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Post by rockysigman on Mar 8, 2006 23:29:10 GMT -5
Someone talk about Detroit please. I love KISS & the Pistons, I have to visit that city. I suppose I'm probably the go to guy on Detroit here since I grew up in the area , but I'm not really sure quite what to tell you. There are certain things about Detroit that I absolutely positively love, but I'm not sure that there's a whole lot to recommend to visitors, as most of the cool stuff isn't really stuff that I'd think someone from out of the area would want to dive into. I guess what I mean by this is that the things that I really loved there were a few particular dive bars, as well as a couple areas that are great just to loiter in, but not much to look at necessarily (like Belle Isle). There are a couple great museums, but I imagine you'll see some better ones if you're seeing a lot of the country. The Detroit Institute of Art is criminally underrated, but it's still not close to what you'd see in New York or here in Chicago. In the suburb of Dearborn is Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford museum. That's probably the best thing for an out of towner to see. Greenfield Village has some historical houses moved from elsewhere in the country, and the Henry Ford museum has some great stuff related to the growth of the auto industry, as well as other non-auto related historical stuff. During certain times of year there are some cool things that you can't see elsewhere. In late May (Memorial Day weekend to be specific) is the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (it actually has some other name now, but they keep changing the name every year, and I can't keep track of it). It used to be free, but this past year they started charging (not that much really -- I think it was like $15 for the entire three day weekend, but I'm not enough of an electronic music fan to go if its not free). The DEMF is actually very cool. There's about 5 stages in Hart Plaza, which is right on the River, and it usually attracts a lot of the bigger names in electronic music (Derrick May is one of the main organizers of it, or at least was before), as well as drawing in electronic music fans from around the world. There's also usually one big name non-electronic act that they get to headline it too (I saw George Clinton there once...the year before was De La Soul). In late June or early July they have North America's largest fireworks display (done in cooperation with Windsor, Ontario, so it's for both Independence Day as well as Canada Day). There's also the hydroplane races on the Detroit River later in the summer, which I don't think really happens elsewhere. I think if you planned your trip around certain events, Detroit could be a cool place to visit for a day or two, but I certainly wouldn't recommend planning as much time there as you might for a lot of the other cities that you're probably planning on visiting. Detroit has a great history, but unfortunately I don't think there's really anything as far as historical tours, so unless you had a guide to point out the historical things, it really just looks like an old run down city, unfortunately. The Pistons actually play way out in Auburn Hills, which is a good 30 miles or so from the city. If you went early enough in the summer, the playoffs should still be going on, but it's nearly impossible to get Pistons playoffs tickets without having some big time corporate connections. I was in downtown Detroit when the Pistons won the championship in 2004 though, and that was incredible to experience with the whole city. Jefferson Avenue was flooded with people of all sorts, actually really enjoying each other and celebrating. For a few hours, all the racial tensions were gone, and uptight suburban white rich kids were high fiving inner city black kids. I think I saw a cop hug a prostitute. It was unreal. So if you're really into the Pistons, it could be fun to coordinate a visit to Detroit with them winning the championship this year (which they will of course ;-)), but I wouldn't count on being able to actually go to a game. If you're only going to hit up one city in the midwest, then by all means it should be Chicago, but Detroit wouldn't be a bad place to stop in on the way from the east coast. Certainly a better place to visit than say, Cleveland, in my opinion. But it's not really set up for tourists very well at all, unfortunately. |
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Post by rockysigman on Mar 8, 2006 23:37:14 GMT -5
Someone talk about Detroit please. I love KISS & the Pistons, I have to visit that city. Oh, by the way, Kiss are actually from New York, but yeah, we Detroiters like the rawk, so they had to write a song about it. |
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Post by rockysigman on Mar 8, 2006 23:37:58 GMT -5
Sorry for all the edits on that long post.
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Post by limitdeditionlayla on Mar 8, 2006 23:52:02 GMT -5
wow, thats great. Thanks dude. I'm actually taking notes. I have a spreadsheet even. Yes, I'm that person, who plans things with spreadsheets. Disorganisation is so unsexy.
Chicago, from all visitor reports I've heard, seems to be much more tourist-friendly, so we will most definately visit there. Detroit is, as you've suggested, going to be a very quick sidetrip, based purely around the Pistons & appropriate music (ahem, seducing Meg White while singing Motown classics? I think so).
Cheers for your post, I might C&P that one. Lonely Planet don't make a Guide to Detroit, although Iggy Pop does feature in one of their old Euro guides.
Oh, by the way, Kiss are actually from New York, but yeah, we Detroiters like the rawk, so they had to write a song about it
I know. I dated a Kiss Army member. I sang London Calling to a cabbie in London, I just wanted to do the same with Detroit Rock City.
