Why does a particular place leave a lasting, positive impression? Is it the location itself, the emotions evoked, or the people? Perhaps it is an alchemy of all those things, plus intangibles that cannot be measured or quantified.

DETROIT: 2003

My first visit to Detroit, Michigan in 2003 did not leave an indelibly fond memory. My friend Bill, a Northwest Airlines flight attendant based in Detroit, was laid off, and he planned to drive his car back to Seattle and live there until he was rehired. I flew to Detroit to accompany him on the road trip. My job: Plot a course, find every cheesy roadside attraction we could fit in, and bring the margarita fixings for the evenings in the hotel room.

The year before my visit, Eminem‘s “8 mile” premiered. The Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park was completed two years before that; when I saw it for the first time in 2003, plywood covered the buildings surrounding the ballfield, barely hiding the blight, painted with the outlines of more desirable edifices. The city smelled like standing water and rotten wood. Entire blocks were unoccupied, dark and boarded up. We didn’t dare walk, opting for the car even for short distances downtown. We found Motown, a squat little building on a forgotten street with eyesores all around it, not at all befitting a National Treasure.

No, I was not in the least bit enamoured of Detroit. Apparently a lot of other people felt that way too, because the city’s population declined by over 25 percent before I returned.

AN INVITATION TO DETROIT: 2017

In May 2017, I went to the Kentucky Derby by myself and was adopted by a family who had room for me to sit with them at Churchill Downs. The Kaiglers invited me to visit them in Detroit, and in October of that same year I did, staying at the fairgrounds.

What a treat, to see Detroit from the perspective of an African-American family whose parents were part of the Great Migration. Shirley, her sister Regina, and Shirley’s husband Darnell were born and raised in Detroit when it was ALL that – the Motor City, when cars were king and Motown was Hitsville USA. They earned their degrees, married, and raised their children, witnesses to the steady decline of their beloved city.

By the time of my visit in 2017, things were looking up in Detroit. The Kaiglers proudly took me around town to all the new restaurant hotspots and public parks, marveling that only the year before they would not have felt safe in some of the neighborhoods. Although the visit was brief, I began to fall hard for Detroit. Detroit Hustles Harder. Detroit Versus Everybody. Nothing Stops Detroit. Believe that.

RETURN TO DETROIT:2019

It was two years before I got the chance to visit Detroit again, and by September 2019 the Kaiglers had moved to a house in Palmer Woods with a driveway large enough to accommodate Nellie. When I suggested a two-week stay, Shirley didn’t bat an eyelash. I told her I knew the old saying that fish and friends stink after three days, and if I were staying in their home I would never dain to suggest two weeks. She assured me I was more than welcome.

The Kaiglers are not the only people I know in the Detroit area. In 2016, on a cruise for the July 4 fireworks in Savannah, Georgia, I met Beverly and her daughter Allison from Michigan.

Bev kept a keen eye on my travels on social media and reached out as I got closer to Detroit; she lives in Franklin.

Detroit Deep Cuts

I have written before about how much I love returning to a place to get to the “Deep Cuts.” I really got to dig in and explore “Day-Twa” this trip.

Eastern Market

In 2017 I walked around an empty Eastern Market; this time I went to the Thursday Night Market held on the third Thursday of the month.

It also happened to be Murals in the Market, where artists from all over the world were painting buildings and making and displaying art.

Having spent the last few months either in nature or Small Town America, I was thrilled to be back in a big city, infused and intoxicated by all the activity and energy.

Downtown

In 2017 I photographed some of downtown Detroit’s iconic public art and architecture. This time I had lunch in a pub in a 1900s train station,

and was blown away by the Art Deco lobby of The Guardian Building.

(Pure Detroit gives free tours of the lobbies of many of Detroit’s landmark buildings, including the Guardian and the Penobscot.)

Checking In With The Fords

In 2003 Bill and I went to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. This trip, Gina and I toured the mansion of Henry’s only child, Edsel, and his wife Eleanor in Grosse Pointe.

Regina drove us around the charming downtown areas of Grosse Pointe, which I had wanted to see because of the John Cusack/Minnie Driver movie “Grosse Pointe Blank.“

No sites in particular were ringing a bell, and I figured I just didn’t have good recall of the film. Researching it later, I learned that the downtown scenes were filmed in Monrovia, California, where I graduated from high school. Too funny.

