My best friend will be visiting me in Detroit next weekend for the first time after three years of living here. With roughly 48 hours to give her a decent impression of the city, I’m finding myself panicked and unsure of what is most important. I will certainly be unable to show her enough to get a complete snapshot of Detroit, of where it’s been and where it’s going. Knowing that I’ll be leaving some crucial highlights out, I’ve decided I’m going to show her a mix of “My Detroit” and the rest of Detroit, making sure I hit the places most important to me while not leaving out some mandatory spots on an Introduction to Detroit Tour. Here is my tentative list:
Southeastern High School: This place is the reason I moved the Detroit and the reason I’ve stayed. The overwhelming bulk of my time spent in Detroit for my first 2 years here was at 3030 Fairview Ave. and it is the absolute most important thing to show any of my family and friends visiting, along with my students’ neighborhood and the surrounding homes.
Midtown Bars (Bronx, Third Street, Motor City Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin, Old Miami…): Although some of these bars and this neighborhood have come under immense scrutiny over the past several years, these are the places I have frequented most often and seen open since moving here in 2012. These are the establishments that I relied on many Friday evenings after a long week of teaching, that I headed to for a Sunday Funday, or where I have come to bump into the people who have become my closest friends. Despite any criticisms one might have about these places and this neighborhood, they deliver a solid and reliable product and have been there for me through some intense ups and downs.
Avalon Bakery: Avalon was the first place I visited when I moved to Detroit. I attribute much of the success of my neighborhood to its stability and exceptional products. My friend and I are suckers for bakeries, so we may make more than one stop here.
Eastern Market: To me, this is perhaps the most diverse place I have ever seen on a Saturday morning in the summertime. People from nearly every walk of life and the entire spectrum of Metro-Detroit come together at the market Saturdays for quality food, music, and greenery.
Heidelberg Project: It would be impossible for someone to get a true understanding of the artist movement in Detroit in 48 hours. I am still struggling to find an understanding after three years. But the Heidelberg Project is a great launching point for insight into what is happening in Detroit and the different dimensions of what we consider beautiful.
Riverwalk/Downtown Hoedown: The real reason she is coming this weekend is because we are both country music mega-fans and will be spending a decent chunk of the weekend at 99.5’s Downtown Hoedown with and abundance of white people in cowboy hats, cutoff jean shorts and sleeveless shirts. Luckily, with the concert being held on the river, we will be able to escape to the Detroit Riverwalk where we will admirably watch joggers and bikers pass us by while we enjoy the sunshine.