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Detroit - Part 2
A family fun destination
Written by: Janet Pope
Our writer discovers that Detroit is a family fun vacation with amusement parks, baseball games and candy factories.
The Best Western Sterling Inn treated us to a complimentary Wake Up and Start the Day breakfast. Then, we were off to the Detroit zoo. Open year round, this facility is home to nearly 2,500 animals on 125 acres. Opened in 1928, it was the first United States zoo to feature animals in their open, natural habitats. We rode a tram around the zoo, but a passenger train is also available. We passed camels, cranes, bald eagles, peacocks, and even lions, tigers and bears. Oh my!
Our first stop was a new exhibit, the "Arctic Ring of Life." Set up to look like a polar expedition camp, we passed polar bears and seals before entering a 70-foot long clear tunnel giving view to a large, underwater marine environment. As the light from outside cast a shimmering glow around us, we were awestruck to see the polar bears and seals literally swimming above our heads. The sides of the glass tunnel have benches, and almost everyone found themselves sitting down just to watch these beautiful creatures swim playfully around us.
We also explored the Penguin-arium, The Butterfly Garden, and the Wildlife Interpretive Gallery. This Zoo is a busy and well-used place as reflected by the throngs of families all enjoying the gardens and the picnic areas.
Our Zoo Guide, Tootsie, told us there are often traffic bottlenecks as guests become engrossed in this up-close "peek". Tootsie is a walking, traveling ambassador of goodwill for the zoo. Not only was she a treasure of information, but she didn't miss a breath as she waved and said, "Hello," to each guest we passed. Her impossible mission was to try and show us this huge complex in less than 2 hours. Tootsie took on this daunting assignment with an upbeat personality and the energy of an 8-year-old. Thank goodness for the tram ride! I could picture all of us running behind Tootsie in a fast jog, as she pointed and spewed out information along the way.
For lunch, we headed to the area known as Foxtown, across from Comerica Park. We ate at the Hockey Town Café, which features both indoor and outdoor screens carrying all live Detroit Red Wings hockey games. Also special to this restaurant is a 30' by 10' bar surrounding a 7-inch wide sheet of ice. Besides being a sight to see in itself, the ice naturally keeps all of the drinks frosty and chilled. Throughout this theme restaurant, there are many displays of authentic uniforms, trophies and memorabilia of the Red Wings hockey team.
A buffet was available and we enjoyed a salad, chicken, ziti, green beans and carrots... and even a New York Style cheesecake. With tummies full, we headed off to the Detroit science center. Originally, Detroit had a science center which was about 30 years old and limited in scope and space. About a year ago, this totally modernized and expanded learning center opened due mainly to corporate sponsorship. The Detroit Science Center now has 10 times more space and has serviced 400,000 visitors in its first year. We toured the children's gallery, and with no children in tow, we had a great time for ourselves. It is a very tactile place, encouraging young minds to explore and discover.
Michigan's only I-Max domed theater is located here, as well as various exploration centers. My favorite exhibit was in the waves and vibrations laboratory. It was a laser harp, seeming to have no strings, but could be played as the invisible laser beams produced the sounds.
The Detroit Science Center ended up to be fun for Donald and I, with or without kids by our side. This facility is a leading center for science education and an invaluable resource to the Detroit community.
Next on our agenda was to check out the Henry Ford & Greenfield Village. We were scheduled for 2 hours, and after a very short tour, we realized we could easily spend two days here. We were treated to a narrated tour in a horse drawn wagon, and we were taken back at the vastness of the Greenfield Village itself. Evidently, Henry Ford was the "Donald Trump of his time" and collected things he treasured, and some of his collection just happened to be homes. These homes line the streets of this village, I'm not talking about some run-of-the-mill older houses. With forethought, Henry Ford purchased unique historic buildings -- like Thomas Edison's Menlow Park Laboratory, the Wright Brothers' cycle shop, Noah Webster's home and Robert Frost's home. The oldest building dates back to 1620. He transported all of these buildings to Greenfield village including: a post office, a town hall, a depot and a schoolhouse. I was amazed one man had accumulated all of this in his lifetime. It's a testament, not only to his wealth, but to his respect for history and his foresight to preserve it. We only got an overview of this complex, and I would love to return and see more.
Across from Greenfield Village is the Henry Ford museum. Our tour guide, Rich, who incidentally went to school on the grounds of Greenfield Village, informed us this site is the most visited and largest indoor/outdoor historic complex in North America. It has more than 1.5 million visitors a year. To give you an indication of its size, it took 12 men over 5 years to lay the teakwood floor covering the entire Henry Ford museum floor.
As you would imagine, the Ford Museum houses automobiles with a display called 100 years of automobiles in America. It was fascinating to observe the changes in our cars through the years. I especially found it interesting to see the 1961 Lincoln car JFK was shot in. With the car close enough to touch, I could unfortunately picture all of the scenes from that day still in our memories. Next in the line of famous cars was the one Ronald Reagan was shot in; the 1950 Lincoln used by Truman; and the 1902 Presidential Car used by Teddy Roosevelt. Cars are by no means the only bits of memorabilia here. My husband, Donald, was particularly impressed with seeing the chair Abraham Lincoln was shot in, and the first plane to fly over the North Pole by Admiral Byrd.
Out of the thousands of things to see at the Henry Ford museum, one lone sign impressed me the most. It states, Henry Ford did not invent the car or even the assembly line, but Henry Ford had a dream. This was certainly a man who dreamed big dreams, and for that reason alone, this complex is a valuable reminder of what one can aspire to achieve. I was struck by the thoughts of my son collecting Matchbox cars and my daughter collecting Barbie dolls, while Henry Ford collected history, but in a much bigger way.
It takes a lot of energy and stamina to walk around 12 acres, so we headed to our hotel to rest up a bit. We were now staying at the Best Western Greenfield Inn. This hotel's uniqueness was in its Victorian and early American architecture and style. Hallways are literally filled with prints of vintage automobiles reminding us, "Yes, we're in Detroit!"
For our evening's entertainment, we had tickets to Comerica Park to see the Detroit Tigers challenge the Chicago White Sox. Opened in April 2000, it is the corner stone of the downtown Detroit community. As we approached this open air stadium, the Tigers theme is everywhere. Inside is a carousel featuring 30 hand-painted tigers and a Ferris wheel with baseball cars. We found our seats behind the 3rd base line and almost immediately came the urge for a mandatory hot dog and soda. Don and I walked around the concourse and discovered there is much more than standard baseball park fare here -- except the lines were excruciatingly long. I waited over 40 minutes in order to buy some ice cream. Crowds of people were milling around, eating, chatting and drinking and ironically watching the game on TV screens. It seemed like more people were walking around the concourse than sitting in the bleachers. The Tigers' new home is a great place to watch the game and to gather socially.
Well, it's root, root, root for the home team, as the song goes. We're proud to report the Detroit Tigers won that evening, and incidentally every time the Detroit Tigers hit a home run, the water fountains past center field exploded. Our evening was topped off with complementary fire works which occurs every Friday night during the summer.
Our time in Detroit was brief, but it was enough to show us a wonderful, family fun destination. It brings out the kid in everyone, and everyone's kid needs to be let out once in a while. Detroit, thanks for the fun!
Read part 1a>
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