One morning I went to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, a restored portion of the factory where Henry Ford first imagined and then built the Model T.

The trip took me past the hulks of abandoned and collapsing factories and warehouses, reminding me that there is still so much urban decay to tackle in Detroit. The plant is available for event rental, and perhaps its opening will be the impetus to rehab the entire area. Tearing down all that blight ain’t cheap.

Speaking of blight, there is a lot less of it nowadays in Detroit, although there is still plenty to go around. On an extremely positive note, the abandoned Detroit Train Station (AKA Michigan Central Station) has been purchased by Ford to be part of a new downtown campus for its electric and autonomous vehicles divisions.

Work doesn’t appear to have started in earnest yet, and the off leash dog park in the shadow of the depot was just a little too overgrown and remote to feel comfortable to me. The pit bulls barking from the yard of a dilapidated house next door didn’t help.

The Coney Showdown

One day Bev and Gina and I met downtown for lunch for The Coney Island Showdown. In Detroit, “Coney Islands” are hot dogs with chili, white onion, and mustard – don’t you dare put ketchup on them! There are Coney Island shacks and chains all over the metropolitan area, but there is a long-standing rivalry between two places next door to each other downtown: American, and Lafayette.

American was founded by Greek immigrants over 100 years ago. The brothers had a falling out, so one of them opened Lafayette next door. American is still owned by the family. Lafayette was sold to its employees 25 years ago.

Everything is all bright and shiny and clean and colorful at American.

At Lafayette, things are much more “Greasy Spoon.”

I declared Lafayette the favorite. The chili had more flavor. I was glad I liked Lafayette more, because I tend to root for David when he’s battling Goliath.

The DIA

After Coneys, Bev and I went on a tour of the Detroit Institute of Arts, a truly spectacular gem of a museum. I have wanted to see Diego Rivera‘s Detroit Industry Murals since learning about them in Art History class in the 80s, and they did not disappoint.

A free iPad presentation explored the era and culture at the time the murals were painted, and the imagery and symbolism in Rivera’s pieces.

Strolling the museum and taking in its treasures (the first Van Gogh ever displayed in the United States;

a truly priceless piece by Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, for example),

it was painful to imagine the scene only six years prior, when the City of Detroit filed bankruptcy and there was talk of liquidating the assets of the city-owned DIA. Our guide described Christie’s agents literally tagging the art for sale before the collection was saved in the nick of time by $800 million in grants and donations, and ownership transferred to a charitable trust.

A Day At Belle Isle

Detroit still owns Belle Isle, an island on the Detroit River that has been a summer leisure destination since the turn of the century. As part of the bankruptcy, a 30-year lease agreement transferred management of Belle Isle to the State of Michigan, and Belle Isle is now operated as a Michigan State Park. Shirley and Regina remember a time when only the Conservatory was open for visitors. Now, the Aquarium,

the Conservatory,

and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum

are all open again, and there is more work to be done. $32 million has already been invested since 2014. Gina and I really enjoyed our afternoon there.

A Strong Sense Of Community

I arrived in Detroit during the finals of television’s “America’s Got Talent,” where the Detroit Youth Choir was a strong contender. The town was buzzing with enthusiasm. I was swept up, logging onto the show’s website for the first time ever to vote. When they placed second, the children nevertheless returned victorious to the city, where the Spirit of Detroit was clad in their signature purple and there were many celebrations around town.

They may not have won the million-dollar first prize, but Detroit business leaders, recognizing the invaluable positive PR for the city, raised a million dollars for them anyway. How glorious!

Daytrips From Detroit

One day Bev picked me up and drove us out to Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, where Allison went to undergraduate school. Our destination: Zingerman’s, home of the best damned sandwiches and pickles I’ve ever had.

Continuing my quest to visit all State Capitols, on another day I drove to Lansing for a guided tour of the Capitol Building.

Consulting one of my favorite web go-to’s for other attractions in the area, Atlas Obscura recommended the Moist Towelette Museum. Talk about Deep Cuts! It is tucked away in the office of John French at the Michigan State University Planetarium in East Lansing.

John was out of town, but his colleague knew immediately what I was looking for when I mentioned John‘s name. He even gave me a souvenir!

