We spent the better part of a week in August, 2000, Dearborn, Michigan, which is southwest of downtown Detroit. The climate, terrain, foliage, and overall "feel" is very close to Western New York, which made us feel quite at home (this is not entirely surprising, considering it's at the opposite end of Lake Erie from Buffalo). The weather was the best we've seen all summer, and we got to do a lot of fun things. This page will describe some of the highlights.
We left home at 8:30, and had a nice breakfast at Alton's. By 9:30 we were on the Thruway, and our vacation had started. We decided to take the southern route around Lake Erie instead of cutting across the Niagara Peninsula; even though the latter is shorter, we had heard about long delays at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. Another consideration was that it can be hard to find rest stops along parts of Highway 401 in Ontario, whereas Interstates 90 and 80 go through a pretty much continuously populated area, and have lots of rest stops as well. With two little kids, that's an important consideration!
We arrived at the Quality Inn Dearborn at around 4:30 PM, and settled in. We went out for a quick dinner at Dimitri's, a restaurant on Telegraph Road not far from Michigan Avenue. After that, we turned in early, knowing we'd have a busy day tomorrow.
We enjoyed a continental breakfast at the hotel (as we would do every morning except Friday), then headed for the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. We ended up purchasing two-day combo passes, as it's almost impossible to see the whole thing in one day. As it was a pleasant, partly cloudy day, and they were predicting showers the next day, we decided to tour Greenfield Village first.
Greenfield village occupies over 200 acres, 88 of which are tourable by walking. Buildings such as the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop, Henry Ford's childhood home, and a reproduction of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park complex are just a few of the attractions. The latest building is a working railroad roundhouse, where they can repair the various steam engines they own.
After around six hours of walking, we took the train ride around the village. This is an actual, full-sized steam locomotive, where the engineer really shovels coal; a living piece of history!
We went back to the hotel, cleaned up, then went to dinner at Buddy's Pizza, a local establishment full of Detroit sports memorabilia. The pizza is prepared upside-down compared to the way we make it; the pepperoni goes on the dough first, followed by the cheese, then the sauce, in strips, last. Different, but very good!
Today was the second part of our combo passes, the Henry Ford Museum. This building encloses twelve acres, eight under one roof, and is a beautiful piece of work in its own right. Every aspect of modern American technological culture that you can think of is here. One area contains cars of all makes and eras; another, appliances; and another, memorabilia. One of the largest steam locomotives ever made is inside the building, along with the airplane Admiral Byrd flew over the North Pole in, and the car JFK was shot in. There are various "hands on" areas for the kids, and old versions of things they'll find familiar, such as an original neon McDonald's sign, complete with a counter of how many millions served, and a room from a '60s era Holiday Inn. This place is great fun, and one can go through lots of film in here.
In the evening, we went around the corner from the hotel to the Fairlane Town Center, a beautifully designed shopping center, so that we could do a little shopping. We ate in the food court, so that the kids could get what they wanted.
We drove about an hour-and-a-half north to Frankenmuth, a town settled by folks from Bavaria, and which retains much of the flavor of that area. Our first stop was at Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland, the world's largest Christmas store (they aren't kidding!). The place is so large, and so full, inside that you can't stand against a wall and see the opposing one. They say they use two million dollars a year in electricity to light all the exhibits, and I have no reason to doubt it. It's a fun place to visit, and to find some unusual gifts and decorations.
We then drove into Frankenmuth itself, and had a late lunch at Zehnder's, which is famous for its chicken dinners. The food was terrific, and the charm of the building made it even more enjoyable.
We then walked up and down South Main Street, enjoying the Bavarian-style architecture of the buildings, as well as the contents. We bought way too much fudge (there were at least four fudge shops), and got some souvenirs and other things.
We were still very full when we got back to the hotel, so we skipped dinner and had snacks. We also had our first chance to enjoy the swimming pool at the hotel.
We went to the Detroit Zoo, which was surprisingly hard to find, yet worth the effort. It reminded us of how much work the Buffalo Zoo needs to do. The habitats were spacious and well-designed, the gardens were maintained nicely, and the walking paths created a natural flow through the zoo such that you were able to see all the exhibits in a very efficient way. We also received a substantial discount by showing our Buffalo Zoo passes at the main gate, which was a nice surprise.
As today was both Jill's sixth birthday and our fifteenth wedding anniversary, my parents treated us to a fancy dinner at Kiernan's Steakhouse, which is about a block from the hotel on Michigan Avenue. It was absolutely wonderful, from the service to the food to the ambiance. If you want one truly nice meal during a stay in Dearborn, this is the place!
Today we bade farewell to Dearborn, and drove home. We'll be back.
As I said above, we'll be back. Definitely. There were other things to do here that we didn't have a chance to partake of, and the region is very nice.