Who Doesn't Vacation in Detroit?

In November, Trent and I "vacationed" in Detroit. Why would anyone choose to go to Detroit? Well, because Detroit is where the conference was and we hadn't been further east than Chicago. Oh, and did I mention that Chicago was only four hours away from Detroit? We had a great time.We flew out on separate airplanes - different airlines, actually. Trent flew from Salt Lake to Phoenix and then to Detroit. I flew directly to Detroit. I had to meet up with him somewhere in the airport which was no little feat and is an entirely different blog entry. Someday, I hope to write about it. It was wayyyy too good to forget.

Detroit is an interesting place and I'm sure that at one time it was a lovely, thriving city. But, with the economic mess that our country has found itself in, there isn't much life there. What it does have is a lot of burned out buildings and empty and abandoned businesses. Some of those facilities take up more acreage than our entire town - like a Pontiac plant. That was quite haunting and extremely sad. The were a few casinos, Greek restaurants (yummy), and Ford Field that were happy spots in an otherwise depressing city. The Ford company seemed to be hanging on and I enjoyed visiting The Henry Ford (museum) and The Rouge (the plant where the Ford F-150 is built). I had to go alone, driving through a strange city even, since Trent was at his conference. I did it, though, and I survived quite happily. Too bad they don't give out free cars at the end of the tour. But, one can always dream. The Henry Ford has more history in it than a textbook. I LOVED that place.

One of only a very few surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence. More security on this thing than the President has. Not kidding!!!

The actual bus where Rosa Parks stood up for her rights as a human being. I got to step up on that bus too. Humbling!!!

The original Wienermobile. Does it get any cooler than that? Yes it does - I ate an Oscar Mayer hot dog right next to it!!!

Blue Bird No. 1. One of the first buses built.  No seat belts then , either. We got 17 kids in my bus seat once. Could that many even fit on this bus? Doubtful.

The car that John F. Kennedy was shot in. It's all cleaned up and completely bullet-proof now. They fixed all the security issues right after the shooting but the car was never used again.

Quite surprising was our out of the blue jaunt to Chicago.We hadn't planned to go there but, when you are only four hours away from Trent's favorite place in the world, we just had to hit the road and take the adventure. Since neither of us had been to Ohio we drove all across that state (seeing Toledo, interesting), the state of Indiana, and right into Chicago. On the way back, we drove all the way across Michigan. Those places are lovely and we saw some Amish settlements, where people drive horse and buggies. That was cool. So many trees and green fields and not one sage brush or cedar tree to be found.

Chicago was beautiful and FREEZING!!! I liked it because I had never driven into the city. We always ride the trains and buses from the airport so entering the city from Indiana brought a new perspective. We also stayed right on the river. It was AWESOME. I found out why expensive hotels are expensive - you pay for the valet, the parking, the television, the internet, use of the in-room refrigerator, blah, blah, blah. They probably charged us a towel fee. But, no matter we loved it.

Coming into the city. Straight ahead, the tallest near building, is Trump Tower. It's new and pretty cool. I watched The Apprentice finale when Bill Rancic chose to be in charge of that project. I think he did a good job.

Michigan Avenue. It really did feel like a concrete corridor and taxi drivers are NUTS.

Marina Towers. We call them the Corn Cobs. I think I could live there at least as my vacation home. I live in the country and would vacation to the city. Maybe someone inside would like to trade me just a couple weeks every year.

The Chicago Theater. I just love that old sign.

The view from our hotel room. The Chicago River is beautiful (and probably full of the bodies of ex-mobsters). Nevertheless, one of my favorite Chicago things. There was a guy across the way that watched ESPN Sportscenter all night long - with his blinds open. Ooh, does that make me a Peeping Tom? Nah. He's probably used to people looking in there.

We walked everywhere that night. That's how I knew it was so cold. This is a picture of the "Bean" in Millennium Park. It is one of the most amazing parks to visit. Everyone should hang out there - but in the Summer to Fall months.

The Giant Eyeball sculpture. Weird but interesting. It is 30 feet tall. It was taken down a couple days after this. 

So, a vacation to Detroit was fun. I'm glad we went. I would like to go there another time when the economy has turned around. We flew back, separately again, with me stopping in the Minneapolis airport for FOREVER. I tried to find the infamous Larry Craig restroom (Idahoans are quite familiar with this special location) but wasn't successful. hahaha

Thanks for taking me Trent!

 Life is Good - even in Detroit.