Consider Yourself Part Of The Family

I don’t much care for the words “blessed” or “blessings” when used to describe personal circumstances. The words are too weighty with religious overtones, but even more irksome to me, they necessarily imply others are “cursed.” But I’m going to tell you what: One of the biggest blessings I have received by taking this journey was meeting the Kaiglers in Louisville, Kentucky.

For two straight weeks, amid the hustle and bustle of work weeks, recovery from surgery, auto repairs, business trips, medical appointments, political meetings, caring for an elderly mother, galas, home remodeling, and family gatherings, Shirley, Darnell, Regina, and the entire family let me know I was welcome. A priority. Cared for and cared about. They personify and epitomize a generosity of time and spirit that we would all do well to emulate.

How can I even begin to describe our night at Orchestra Hall celebrating Motown’s 60th Anniversary? I was beyond honored that Shirley invited me to this black tie fundraiser benefiting Motown’s expansion, and it was one of the great moments in life that you never forget.

But let’s not focus just on the sublime. There was also the night all the kids and their kids came over for a pool party and barbecue just so everyone could say hi and see me again. Then there was the at-home cooking class, originally meant for Darnell and Shirley, which turned into a small party for Shirley and her girlfriends when Darnell was called out of town, and I was invited.

We had a particularly fun-filled evening at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, one of the world’s oldest jazz clubs, which was hosting karaoke that night.

I was all prepared to perform jazz and R & B songs appropriate for the crowd, but the book didn’t have the tunes! Crap! Shirley and Regina gleefully taped every song I sang anyway, most of them country, to the shock and surprise of the audience. I laugh even now, thinking of me singing “Harper Valley PTA” at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge. You can’t make this stuff up.

One of my fondest memories is the last day I was in town. I spent that Sunday with Shirley‘s granddaughter Malana, who was visiting for the day.

She immediately fell in love with Boss and the pups, then helped me walk the dogs, do the grocery shopping and cook dinner for the family. Here is her portrait of Miss Pinkie, which now hangs in a place of honor, AKA the refrigerator, and a heartfelt hug goodbye … for now.

Epilogue

Why does a particular place leave a lasting, positive impression? Is it the location itself, the emotions evoked, or the people? Perhaps it is an alchemy of all those things, plus intangibles that cannot be measured or quantified. For me, Detroit is one of those places.

POST SCRIPT

Given the interest in Detroit readers have expressed both in the comments and in private messages, I wanted to add some things to the Detroit list that I have either done or want to do, in no certain order. I will continue to add to this list.

One half of the Gerald Ford Presidential library is in nearby Ann Arbor. (The other half is in Grand Rapids.)

Jack White of Detroit’s White Stripes fame is pressing vinyl records at Third Man Records in the Cass Corridor by Wayne State University, and they are offering tours.

Speaking of Jack White, a monetary contribution from him helped save The Masonic Temple, and they offer tours.

The Henry Ford estate (Fairlane) and the Henry Ford Museum are in nearby Dearborn.

If gambling is your thing, there are casinos in downtown Detroit and across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

The Detroit History Museum is free and has excellent exhibits, including the first motorized vehicle, Detroit music, Detroit and the Underground Railroad, and the 1967 riots.

Hamtramck is the traditionally Polish area of town. Polish Village Cafe was featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.“

The Renaissance Center, or RenCen, Detroit’s tallest high rise, is worth a tour.

You can bike and walk the Dequindre Cut.

The Spirit of Detroit and the Monument to Joe Louis are close together downtown.

The Detroit Tigers play at Comerica Park. The Detroit Redwings and the Detroit Pistons play at the new Little Caesar’s Arena.

The restored Fox Theater offers tours.

Detroit-based Shinola, purveyor of watches and bicycles, has opened a hotel in downtown Detroit.

The David Whitney House (1890’s) is now a restaurant.

Meadowbrook Hall, home of the Dodge widow and her second husband, a lumber baron, is open for tours.

Pewabic Pottery, handmade in the Arts and Crafts style since the early 1900s, is available for tours and shopping.

Battle Creek, Michigan, about an hour and a half away, is home to Kellogg’s Cereal City. Nearby Marshall is a quaint turn of the century village with a charming downtown and a large neighborhood of preserved homes.