Take Me out to the Ball Game

We woke up Friday still stuffed from our dinner last night,  but that didn't seem to stop us! We headed over to the Eastern Market. Even though the Farmer's Market part of this is on Saturday, we thought it would still be fun to see what was there. There were a lot of different restaurants and food markets. We happened on Roma's, which is the oldest restaurant in Detroit. We were greeted by a valet who was wildly running to park the cars. Inside, we were met by tuxedoed waiters and taken to our table which already had the big loaf of bread placed on it.

It was really good. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Next, we had a glass of Barbera d'alba wine and shared the Roma salad. Very good!

I had linguine with pesto sauce and fresh sauteed shrimp. Yummy! Notice the fresh peas.

Linda had chicken Marsala with pasta and meat sauce. It was really good. The tomato sauce was really good because you could tell that it had been simmering for awhile. You could taste the olive oil and the sweetness of the tomatoes.

Naturally, we finished with tiramisu. It was very good. Sorry you missed it!

Linda was not really taking a picture of me, but the guy at the next table. His two cell phones kept going off all through dinner. He must have been someone important! Notice the splashes of pesto sauce on my shirt. Lindy got 'em all out!

Our next destination was Belle Isle which is located in the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor. There was a bridge that went over to it. It was actually quite large. I could see that it would be a great place for people living in the crowded city to find some nice outdoor space. We decided to go to the zoo.

There weren't too many animals there; mostly toads, turtles, snakes, gar fish, and squirrels. We missed the deer. The most impressive was the baby t-Rex. It moved and roared. There will be a video on You-Tube eventually.

We drove all the way around the island. It had nice beaches and open areas. There were also shelters and the concierge at our hotel said it was a popular gathering place for reunions.

You can see our hotel again off in the distance.

Next, we decided to explore more of the town. I wanted to go to the Motown Museum mainly to see if there were any t-shirts worth buying at the gift shop. Our gps was giving us the wrong directions so we ended up at the Fisher Building which is an old theater and it has shops in it also. We stopped at Pure Detroit and found a couple of shirts there instead which was a good thing. . . 

because when we found the Motown Museum there was a funeral going on next door and two tour buses so we took a picture and waved bye-bye.

We wanted to try and find some of the more depressed areas of Detroit so we started driving away from downtown. We found the area!

There were many buildings like this that were empty. There were a couple of beautiful churches that were boarded up. But along the with empty buildings were businesses and remodeled developments. "Down but not out" would be the phrase to describe the city as evidenced by this church undergoing remodeling.

We drove out to 8 mile road as we had read that conditions got better as you passed this and headed farther away from downtown. This is the road that gives the name to Eminem's movie.

We drove back to our hotel past the stadium. We walked around the Renaissance Center but there wasn't  a whole lot to see even though it is an amazing space. It almost seemed like there were less shops open than last year. I hope that it eventually fills up because it is a great place. Well, maybe not because then the rooms might be more expensive. Our rate was only 95 dollars a night. 

We had originally planned on taking the People Mover but a storm had blown trees or something on to the track and it had to be repaired. We decided to walk as it didn't look that bad. It had measured .95 miles on our gps  as we passed it earlier. It was a nice walk. Even though it was warm out, we managed to keep to the shady side of the streets most of the way. The outside of the park was pretty neat looking. We were going to see the White Sox play the Tigers.

There was a bar next to the park that had a fenced off area with picnic tables. So we each got a cold Molson for 4 bucks a can and sat and enjoyed the view and the people.

Eventually, we made our way inside and walked to our seats. It was Negro Leagues Weekend which honored the early players who eventually made their way into the major leagues. 

Along one side were these statues of famous Tigers. We had only heard of Ty Cobb and Willie Horton.

Water shoots out of this fountain sometimes.

Ford Field, home of the Lions is right next door.

Even though the pictures make this look like a great stadium, it was not. The way the seats were arranged made it very hard to see over people sitting in front of you. The fans are constantly going up and down the steps and people were standing in the stairways, plus the video screen is really pitiful so it made it very hard to stay focused on the game. It didn't seem like anybody was really worried about watching the game even though they were playing a major league rival. The food was really crappy. The best thing was the big cans of Modello we had for 12 bucks a piece. 

Since the Sox were winning 8 to 2 at the 7th we decided to forgo waiting for the fireworks and head back to the RenCen because the Guess Who were scheduled to play by the Riverfront. We made our way back on foot and were very tired, hot, and sweaty. We walked to the Riverfront by our hotel and the band was playing, but Burton Cummings was not the one singing. I was very hot and grumpy by that time so we went to our room and watched the crappy fireworks from our window.

