Traveling: Detroit

Friday, 27 October 2017

Canada & USA 2017 - Part 1

Flying To Detroit

Saturday - September 9th 2017

Ten years ago my wife Claudia and I lived for half a year in Ohio, because we spent a semester at the Bowling Green State University. Back then we met many wonderful people and with some of them we are still in contact. Although we visited them in 2013, we thought that ten years later would be be the perfect time to visit our friends again. Since Ohio is not known for a tourist destination, we decided to take a trip to Canada too. So this vacation was a trip down memory lane, because we had been to all the places ten years ago.

Our flight to Detroit was departing Sunday morning from Munich airport and so Saturday afternoon we drove to the airport. There we checked in into the Novotel Munich Airport Hotel. After we refreshed a bit we took the train into the city, where we had dinner at Hans Im Glück Burger Grill restaurant and some drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe. Back at the hotel we had a good night's drink at the hotel bar.

Sunday - September 10th 2017

Today we had to get up early to catch our Delta flight to Detroit. After we checked out we headed to the airport, went through security and then we got coffee and pretzel for breakfast until it was time for boarding. Our flight left one time and eight hours later we arrived in the USA. Surprisingly immigration didn't take very long and soon we were on our way to the rental car center. There we picked up our KIA Optima and drove to our Bed & Breakfast.

Lunch oboard

For our first night in the US we stayed at The Inn On Ferry Street, which was really nice. Once we dropped our stuff in our cosy room, we drove to Whole Foods Market to buy some groceries and to get something for dinner. Back at the B&B we took the complimentary shuttle service into the city. There we had some welcome drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe and later we just walked around Detroit. To my surprise the city was much nicer than expected. I guess the hard times after the financial crisis are finally left behind. Since the jetlag was kicking in we called the shuttle service and returned to the hotel.

The Inn On Ferry Street

The Inn on Ferry Street

Our Room

Dinner at Whole Foods Market

Detroit

Hard Rock Cafe Detroit

Detroit

GM Headquarters

Detroit

Saturday, 7 October 2017

Canada & USA 2017 - Part 17

The Henry Ford Museum

Wednesday - September 26th 2017

Our road trip was coming to an end, and so today we were returning to Detroit. After we checked out, we headed to Whole Foods for breakfast and then we hit the road towards the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Traffic wasn't very bad and soon we arrived at the museum. The museum was huge and we enjoyed every minute there, because it was not only about the Ford Motor Company, it was more about cars in general and how they changed the way of living in the US. One of the main exhibition pieces was the original bus on which Rosa Parks didn't get up from her seat and sparked the civil rights moviement. Our highlight was the old diner from the 1950s in the middle of the museum and of course we had to get a coffee there.

The Henry Ford Museum

Rosa Parks Bus

The Henry Ford Museum

Around noon we made it through the museum and ate our lunch we brought along from Whole Foods in the beautiful park next to the musuem. The Henry Ford consists not only of the museum itself but also of the outdoor museum called Greenfield Village. We only had tickets for the museum and so after we finished our lunch, we drove to the MGM Grand Detroit, our last hotel in the US. Since our room wasn't ready yet, we got some drinks at the casino bar. A couple of drinks later we finally were able to check in and we got a very pretty and spacious room on the 13th floor. Before we got to gamble in the casino, we walked to PJ's Lager House, which was located just a few minutes away from the hotel. The rest of the evening we spent in the casino gambling and enjoying some beers at the bar.