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Post by rockysigman on Mar 9, 2006 0:11:33 GMT -5
wow, thats great. Thanks dude. I'm actually taking notes. I have a spreadsheet even. Yes, I'm that person, who plans things with spreadsheets. Disorganisation is so unsexy. Chicago, from all visitor reports I've heard, seems to be much more tourist-friendly, so we will most definately visit there. Detroit is, as you've suggested, going to be a very quick sidetrip, based purely around the Pistons & appropriate music (ahem, seducing Meg White while singing Motown classics? I think so). Cheers for your post, I might C&P that one. Lonely Planet don't make a Guide to Detroit, although Iggy Pop does feature in one of their old Euro guides. Oh, by the way, Kiss are actually from New York, but yeah, we Detroiters like the rawk, so they had to write a song about itI know. I dated a Kiss Army member. I sang London Calling to a cabbie in London, I just wanted to do the same with Detroit Rock City. Glad to have been helpful. I'm happy to answer any questions on it too, if any come up while you're planning. And yeah, Chicago is waaaaaaaay more tourist friendly, not only because there's more to see, but because of honest to god actual functioning public transportation. Public transportation in Detroit is almost non-existant for practical purposes. The bus system is horrendous, and the People Mover (yes, the official name of the monorail system is actually the People Mover--sort of embarrassing) only goes in a really small loop around downtown, so if you aren't staying downtown, you still need to manage to get down there before you can use it. To people who know the area, it's convenient to park in Greektown and then take the People Mover to Joe Louis Arena or Comerica Park or wherever they're going, but to a tourist it's not nearly as manageable (for a lot of reasons, not least of which is, I imagine you wouldn't have a car to be driving to Greektown). Oh, and I can totally direct you to a couple bars where there's at least a remote possibility of running in to Meg White if they aren't on tour. Jack is a little more out-on-the-town than Meg is, but I've definately spotted her out there. |
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Post by limitdeditionlayla on Mar 9, 2006 0:29:52 GMT -5
Do you know if Meg likes to be serenaded with Motown classics & does she like her vodka straight/rocks or with cranberry?
Why there isn't a Lonely Planet Guide to Seducing Meg White, I don't know.
seriously though, I appreciate your advice - I like to get travel info from locals (that way you learn more than "go here for cheap drinks & go there for cheap sex") & I don't know anyone here who is from either Chicago or Detroit. Its great, thanks.
I'll definately be hitting you up for some more area info in the hardcore planning stages, if thats ok. I can pay you in Monopoly dollars. Awesome.
Actually...which city is the best as a gateway for visiting Canada?
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Post by rockysigman on Mar 9, 2006 0:47:07 GMT -5
Do you know if Meg likes to be serenaded with Motown classics & does she like her vodka straight/rocks or with cranberry? Why there isn't a Lonely Planet Guide to Seducing Meg White, I don't know. seriously though, I appreciate your advice - I like to get travel info from locals (that way you learn more than "go here for cheap drinks & go there for cheap sex") & I don't know anyone here who is from either Chicago or Detroit. Its great, thanks. I'll definately be hitting you up for some more area info in the hardcore planning stages, if thats ok. I can pay you in Monopoly dollars. Awesome. Actually...which city is the best as a gateway for visiting Canada? Oh, that sort of reminds me, I forgot to mention TasteFest. It's a weeklong or so, usually around the Fourth of July. All the restaurants in town have booths set up with overpriced food, but more importantly: free music. Lots of cities have stuff just like it I think, but I do like the Detroit Tastefest. A ton of local musicians in many genres, as well as usually a few big national acts for free (I saw Wilco there a couple years ago for example), and also (and here's why I was reminded of it), if you know which bands to show up for, your chances of seeing Jack White are pretty solid. I think they were on tour during Tastefest this past year, but I definately saw him there on at least two other occassions, hanging out with other Detroit rockers and enjoying the music. I don't think I've ever seen Meg at Tastefest, but I've seen her at plenty of shows at the Magic Stick, and I think once at the Lager House too (incidentally, the Lager House is my favorite place to drink too--cheapest, and by far the strongest drinks in town, and when there's bands playing, cover is cheap). I'm not sure if Meg responds well to Motown though. And I don't know what her drink of choice is either. Trust me, if I had any idea how to seduce Meg White, I would have done it a long time ago. Well, at least if I could be confident that Jack White wasn't going to kick my ass. For visiting Canada...I guess it depends where in Canada you want to go. The border in Detroit isn't too bad usually, but from there you're a four hour drive from Toronto, and not even that close to any of the other major cities. Right over the Detroit River is Windsor, but that exists mainly for 19 and 20 year old American kids