You can’t turn around here without a reminder that this city was built by–and for–the automobile.
This is, after all, The Motor City. Highways are named Chrysler, Ford, Fisher and Dodge, in addition to being numbered and having those names and numbers change seemingly on a whim.
The metroplex is sprawling, due in part to its history. The communities that ring Detroit–Dearborn, Rochester, Grosse Pointe–aren’t so much suburbs as separate cities that were surrounded and ultimately usurped by the auto industry.
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And that’s what makes a visit here such a challenge. There’s no such thing as “centrally located.” The airport is a zillion miles from downtown, which is three interstates away from the fabulous Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village complex, which is a 45-minute drive from the auto maven’s mansion overlooking the lake, which is 20 miles, as the crow flies, from the historical and entertainment complex at Oakland University.
And that doesn’t include day trips.
So, yes, there’s plenty to see and do for a long weekend, even a week. But you’ll spend some time getting there.
One good thing is that some of these smaller cities have clusters of affordable hotels. So you should be choosy about what you want to see and where you stay to minimize drive time. What follows is a rundown of some of the best of Detroit.
Dearborn
This city of 90,000 has the third-highest concentration of hotels and the very best attraction in the four-county area. The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village are Ford’s legacy to the masses, how he wished to be remembered, and you can make it a destination itself.
The complex has two main parts: a large, indoor museum and a monstrous outdoor complex. Each requires separate admission, and each could take more than a day to explore.
The museum contains engines, cars, innovations of the 20th Century and several temporary exhibits. There’s a collection of old concept cars–you know, those things car companies display at auto shows that they have no intention of actually building. The museum also houses old fire engines, tractors and engines of all types.
You can see Ford’s close ties to Thomas Edison in “Made in America,” exhibits on household innovations of the 20th Century. Several model kitchens from various decades show how machinery has made our lives easier.
We’d be willing to bet that the kids’ favorite part of the museum will be the Innovation Station, a hands-on area, but this place gets stuffy mid-afternoon–no air-conditioning–and small children will tire quickly.
We enjoyed even more a day at Greenfield Village. Ford has collected memorabilia, furniture, even entire buildings of the rich and famous, removed them from their original sites and rebuilt them, sometimes brick by brick, in Greenfield Village.
You can walk through the Wright Brothers’ home and bicycle shop from Ohio, then mosey out the back door and see a full-scale model of the plane they flew at Kitty Hawk.
There’s a replica of Edison’s lab from Menlo Park, N.J. When Edison first walked through it, he was tickled to find that Ford had put everything in its place.
You can ride a horse-drawn carriage, steam train or steamboat around the village and take in many of the sights from a distance. Or you can walk around the Firestone Farm, where crops are grown and animals raised, step into the Eagle Tavern for road food of the 19th Century, or study the Mattox Family Home, Hermitage Slave Houses and George Washington Carver Memorial.
Rochester
Our personal favorite mogul mansion is here, Meadow Brook Hall, part of the Oakland University campus, all of which belonged to Matilda Dodge. You’re likely to hear organ music coming from the pipes built into the walls throughout this 100-room estate.
The most sumptuous part of the mansion is the dining room. The most intriguing is the series of secret passageways that leads from the master bedroom to the study to the butler’s pantry.
The gardens are kept in bloom for a couple of shows a year, and at the end of the garden path is Knole Cottage, a home built to scale for the Dodge children. Some kids enjoy seeing how the world looks to adults; others (ours included) thought it was a major yawn.
The Meadow Brook Music Festival is on in the summer and includes an eclectic mix of music styles. It’s a great place to stretch out on the lawn on a breezy summer night.
Other mansions
If Meadow Brook Hall whets your appetite for grand homes, you could take a day to do a house tour. You must include the Fisher Mansion, home of the former president of Cadillac Motors, on the Detroit River north of downtown. The view into Canada is nice, and the marble and stonework are beautiful. You can imagine Fisher’s buddies pulling their yachts into their own slips in the boathouse for a meeting in one of the house’s smoke-filled rooms.
Stay for lunch or dinner at Govinda’s, the city’s best-known vegetarian restaurant.
Then head north to Grosse Pointe Shores, to the home of Edsel and Eleanor Ford, known for its leaded-glass windows and Italian Renaissance paintings.
Downtown
The Renaissance Center is supposed to be the symbol of a new Detroit. In actuality, it’s an office complex with a few pricey shops and a couple of exhibits that would take the average tourist about an hour to browse through.
After you finish there, head west one block, then turn south and check out the sculpture of Joe Louis’ arm, situated on an island in the midst of Jefferson Street, just outside Cobo Arena. Invest the 50 cents and 15 minutes it takes to ride the People Mover, an overhead light-rail system that circles downtown Detroit. You get good views of the city center and can use it when your feet get tired. One of the People Mover stops, and the best place for shopping and to grab a bite, is Greektown, a couple blocks west of Joe’s arm.
The nearby Detroit Institute of the Arts,known for its collections of armor, Flemish, Dutch and Impressionist paintings, is a good place–perhaps the only place–to while away a few hours in downtown on a Sunday afternoon.
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DETAILS ON THE DETRIOT AREA
Where to stay: Best bet might be Dearborn, though the heaviest concentration of hotels is either near the airport or downtown. Dearborn is a nice compromise because it’s halfway between the two, and some hotels in Dearborn offer packages that include admission to the Greenfield Village/Ford Museum complex. Downtown is best for business-related trips, though you’ll pay dearly to park.
Getting around: A good city map is essential, as interstates weave a tangled web and change name and number frequently.
Where to eat: Greektown, west of downtown, offers authentic ethnic food, as does the Mexican center, south of downtown, and the Arab community, centered near Dearborn. You can find the usual chains, plus local favorites Coney Island and Buddy’s Pizza.
Attractions:
– Greenfield Village/Ford Museum: Admission, $12.50 adult, $11 children 5-12 for each of the two attractions. Call 800-TELL A FRIEND.
– Meadow Brook Hall: $6 adults, $3 children 5-12; Knole Cottage, $1. 810-370-3140.
– Fisher Mansion: $6 adults, $5 children 5-12; 313-331-6740.
– Edsel Ford House: $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 children under 12; 313-884-4222.
– MetroParks: $5 per car.
For more information: For general information, call 800-DETROIT, ext. 1234.
– St. Louis Post-Dispatch.