In our part of the
world, the year can be divided up into two seasons. Those happen to
be listed as winter and construction, both of which vary in length
and intensity.
During winter one
must contend with the possibility of encountering snow and ice on all
of the surfaces. But these tend to be passing conditions. Where as
during construction season, those surfaces onto which you so gingerly
ventured out, may be missing entirely. Hey, that road that leads
exactly to the destination which you are so desperately trying to
reach? Well now it's a 10 foot deep trench that stretches for blocks
at a time.
Free on street
parking though. Come on down.
We made the mistake
of visiting during the first or second worst season for travel,
depending on how you reckon such things. I have some disdain for
traveling in 90 degree weather when I'm being forced to navigate an
ever-changing gauntlet in a new city.
I would like to take
this moment to say “Fuck you Siri, in all of your incarnations.”
You know that asshole who swerves across 3 lanes to turn? Yep,
probably listening to Siri.
For our collective
birthdays this year, it was some how decided upon that we would visit
Detroit. I missed the committee meetings on this one, so I cannot
explain the rationale behind the choice to you. Yeah. Detroit.
The murder capital of the universe! . Happy birthday to us!
Do you want to see
urban decay and street crime? Well come to sunnyish Detroit! The
Crown Jewel of the Rust Belt. Shells of houses that have tasted the
kiss of Arson? Check! Miles and miles of decaying concrete? Got
that too! The shattered remnants of what America used to be? We're
having a sale! Make sure that you stay on the highways that run 4
lanes in either direction and have a posted speed limit of
55mph(which everyone ignores and opts for the more conventional 70+).
Detroit is a modern
wasteland known for the ruins porn in a way that has moved past trope
and into cliché. Rotting infrastructure that is so beloved amongst
urban explorers. People who explore the remnants of our once mighty
industrial base and stick their noses into the crumbling past and
document what has befallen the American Dream. People who aren't me.
But hey, Detroit is
a place that exists and surely they have some gems. So we did our
research and came up with a list of places to do and things to visit
– I think. I'm not sure that our thinking was straight. After all, Detroit is one of the cities that I used as the basis of Jefferson(Chicago being the other) - the fictional necropolis in which I set part of my zombie series. Good times.
We were mostly there
to see friends and find some of the sights that might be worth
seeing.
As a species part of
our shared humanity seems to be intertwined in the appreciation of
food. Many cultures are, at least in part, defined by their cooking.
So you will forgive us if food is one of the driving factors in our
travels. We jot down any interesting restaurants that we encounter
and store them for future consideration.
Detroit had several
such entries. So we met in a place called Fall's Sports Lounge. I
don't know who picked that one. On google they rate between 3 and
4.5(out of 5). And are supposedly renowned for their hamburgers, the
best in Detroit(a lot of ground to cover). I love hamburgers. I did
not protest.
I won't review them
into great depth. The food was good, especially the fries, but I
cannot imagine that they were the best in all of Detroit. We have
several joints here in my hipster-infested burg that are superior to
the fare. I don't know if I would ever sample them again – not a
dis, It's just that there have to be other places to try in my rare
visits to Detroit.
Enough of food. I
can eat well here. On to activities that my current home town
doesn't offer!
This was in our hotel room shower -
I have no Idea what it is for.
The Detroit
Institute of Art. A few months back, when the City was going through
bankruptcy, the DIA was on the chopping block. Until the State of
Michigan stepped in to save it. Good call Michigan. The DIA doesn't
really stack up to museums in grander cities such as the Chicago Art
Institute. But it is still a wonder to experience. The founders
collected some amazing artifacts from around the world and houses
them in a wonderful warehouse of ingenuity. The building alone is
worth visiting for the architecture. The treasures within are
priceless.
The campus of Wayne
State University seems to be a trendy and revitalized part of
Detroit, this is almost a facade, or maybe an Utopian island. A mere
handful of blocks away the city seems to fade back into it's seedier
side with the graffiti and abandoned houses. We accidentally found
ourselves wandering through as we searched for a place to park.
Wayne State home of this African Batman mask!
Onwards!
I love me some
books. I may have mentioned such a sentiment before. On par with
food, I am a bookstore tourist, and have been since high school. In
fact, I first visited this place back when I was in around 11th
grade. That was at least 20 years ago. And the place hasn't changed
much since(though I believe that it has become more cramped and
packed with printed goodness.
Here there be Treasure!
John King books...
where to start? First, it is entirely a used book store. All four
stories of it. With books overflowing the shelves and lying in
stacks and boxes around the floor. In fact I suspect that they have
several annex buildings to house their stock. The store is so big
that upon arrival a member of the staff will hand you a map. Imagine
the library of a large city, and that all of those books are for
sale. Everything from ancient classics to the most recent smut. I
found a full two shelves dedicated to carving duck decoys – just to
give you an Idea of what this place is about. Boooooooks!
Joygasm!
There is the
wonderful book must that permeates the air. I don't like aftershaves
or body washes or what-ever. But if someone would make an old book
cologne, I think that I would wear it daily. (Note, I won't be
searching google for this product, I have spent enough money this
weekend.) Days could easily be whiled away wandering the shelves of
John King. Sadly we took less than two hours before moving on.
One of the best
finds was This -
Oh yes, I am reading
it now!
There. The rest of
the day was spent eating, hanging out in the hotel room and drinking
bourbon homemade wine. All activities that need little mention.
