined with their online shop, now makes it easy for anyone wanting to show Detroit pride.  From accessories made with old car parts (belts and bags made from seatbelts) to Pewabic pottery to cool tees to specialty foods (if you haven’t had Sanders Bittersweet Fudge topping on Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla ice cream, you haven’t lived), it’s all here. I recommend that once you’ve fallen in love with what you’ve experienced during your visit to Detroit, show your support for the city and its hopeful rebirth with a “I Love Detroit” tee — and then encourage others to do the same!

Posted by Marlo

Welcome to the Sh*t Show

This year already promises to be chock full of political antics and gesturing guaranteed to leave you with that “I think I just threw up in my mouth” feeling. We’re 11 days into 2010 and dominating local and national media outlets is the terror bombing attempt on Christmas Day. President Obama put on a brave face and laid the blame for the failed intelligence that could have entirely prevented the bombing attempt at his feet with a noble declaration: “I’m less interested in passing out blame than I am in learning from and correcting mistakes to make us safe. For ultimately, the buck stops with me.” Very noble, but just that and nothing more.

Should you need a quick refresher, highlights from the massive intelligence breakdown allowing this incident – several stemming from human errors – looks a bit something like this:

• Would-be bomber Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab’s name was reportedly misspelled throughout the intelligence report.
• Also, in the report, the flight number of the plane leaving Detroit with Mr. AbdulMutallab on board was listed as 153 in when it was actually flight number 253.
• The recorded date of correspondence with AbdulMuttalab’s father (who reached out to sound warning bells about his son’s potential actions) was recorded as November 18^th when it was, in fact, the 19^th.

Immediately following the incident, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano hailed the foiled attempt as a sign that “the system worked.” Yeah, if we’re now solely relying on our passengers to apprehend suspiciously-behaving fellow travelers. Her faulty logic speaks to our larger shortcoming in regards to our national defense strategy. So far, every measure we’ve taken to strengthen security has been reactionary. When a deranged man attempted to blow himself up at an airport through his shoes, we decided all passengers must remove shoes at the security checkpoint. When the crazies tried to assemble a liquid bomb aboard a plane, we vastly decreased the amount of liquid each passenger can store in their carry-ons. Now, we’re implementing full-body scanners at airports to detect explosives and other hidden objects on people’s bodies. These are all good efforts. I’m fine with the inconveniences if it means safer flying standards for us all, but reactive measures alone will only lend to a lazy, shortsighted and costly approach to securing the safety and infrastructure of a nation.

It was a nice gesture on Mr. Obama’s part to remind us that any failure is one that ultimately rests with him but no heads rolled for the series of screaming errors that lead to this perfect storm. Instead, the same intelligence team has now been tasked with reforming our current security system. Using yourself as the scapegoat, Mr. President, is not a genuine measure of transparency. So, cut the fat and sink our hard-earned tax dollars into more venerable intelligence efforts, like infiltrating the sh*t out of Al Qaeda and scaling terrorist outfits, lest this incident, coupled with the detestable Salahi fiasco and your insistence on trying known 9/11 terrorists as civilians (in New York, no less) cause the world to think this administration’s approach to security reckless.

Posted by Elizabeth