A quick weekend trip to Michigan gave us a change of scenery, a spectacular display of fall colors and a delicious abundance of Greek and Middle-eastern food! It may not be on your dream list, but if the road takes you to Michigan take the opportunity to check out downtown Detroit. Although not the great city it once was, it has something to offer.
What to see:
=The Guardian Building – a distinct looking skyscraper/ office building in downtown Detroit. Built in the 1920s it’s said to be one of the most significant Art Deco buildings in the world and is declared National Historic Landmark. The architecture is rich on materials with colored bricks, granite and custom tiles. Artfully painted bold shapes and colors are influenced by the Native American, Aztec cultures and Arts and Crafts movements.
=The GM headquarters- The Renaissance Center (nicknamed GMRenCen) is a complex of 7 connected skyscrapers on the riverfront in downtown Detroit. It is owned by and serves as headquarters of General Motors.
Don’t miss a chance to visit the North Lobby/ GM Headquarters – it’s an interesting place even if you are not particularly interested in cars. It resembles a free car museum. The lobby is huge, beautifully designed modern space with a display of some new GM models, food court, plentiful and comfortable seating.The most interesting part is the revolving carousel exhibit of concept cars. You can hear some fascinating details and see few amazing, never mass produced cars. It’s quite interesting to see the development of the idea of luxury and the luxury brand itself since 1953!
The central tower is a hotel and opened in 1977 as the tallest hotel in the world. With 73 floors, it still remains the tallest all-hotel building in the Western Hemisphere and still the tallest skyscraper in Michigan. Owned by GM, currently it’s managed by Marriott and with 1 298 rooms, is one of the largest properties operated by the chain.
Fun fact: Ren Cen is built on 14 acres of land and has its own zip code!
=Greektown area- a small neighborhood (more like a street) with Greek restaurants + the Greektown casino. Enjoy some delicious authentic food and deserts. We did not visit the casino, but if that’s something you are interested in, it’s right next door.
=Riverwalk-pleasant riverfront walk along Detroit River with nice view of Ambassador Bridge and the town of Windsor, Canada across the river.
=we didn’t see it, but worth visiting is the Motown museum. That will be on our list for next time/ bad weather option.
=Ann Arbor-beautiful town 42 miles west of Detroit, the hometown of University of Michigan- one of the most competitive and big universities in the US. The town is charming with a nice downtown area and pleasant atmosphere, a good combination and balance of family homes and student housing. Surprisingly, it has a warm, small town feel despite the size of the university.
Fun fact: The University of Michigan football stadium, nicknamed “The Big House”, is the largest university stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest university stadium in the world and the 34th largest sports venue in the world. Its official capacity is 107,601, but has hosted crowds in excess of 115,000.
Nichols Arboretum- a peaceful park within Ann Arbor with a mild elevation, river, green lawns, nice pathways, and quite remarkable peony garden (unfortunately dead in October). It was beautiful with the changing colors of the leaves, but probably the best season to visit is late spring/ May-June to admire the peony blooms.
#michigan, #detroit, #theguardianbuilding, #GMrencen, #conceptcars, #greektown, #riverwalk, , #artdeco , #motorcity,
#universityofmichigan, #michiganstadium, #thebighouse, #annarbor, #nicholsarboretum, #onedaylist, #theonedaylist