Having cooled off, we went back down, but the band had just finished playing by then. I wasn't too disappointed because I had a really hard time listening to those songs without the original singer.  So we went back to the room and fell asleep for the last time in our wonderful room.

O, Canada!

Day 4 found us on the long journey to Canada. We got up very early so we could make the trip. It took at least 2 minutes to go through the tunnel

and another 2 to get through customs. It seems that the customs people like to talk baseball so Lindy was in, even though the Canada guy threatened to strip search her for liking the Yankees.

I'm not sure if it was fate or karma, but the first thing we saw in Windsor was a Tim Hortons. We couldn't resist and got the sandwich, drink and donut special.

We stopped at the tourist info center and had a very helpful young lady point out interesting things in the area. I'm not sure if we look like cultured people or they push the culture on people, but all of these people always suggest the museums and arty places to see. I asked if there were any outlet malls around.
Windsor is a very nice town. We decided, however, to head toward the coastline of Lake Erie in the form of Point Pelee National Park. On the way we drove through countryside with acres of greenhouses. It seems this area, because of the moderate climate and proximity to many large cities, grows a lot of tomatoes, peppers, and tropical plants. Sorry, I didn't take a picture. We stopped at Leamington to get gas and cash. Gas was 1.23 per liter, so that is almost 5.00 per gallon. We visited the Real Canadian Superstore which is kind of like a WalMart only much nicer.

We proceeded on the Point Pelee. We made a left turn and there was the lake! Along the road were all of these funky looking beach cottages. I didn't take pictures, but I found these that give you an idea.

Once we got to the park, we realized that it probably wasn't worth paying the admission to see a beach, so the friendly guide directed us to Seacliff Beach. We didn't find it, but we found this spot.

There wasn't sand, but tiny rocks. We picked a few up and journeyed on.  Our next stop was Cedar Beach.

It was little scary because there was a sign that said there were high levels of bacteria found in the water and bathing was unsafe. They had brought in loads of sand to cover the rocks to make a sandy beach.

There were a lot of gulls sitting on the beach.

We picked up a few pebbles and were on our way. We decided we had had enough of searching for fake beaches and unsafe smelly water so we headed back to Windsor. I'm sure there are nice places on Lake Erie, but so far we haven't found them. 

Linda had read about a Little Italy in Windsor so we set our GPS to the corner of Howard Ave. and Erie St. E. On the way, I snapped a picture of our hotel which really dominates the skyline.

Via Italia was torn up with street repair, but we managed to find a place to park and do some walking. It is a single street, but about 13 blocks long so it is a pretty large area. We were surprised by the number of shops and restaurants. We had spent too much time on the beach so we missed some of the shops but found a great grocery market, La Stella Supermarket that had amazing stuff. There were also gift shops and cookware shops and clothing shops. We would definitely go back to explore there again. We asked around which would be the best place to eat. Most people said "they are all good".

The lady at the grocery mentioned a couple, but seemed to like Spago the best. It was really good! We were enjoying ourselves so much that we forgot to take pictures until our Campari at the end.

Next we went to the Casino at Caesar's. It was very big and very nice but there weren't many games we like to play. Linda manage to win half our money back on Invaders From the Planet Moolah so we decided to had back to Detroit. But before we could leave we had some Canadian money to spend, so what better place than Tim Hortons? 

Once we got back, we decided it was too early to go to our room so we found the Motor City Casino.

It was huge and very busy and didn't have many penny machines so we didn't stay too long. I can't believe the number of people that were gambling there. It was really kind of sad in a way because I think many of these people were coming in hopes of getting rich-which probably isn't gonna happen.

Back to our home away from home and off to dreamland.

Up in the Air

Day 3 found us on to Detroit. We had reservations at the Marriot in the Renaissance Center which is this huge development downtown right on the Detroit River. We had stayed here last year and loved it. We arrived a bit early but were able to check in right away. This was the view from our room.

We were on the 65th floor. This was higher that the last time because we could look into the windows of  the tower that you see the top of in this last picture. We lazed around for awhile and then decided to take a ride on the People Mover, which is a monorail that goes around the downtown area. Unfortunately, when we got to the depot, it was closed. It seemed the storm had caused damage and they were working to fix it. So, we decided to walk to the Greektown area and find someplace to have dinner and gamble at the casino. We decided on eating at the New Parthenon, a Greek restaurant.

It was a little bit rundown, but was decorated in ancient Greek.