to drink and go to strip clubs. Not much else there really other than the casino. The best place to head to Toronto is probably upstate New York, but I'm not sure if there's anything in upstate New York you'd be interested in, so it might be a big hassle and out of the way. I think you mentioned already that you're planning to go to Seattle? I've never been there, so I can't speak of how difficult it is to cross the border there, but I don't think that Seattle is too horribly far from Vancouver, which (from what I hear--I've never been there either) might be the coolest place to visit in Canada anyway (the only major city I've been to in Canada is Toronto, which I do like quite a bit, though). These boards will probably be pretty valuable for you while planning I would think. Lots of people from all over the place here, and if there isn't anyone here that's actually from somewhere you want to visit, there's a pretty good chance that someone here has at least visited it so they can tell you what the tourist experience is like. There seems to be some pretty well traveled people here (much more well traveled than me at least  ). |
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Post by phil on Mar 9, 2006 7:58:45 GMT -5
Layla ~ Nevermind Canada ! Come to Québec ...  |
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Post by tuneschick on Mar 9, 2006 11:42:15 GMT -5
Layla ~ Nevermind Canada ! Come to Québec ... Hey, cut that out!  Layla, Rocky speaketh the truth. We have a bunch of border crossings into Ontario, and the border crossing in Detroit is probably one of the faster-moving ones (from my experience anyway). But then you're just stuck in Windsor being bored and playing slots with old blue-haired ladies and horny underage American college kids. It's a pretty unexciting area, and another 4 hours, like he said, if you want to get anywhere near Toronto. Don't even think about crossing at Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, which is about 5 hours from Detroit. You'll be miserable, believe me. So yeah, upstate New York is probably your best bet - either from Buffalo into Fort Erie (which is about 2 hours to Toronto) or through Niagara Falls NY into Niagara Falls Canada (about 1 1/2 hours to Toronto.) Biggest problem is, I think it's about 7 hours to either Buffalo OR Niagara Falls from New York City... and like Rocky said, I'm not sure what there is to see in upstate New York... So that was really no help at all. |
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Post by luke on Mar 9, 2006 13:01:25 GMT -5
Not down with the "state of" Florida bashing. I love the Florida, and even the Alabama coast. The water's always warm, and the tourist-y type shit is a convenience in a way. Decent seafood everywhere and an Alvin's Island on ever corner in case you lose your flip-flops or feel like shop-lifting some souvenir keychains.
East Coast beaches are a fucking joke. The Jersey Shore? Who the fuck wants to wade around in an ice cold cesspool of toxic sludge and broken glass?
And what puts Florida beaches over those in California (unless you really like to surf, or are further south around Miami) is that I can drink beer and eat hot dogs all fucking day and not have to stress over a bunch of beautiful California people glancing over at my expanding gut.
Of course, that's the beaches of Florida, which was mentioned. The actual cities are fucking miserable. Orlando is pretty useless. But there are no more laid back, relaxing, warm beaches in the U.S. than those in Florida.
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Post by phil on Mar 9, 2006 13:01:32 GMT -5
I'm not sure what there is to see in upstate New York...
Incredibly beautiful horse farms ... !!
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Post by Fuzznuts on Mar 9, 2006 13:29:38 GMT -5
Here's a halfway decent Florida Beach for ya. Caladesi Island State Park, just north of Clearwater Beach. Consistantly rated in the top 5 US beaches. There's beaches like that all up and down the Gulf coast. Kinda negates the whole "Florida sucks" rant.   |
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Post by rockkid on Mar 9, 2006 14:19:05 GMT -5
Oh I could so be there right now sigh
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Post by chrisfan on Mar 9, 2006 14:23:07 GMT -5
There are plenty of nice parts of Florida. They just don't tell the rest of the country about them so they stay that way.
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Post by tuneschick on Mar 9, 2006 15:01:53 GMT -5
I completely agree, luke - I actually love Florida. Not the insane tourist traps of Orlando and Kissimmee (though I had a great time at Disney World when I was 13 and would actually probably go back again.)
But the Gulf Coast is gorgeous. Family friends own a couple of beachfront places near Sarasota, a place called Anna Maria Island... it's absolute heaven on earth to me. Tiny little island, gorgeous quiet beach, fantastic seafood (including my favourite seafood place in the whole world, right across the street from the condo), bunch of mom 'n' pop shops, some STUNNING houses. There's nowhere else I'd rather be... in fact, I think S and I are going to spend a week down there this summer after our little rock 'n' roll road trip.
So yeah, you definitely can't paint the entirety of Florida with the same broad brush.
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