Living in the D

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Category: Tourism

Belle Isle Botanical Society dresses up conservatory for holidays

For years now every winter I get a bit SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and have had to learn steps to try to deal with it. I fully admit I am a sun worshiper, so when the cold weather kicks in I tend to hibernate, which often leads to a bit of cabin fever.

But I have found a great way to off set some of the SAD symptoms by visiting the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle.

Built in 1904 by Albert Kahn , the conservatory is on a 13-acre plot of land with perennial gardens in front and lily pond garden with koi fish behind. Inside is where you will find me in the winter months enjoying more than an acre of plants.

There are separate rooms dedicated to different climates. The main room boosts a dome more than 80 feet high with huge palms trees and many other plants. There is a Tropical House in which you can see oranges growing and a large collection of lilies. The lilies are in the back by the Temperance Fountain in which I toss coins and make a wish. The Cactus House has so many types of cactus and succulents that tempt you to touch them but do not dare. The Show House is where seasonal displays for winter and spring take place and you can see peach Angel's Trumpet in the summer. My favorite!

I decided to visit one recent Saturday as the first big snow of the season was hitting downtown Detroit. Much to my delight the Belle Isle Botanical Society (BIBS) was on hand decorating for the Christmas season! Members were putting up a Christmas tree in the foyer and lighting trees in the large dome. They had also installed a poinsettia tree in the Show House along with other festive decorations. It was quite a treat!

Yesterday was the 20th annual Poinsettia Soiree, when members of the Harline Band played jazz along with food and desserts from Union Street.

This Friday visit from 5-8 p.m. as the BIBS hosts a Stroll Through the Conservatory with music, cider and donuts. This event is free to the public!

Hope to see you there!

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Category: Tourism

Inside Detroit explains it all (Part 1 of 2)

The mile roads always confused me. What was 8 Mile Road 8 miles from?, I wondered. Had you asked me that question a year ago I would've answered "the Detroit River" -- and I would have been wrong.

Detroit's Point of Origin, which can be found in a specially marked tablet at Campus Martius Park, was placed in 1806 when the city was first reborn from the Great Fire of 1805. (It was only rediscovered in 2004, when construction workers who were rerouting the main roads downtown during the park's expansion bumped against it with their backhoe.) The Great Fire of 1805 consumed all but one of the 300 buildings in the century-old city, forcing Detroit to start from scratch. It is the Great Fire of 1805 that's depicted in the Detroit City Flag and referenced in the city's motto -- "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus," or, "We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes."

That motto is as valid in 2008 as it was in 1808. Political scandal has consumed what was left of Detroit's good name. The recession that has hit Michigan hardest of all has hit Detroit hardest of all. Nine of every 100 Michiganders who are actively seeking employment can't find it right now, and one in every three Detroiters is below the federal poverty line. The Big Three probably won't exist in current form a year from now.

On the bright side, the Westin Book Cadillac has returned to downtown after a 20-year absence, while the classic Hotel Fort-Shelby is scheduled to open later this year.

We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes.

*****

"You know how it's always better to visit another city when you have a friend there to show you around?" asked Jeanette Pierce, my tour guide for a blustery Thursday afternoon stroll through downtown. "Well, we want to be that friend."

And over the last three years Pierce and business partner Maureen Kearns, of the Inside Detroit downtown welcome center, have been "that friend" for nearly 5,000 people, showing off the Motor City to everyone from tourist groups to Detroit natives who understand the city's broad strokes just fine but are looking for some depth. Inside Detroit does not advertise; all the traffic it's generated from the first has been entirely word-of-mouth.

And sometimes those words come directly from Pierce's and Kearns' mouths. When I posted about some of the characters I've encountered since moving back to Detroit, Kearns, and soon Pierce, both e-mailed me to tout the city and encourage me to take a tour with them sometime.

Last Thursday I decided to take them up on that offer. Tomorrow I'll write about my walking tour and some of the personalities you meet when you walk around downtown with Jeanette Pierce.