The menu was quite extensive. We decided on the saganaki which is a thick slice of cheese fried in olive oil and then flamed, along with a Greek beer.

They were both good. Next, we shared a Greek salad.

Yummy! Linda had a vegetarian sampler of spinach and feta pie, mousaka-vegetables and grillled eggplant, and pastitsio-macaroni and cheese with pasta shaped like a big straw.

I had lamb with rice in a yummy tomato sauce.

Then we waddled over to the casino. It didn't seem as smoky as the last time which was good. We wandered around looking for Dam Beavers (Linda's favorite game) but no luck. Linda didn't do so good, but I managed to make enough to cover her losses. On our way back, I snapped this picture of our hotel.

Our room was on the level right below the blue ring. You can see the track for the people mover in the foreground-but no people mover in sight :-(
We got back, watched America's Got Talent, and drifted off, lulled by the sight of this beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow, we are really off to another country.

Day 2 from Holland

Like I said yesterday we were going to a different country. On our way, we drove up along the shore of Eastern Lake Michigan. We didn't see much water, but managed to stop at this county park and walk down to the lakeside. It was beautiful!

The sand was very fine and powdery and the water was almost warm enough to swim in. All you could see was sand beach from one end to the other. We also stopped at a roadside stand and got some sour pie cherries and Bing cherries to have as a snack along the way. Alas, we had to journey on to our main destination.

Yes, here we are in Holland! Well, Holland, Michigan. You see my parents preferred to take us on educational-type trips when we were children, so I never got to go to the normal touristy spots that most children go to. Against Linda's better judgement (she had been here) we went. It was everything one would expect, and more!

We went to Nelis' Dutch Village

I truly felt like I had been transported back to Holland! As you can see, everything is so authentic looking. Even down to the pristine canals.

There were some pretty flowers. Unfortunately, we missed the tulip season.

We also went to DeKlomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory

Miles of wonderful Dutch items. 

The best thing about Holland was deBeoer's. We arrived in time for lunch. We had croquettes with pea soup and bread with gouda cheese.

Delicious! For dessert we shared these:

Also delicious. 

Alas, it was time to leave the wonderful town of Holland which is showing the effects of the economy like everywhere else. There was a huge outlet mall right next to the Dutch village that was basically empty. The Dutch places weren't too busy either. I guess people just don't appreciate the Holland way of life anymore. Maybe they need to open up an Amsterdam-style coffee shop!

Our destination was Lansing. It is fun to see the capitols of different states. We stayed at the Radisson downtown. The room was nice but nothing like our Blue Chip room. The downtown area was very nice and clean and modern looking. We went to visit the capitol first as it was only two blocks from our hotel and getting near closing time. 

The capitol closed at 5:30 and we made it out at 5:25. Afterward, we took a walk around the downtown area. We wanted to go somewhere and have a beer or something and then maybe find someplace to eat. We ended up at the Nuthouse Sports Grill. It was a nice bar that was right across from two sports arenas. We decided not to eat there and pursued our quest. In the end, we had pie at Grand Traverse Pie Company. It was very good. We ended up ordering pizza in our room from Cottage Inn Pizza-forgettable. Oh well!

We managed to stay up long enough to watch America's Got Talent (everything's an hour later on Eastern Time) and drifted off in our Sleep Number bed.

Day 1 2011

Well, here it is, day one of our summer vacation. We decided to split our summer vacation into two this year, so this will be a shorter trip.  We managed to get through Chicago without incident and fairly quickly. We made sure to stop at the oasis for potty breaks before we got near Gary (as there are no bathrooms in that city). Our first day found us arriving in Michigan City, Indiana at the Blue Chip Casino and Hotel.   After checking in we opened the door to this fabulous corner room on the 15th floor with a beautiful view.

Since it was only 4, we decided to go to the outlet mall. It was very hot, but we managed to navigate through all of the stores. We were able to find a few things. We went back to the hotel and went to have dinner at the buffet. It was pretty good. My favorite was the bread pudding with raisins AND pecans covered with caramel sauce and real vanilla bean ice cream. Lindy's favorite was her salad made to order and personally tossed by a handsome gentleman. We both decided this was the first and last buffet of the trip . . . I'll keep you posted!
Next, we went to the casino. It is a large casino, but has kind of boring games. There are many slot machines but not too many video slots with fun bonus games. I did manage to win a bit on Kitty Glitter.

After awhile we went back to our room, pushed a button to close our mechanical curtains, pushed another button for the privacy light on our door and settled in. Tomorrow we're off to another country!
I hope you've all enjoyed living vicariously through our first day or our summer vacation.