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Category: Tourism

Schoolin' the Hoosiers

Isn't it funny how you forget about the touristy places in your own back yard, until the family comes to visit?

Had I not helped host some in-laws last weekend, it probably would've been years before I actually made it to the Henry Ford - one of those museums on my "someday" list. The Hoosiers had it on their "this weekend" list, so off to Dearborn we went. I have to admit, I hadn't really read up on the place, other than being really interested in the chocolate exhibit.

Man, oh man. I could've stayed all day. I'd thought it was all about cars, but found myself totally entranced by the 18th- and 19th-century industrial technology, wandering for an hour alone in the section with the old-school steam engines and electrical generators.

Alas, the family got hungry so I had to save some sections for another visit. We took them to their first-ever Middle Eastern restaurant, where one of them was surprised he couldn't add bacon to his dish - a moment that was met with an amused smile from the waitress and a chance for some quick cultural education.

I absolutely love exposing the Indiana folks to Detroit's cultural melting pot. They ask to go to Greektown for "the Oprah cheese" or to the Hockeytown Cafe for a rare immersion into that mysterious northern sport that isn't basketball. They stare in awe at the Heidelberg Project, the fabulous ruins, the sparkling ballpark and the 700-foot freighters passing by Belle Isle. They come cowering with fear from all those nasty rumors that other too-scared-to-visit Hoosiers have told them they've heard about the city, and maybe they spend too much for parking downtown, but they always leave with a smile.

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Category: Tourism

Not really a Living in the D thing, but it was yummy

I've never had so many people ask about what I do in a day 'round here as I did today. And they're all asking the same thing: Was that a real cookie?

Yes, it was. And it's gone now, its sugary goodness resting on the love handles of my fellow Newsies. (The Thumb went first, followed by the West Coast.)

The followup question: Where can I buy that mold?

You can't. If there is a cookie/cake mold in the shape of Michigan out there somewhere, then I spent way too much time on this thing.

So, to explain for anyone else who was considering e-mailing me and might possibly read this first, here's the deal: I made the shape by placing a piece of waxed paper over the Michigan page in a road atlas, which turned out to be just a tad narrower than my cookie sheet, thankfully. I traced it with a thin marker, put the tracing over the rolled-out cookie dough and carefully cut it out with a knife.

Then I baked, frosted, covered and carried it ever so carefully in to the office, all the while picturing myself tripping on Lafayette and watching the whole thing end up a pile of pink crumbs for pigeons to feast upon. Noooooo! I was so scared of that happening that I made two Michigans, one white and one pink (see pictures).

There was one boneheaded thing I did that I hoped readers wouldn't notice: I not only lopped off the western end of the Upper Peninsula (it was on the Wisconsin page in the road atlas - who knew?) but I also put the U.P. tracing on backward and didn't notice it until it was already baked and frosted and ready for its closeup. Yeah, something didn't look right. But that's why we have Photoshop. Oh, how I love thee Photoshop. Obviously, I'm not too savvy on the Up North experience.

So, y'all hungry readers, if you decide to try this at home, be sure to 1. use plenty of lubricant, be it grease or butter, on the cookie sheet; and 2. roll the dough and cut the shape on the cookware itself rather than cutting it first, then trying to move the entire mitten in one piece. It can't be done, trust me.

And be sure to send me a picture or post it in our Celebrate Michigan! photo gallery before your mitten gets munched.

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Category: Tourism

Be a tourist in Detroit

Even if you grew up in Detroit or have lived and/or worked here for a long time, there's probably a lot about the city you don't know or haven't seen.

So be a tourist in your own town! Spectacular Strolls offers a dozen self-guided walking tour maps for various parts of Detroit, plus three in the burbs. Each map offers information about the particular area and its history that you can check out during a 20-40 minute walking tour. Each also features a family friendly treasure hunt challenge.

Check out historic neighborhoods such as Corktown or the Cultural Center or new developments, including the Riverwalk or Campus Martius. Guides cost $2 and are e-mailed to the buyer for download.

What area will you check out first?